Monday, May 6, 2019

If Trump were actually removed ...

It’s still a long shot due to his popularity with the Republican base, but — what would be the possible spiritual ramifications were President Donald Trump actually thrown out of office? I don’t broach the subject lightly, especially when you consider the two schools of thought, that’s he’s either a messiah or a disgrace to the Christian faith (and, of course, I lean heavily toward the latter). But here’s something to think about:

It will likely result in the revival that his supporters say that they want.

I say that for this reason: The reason that his Christian supporters love him because they’re convinced that he has the power to, so to speak, beat back the barbarians from the gates and make this country safe for them to operate. The trouble with such a mindset is that the evangelical fervor under which they operate is inherently lost when you spend most of your time defending your own power, with Jesus Himself going on the back burner.

This is precisely why the “religious right,” especially during its heyday in the 1980s, proved horribly ineffective despite its money and influence. Sadly, it still hasn’t learned that lesson especially with the scope of scandalous behavior in its own ranks, naïvely believing only when its views achieve primacy would things turn around morally.

In effect, the Christian faith would be subject to a do-over, returning to the underground movement that it started out as with few friends and experiencing persecution from all sides. I have no doubt that Trump would persecute Christians for not demonstrating fealty toward him (I suspect that because even people, churches and organizations that are theologically strong but not willing to do so receive condemnation from Trump supporters).

And if you know where to look, that’s what you’ll see today.

You see, when a church or organization takes a side politically, especially for the sake of political or cultural influence, it inherently loses its spiritual authority even with the issue of abortion (in my view, an idol in its own right at this point).

Given this reality, Trump being removed might be the best thing to happen in the Christian faith in America. Then the remnant — and certainly many would fall away — would be forced to place its trust in God. Which He demands anyway.

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