Lesson 4: Christians Gave Us Trump

Like so many others, I have been concerned with the lying in the election campaign, but perhaps even more so with the terrible exaggeration used to justify the lies. Claiming this is the most important election in American history—or even world history—is incredibly self-centered and far from reality. Claiming one administration is good and that the other is evil invites violence. An election contest has become a war.

Much of the blame rests not on the politicians but on the Christians who provided the context supporting this exaggeration. Bringing God into the picture transformed the situation into a cosmic battle between God and Satan, good and evil.

This all started in the late 1960s, when Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson called on churches to get involved in politics to prevent human secularism from destroying them. Robert George brought Roman Catholics into the movement in 2009. Leading Catholics, evangelicals, and pentecostals signed the Manhattan Declaration, pledging to work with one another politically to enact commonly held religious beliefs into civil law.

They played right into the hands of Donald Trump, who was ready to make any deals that gave him power. Besides that, they provided a narrative that enhanced his narcissism.

Fast-forward to the present day, and we see two embarrassing results, neither of which has anything to do with Jesus’ teachings. The first are events such as the Next Great American Awakening, which featured three days of prayer and healing. Pentecostals delivered messages directly from God, calling the participants to prepare for the main battle of a cosmic war in which Republicans will save us, and Democrats will destroy us. The people responded with fight, fight, fight, and Trump, Trump, Trump.

The second are many leaders who now acknowledge Trump is a lousy person who is presently throwing them under the bus. Nonetheless, they ask people to vote for him with the idea that they will then begin rebuilding the Republican party with their own people.

I come away thinking we still have a long way to go trying to figure out how the church operates in a modern democracy and that we have found out this is not the way to go. We are not building a medieval Christendom.

At the very least, the church is called to proclaim Jesus’ message which blesses the peacemaker who loves the enemy as a child of God. She must make clear Jesus taught his followers not to retaliate but to overcome evil with good. They are to provide healing and reconciliation, not division.

Christians can certainly take principles based on these teachings into their political life. However, they should be aware that politics will and should domesticate Jesus’ teaching to compensate for the human condition. They might regard some political programs, parties, or candidates coming closer to Jesus teachings than others, but they should be very careful identifying these as God’s choice. They especially should not give God’s blessing to battles or wars or anything that divides God’s family. Neither should they force Jesus teachings upon others as doing so is against their nature. Perhaps humility is the first political virtue.

Tags: Christian Political Principles, Jesus and Trump, Jesus Teaches Character, Jesus Teaching and Election, Lies and Exaggeration in Election, Reading Gospels in One Sitting, Voting on Person or Policy