After I posted a lesson entitled “Sick Religion” a few weeks ago, one of my best friends asked when I would have the courage to attack the real sick Christians among us. I was taken aback because I felt that was exactly what I was doing. I consider myself a lifelong student of false prophets who thoroughly enjoys my friends making fun of me for constantly watching crooked televangelists and reading lousy theologians.
I chose to use my writing and preaching to oppose their ideas and practices and thought I was being courteous by not mentioning names. Quite frankly, I am not sure it is fair to name a few when I find the whole lot to be a pack of false prophets, and that includes some whom my friends think deserve some respect. After continual attempts to be understanding, I cannot say I would use the word “respect” to express how I feel about any of them. I am convinced they exploit others, even though I am not sure that they are aware of what they are doing. Still, as another friend once observed, it makes no difference; it is still false prophecy.
Failing to see how such a good friend would not see what I doing, I asked him to dash off in a short email where I had gone wrong. He made clear he was thinking of those popular preachers who gather in the White House to use Donald Trump and to allow him to use them. This group talks as if they are engaged in a great crusade against evil that is out to destroy Christianity. Until Trump came along the government was used to persecute them. Now they believe he is leading them in a holy war that promises to restore the values of our nation and church.
The problem, as my friend sees it, is that these are not the values Jesus lived and died for. They have nothing to do with the Beatitudes or the Ten Commandments. Instead, they are all efforts to maintain privilege, such as white supremacy, male authority, military security, wealth protection, heterosexual marriage, etc. My friend wrote that the only explanation he can see for their actions is a political opportunism that transcends all adherence to Christian practice.
Under normal conditions, I would feel no need to make clear that I completely agree. However, our times like those during the civil rights movement and the anti-Viet Nam war protests call for standing up against words and actions that deny the truth of the gospel and the world around us. Christians are to pray for the government and those who hold office, but they are also called to expose false prophets. In my mind these are those who claim they speak for God when they bless the work of Donald Trump. I increasingly think they are the greatest threat to the Christian tradition in our time.
