Posted on 10/10/2016 5:02:32 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
I have a lot of friends and readers who are baffled by what they consider to be the misguided “evangelical Christian support” for Donald Trump in America.It doesn’t make sense, especially in the light of the recent appalling locker room comments , revealed by Trump’s enemies(and by God, for there is nothing hidden that won’t be brought to light and nothing secret that won’t be shouted from the housetops!) . It just doesn’t make sense that although Trump is so manifestly immoral, Evangelicals would stick by him, even when the ‘brave’ leadership of the Republican party runs for the tall grass.
I get that it might be baffling to some, , seeing that it has become very obvious that Trump is (or has been) a base, vile, crude and immoral man, about as far from being Christian in the evangelical sense as any candidate that ever ran, to my knowledge.
What’s going on here? Is this the sign of the total decline of American Christianity, and an omen that evangelicals in America are strongly deluded?
Mind you I am on no way trying to push Trump or to justify him in any way nor do I think Trump can save America or stave off the judgment that we deserve. All I want to do is give some perspective and clear up a few false assumptions.Also I assure you I don’t think I can speak for all Christians, not to mention all evangelicals.
America is a very political place, partly because we have a system of government that in theory says that everybody has a say, and partly because we have undergone a long social revolution which wrested influence from the former Judeo Christian worldview and is in the process of enthroning Atheism and its ‘morality’ and tenants upon the nation , once founded by Puritans.
Since in theory we all have a say in government, Christians also take politics seriously. We have in my lifetime had the “religious right”, the “moral Majority” the “Tea Party” , Operation rescue, the pro life movement, etc etc etc, all attempts to coutner and staunch the tide of secular humanism (atheism) as it rolled up one victory after another in American life.
There have been no referendums on most of these appalling advances, such as abortion or so called “gay marriage”. These have been for the most part imposed upon as by activist judges.
The reason a bombastic character like Trump has arisen,(Humanly speaking) is because the Republican Party has so betrayed its base, in breath taking terms, time and again, particularly since the rise of Obama, promising to restrain his absolute trashing of what is left of the constitution, promising to cut spending and to staunch the tidal wave of third world immigrants which bring crime, unemployment and low wages all across America.
In the last two off elections(non Presidential) the Republican party gained 1000 seats in State and Federal government, by running n a platform of stopping Obama. Immediately in nearly every case Republican officeholders turned right around within days of the election and handed Obama budgets with no restraints on the programs they promised to defund!
There was a star lineup of fine professional politicians who ran in the Presidential Republican primary, the who’s who of “conservatives” 16 strong, and Trump, one of the least characters in America, for various reasons which have become evident.
Trump is not a politician, nor a theologian, he is not pretending to be an evangelical(As Gore and the Clintons and Jimmy Carter did), in fact he is openly and unashamedly a pretty worldy guy. He uses profanity, has a checkered past and is not pretending either to be a “poor man” who made it big.( I am praying for him regardless of the election result).
How did Trump triumph over 16 “A-team” conservative Republicans? He spoke some sense and without the usual political couching of terms. He promised to stop the flow of Mexican (illegal) immigration. He promised to stop the flow of Muslims(Obama brought in 1 million in 8 years!). Sorry but it is obvious to all but the politicians, wherever Muslims go in the thousands, so also does violence, terror and mayhem. He promised to defend Freedom of religion.
The others may have been conservative but they didn’t get the level of anger and feeling of abject betrayal Republicans, conservative, and evangelicals have felt over the last twenty years. Cruz, Rubio and the rest all postured as every other conservative politician has done, mouthing platitudes about Reagan, the good old days, the need for spending restraint, but at the same time accepting the status quo of unlimited immigration, acceptance without question of Islamic immigrants, and the globalist presuppositions which undergird trade, immigration and defense.
They thought of this election as just another “Conservative vs Liberal battle” which they would conduct using Roberts rules of order, while the left brings a switchblade to the debate. The Republicans are the “good guys” , never stooping to answering to calumnies of the Right, the constant use of the term racist to describe their constituencies, and the paralysis while the left takes our nation down the gutter.
But Trump fights all of that, rejecting political correctness( which is a culturally toxic force here), and not apologizing for wanting to pursue American interests.
Consider the contrast;
Hillary: Christians must change their Religion
Who could blame Christians for not wanting more of Obama’s destructive policies? IT IS EASY FOR THOSE OUTSIDE TO JUDGE AND CRITICIZE CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA, accusing them of idolatry and compromise for supporting Trump, but would you leave us to Hillary? A career criminal, a psychotic warmonger(Libya) who boasted of Gaddafi’s death? No Christian I know thinks Trump is christian, but even Caesar received the prayers of the Jews in the days before Christ. I know of no Christian who actually thinks Trump can save America. It is a simple choice of a career criminal or a very crude man with a checkered past who seems to be leveling with us and understands some of the frustrations here.
I don’t know what the outcome is going to be, nor do I know if Trump will end up being a beast himself, once in power, ( It could happen, who knows?). I dii think tat what Trump has been used to expose here very plainly is the fact that there really is a “ruling elite” at the top opt American society, composed of Democrats and Republicans, who do not mind at all the downward direction this country has taken, as long as their power remains intact. Evidently there is little or no difference between Bushes and Clintons. Who knew?
Trump doesn’t seem to be one of them, and it seems they fear him. He may be something worse, or something better, or he may be a man in transition, but I hope you understand why many rally around him in spite of his obvious flaws.
We have gone beyond the tired old “conservative/liberal” schism in this nation, we are now at the “Nationalist/ Globalist” level, and who can blane Christians for wanting to retain some semblance of the nation they once knew?
I know, that our Kingdom is not of this world, and politics will not save us, only Jesus can do so, please pray for America and the Christian remnant in that idolatrous, backslidden country.
Praise God Jesus is coming back so soon! Maranatha!
I have been following your posts for quite some time pastorbill, and this one is outstanding!
Good, balanced essay, Pastor. Thanks!
Constantine(Trump) vs. Diocletian(Hillary)
Reading part of article.. not the whole .. but I will comment. The problem is NOT with Trump.. it’s with those who put this stuff out for the reason of stopping Trump from winning... and the alternative is the most corrupt woman.. the liar in chief.. a criminal.. is who they’d put in if not Trump.
That is the problem... Trump didn’t do any more than most of congress and all of the left who put this out.. they are hypocrites and worse.. if you are offended by words.. you will be worse with what they DO...
Talk is cheap, as they say... but actions speak loud and louder. bill clinton raped more than one woman and hillary followed with threats to keep them quiet.. ruin them too.. for her future goals of power. she sold parts of America to fill her pockets while she was Sec of State.. everything she did was illegal.. and before Washington, there was Arkansas.. where there is as much dirt on them there as there is in Washington..
For anyone to say Trump is not fit because of his words some 11 years ago... I find that person so narrow and so off base that they must be ignorant.. and only can see what is in front of them.. not the whole. Words.. potty mouth.. hillary has a worse potty mouth than Trump ever dreamed of... she has a vocabulary that rivals any man..
So what is the beef with Trump? His words?.. he didn’t attack anyone.. bill did and hillary has... Trump has done a lot of good helping others .. hillary takes.. bill and hillary threaten anyone in their way to get what they want. and it has worked.. but Trump is the first one who is not afraid of them..
The media is her protector.. she and bill have compromised the FBI, the state dept, the justice dept .. they are all corrupt now too..
plus the next President will select more than one supreme court judge.. and if it’s hillary, you will be living in the worst state of the United States that has ever existed and the last presidential election you will ever see. if you don’t understand who they are, then you’d better wise up...
google has taken all they can find off the search of hillary and bill... it’s a set up from top to bottom...
read about saul alinsky.. that will tell you who they are and who obama is.. alinsky is their guide and this country will be a communist country if hillary is elected. I will want the LOrd to come and get us.. for it will be that bad.
God might save America by choosing another Cyrus.
As an aside, I think God is placing a burden on Trump. You can see its evolution if you look closely. Trump is changing
He has changed a great deal from the Trump of yesteryear.
Don't underestimate our Lord. He might have picked a heathen cum Apostle to go to battle for us...
Those who know for sure are always those who are wrong.
God's intentions cannot be deciphered.
Particularly by men who consider themselves Godly (He confounds them first).
I don't include you, Pastor Bill, in that lost group of pastors.
That said, I think we are watching God's handiwork...a creation for our own times...for our own eyes.
He is always at work...not some distant creator, but a Player...getting down into the mud with us (didn't Jesus get down in the mud with us? In fact, didn't Jesus/Yeshuah draw all the mud to Himself for our sins").
He isn't some distant being...He is here with us...in spades.
We have bit parts...He has the starring role.
Even Trump is beginning to realize that he is just a bit player in a larger, eternally greater drama.
You need to read the entire article.
Christian support of Trump makes perfect sense. They know evil when they see it and Hillary is evil and horrible.
I knew I’d get that comment.. so didn’t surprise me... i did read it after I posted.. but I wanted to rant anyway.. this election is a mess and so are a lot of people out there who are coming out as the corrupt beings they are.
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DJT supports their issues. No need for 10000 words.
Both George Washington & Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. Jefferson had around 200.
James Madison had around a 100.
Would they be elected today? Where would our country be if not for them?
Would JF Kennedy be re-elected today if he were alive and running? How many mistresses did he have on the side? JFK said, “If I don’t have sex every day, I get a headache.”
Samson was a bad guy too.
What does that mean?
Trump’s appeal is that, on the issues, he is saying what the rest of us are thinking.
And 11 years ago he was crass?
Big deal.
I’ve said things and used words, even as a Christian, that I would not want repeated. Sometimes things like that happen in a moment of weakness. Not a one of us is perfect.
One of Trump’s redeeming virtues is his honest and humility.
He owned his words and apologized, something that garners a lot of respect from Christians.
When Hillary is confronted with her stuff, she immediately resorts to *He’s lying*. Like Ambassador Stephen’s did NOT request help 600 times?
Trump comes across as real and down to earth and most Christians I know are still aware enough of their humanity that they are willing to forgive someone for their own faults when they deal with it appropriately.
Not one single person I know can sit on their moral high horse and point fingers at Trump for his choice of words 11 years ago.
This is why Evangelicals come across as holier than thou and out of touch with everyone else.
Everyone seems so shocked by their support of a man like Trump? We’ve all been there.
And besides, just who else is there to support to take down Clinton? Do we just let Clinton win because we can’t find a candidate who is *pure* enough* in our eyes to run?
NOBODY is. We ALL have our skeletons.
I'd say both Bill and Hillary Clinton are worse than Donald Trump in that regard. Neither of the Clintons will even admit to their failings, let alone attempt to change for the better in a Christian sense. Compare and contrast to Donald Trump.
We need to be able to discern between human frailties and actual evil intents.
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