Posted on 01/28/2018 7:05:57 AM PST by Kaslin
I was scheduled to be on CNN this week to debate another commentator about evangelicals and President Trump, but due to breaking news, the debate was cancelled. Had I been on the air, I planned to make this point: With all respect to our president, and with my appreciation for the good things he has done, he did not die for my sins, and I have not staked my soul’s salvation on his reputation. That distinction belongs to Jesus the Messiah, and to Jesus alone.
Why the need to state something that is so totally self-evident?
It’s because evangelicals are being judged on the character and accomplishments of our president rather than on the character and accomplishments of our Lord, hence the need to remind a watching world that there is only one Savior, and His name is not Trump.
Unfortunately, in large part due to the media’s anti-Trump frenzy, if you dared to vote for Trump, let alone speak a positive word of support on his behalf, you are considered complicit in his every failing, be it an adulterous affair in his past or an inappropriate tweet in the present. Wherever Trump is guilty (or perceived to be guilty), you are guilty. And if you dared endorse him, you have committed the unpardonable sin.
One of my ministry school grads was having a conversation with a stranger while they waited in line at an event. The conversation turned spiritual, and my former student began to share his faith. The stranger asked him, “Did you vote for Trump?” When he said yes, the man refused to talk anymore. Jesus was not the issue; Trump was.
A Christian woman told me that a close family member is no longer open to hear about Jesus because she voted for Trump. The conduct and character of this Christian woman no longer matter. The message of redemption through the cross does not matter. All that matters is that this family member perceives Trump to be a dangerous buffoon, and anyone who voted for him cannot be taken seriously.
May I suggest that, at least in part, this is a demonic attempt to turn people away from the Lord? May I suggest that our message has never been tethered to a politician? May I suggest that we fight against this aggressively, not by defending Trump but rather by asking more basic questions, such as: “If you were starving and I offered you free, healthy food, would you ask if I voted for Trump before you accepted it? If you were drowning and I reached out my hand to save you, would you choose to drown if you knew that I had voted for Trump?”
The point is that the gospel message states that people are perishing without Jesus, but through Him we can freely offer salvation. This is good news regardless of who we voted for. It saves the lost whether we who bring the message are Republicans or Democrats. We must proclaim this without fear and shame.
You might say, “But your analogies are not precise. Because you voted for Trump, we question your moral judgment, because of which we question your message.”
I’m quite aware of that objection, and that’s why I used the examples I did.
The issue here is one of eternal life and death, of salvation or damnation, which means it’s even more pressing than the issue of starving or drowning. If you are guilty in God’s sight and worthy of His judgment, and we have a message of eternal forgiveness and pardon, does it really matter who we voted for?
I agree that some evangelicals have so visibly hitched themselves to Trump and/or the Republican Party that we have compromised our integrity, as if political power was of greater importance to us than serving a lost and hurting world. We alone are to blame for this, and we alone can fix this. I do not minimize this for a moment.
At the same time, the very liberals who thrash us daily for our political affiliation as followers of Jesus had no problem with Christian support of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, despite their support of the slaughter of the unborn and despite their largely ignoring the Christians genocide in the Middle East. Why no shrill cries of hypocrisy? Why no protest marches in the streets? Why no one saying, “If you voted for Obama (or Hillary), I won’t listen to your gospel message?”
For me, the solution is simple. When asked how I voted, I’m happy to say, “I voted for Donald Trump, but I did so with hope mixed with reservation. That’s why, on some days I’m tremendously proud of him while on other days, I cringe. But given the choice of Hillary or Trump, I’m glad I voted for him. At the same time, I find no need to defend him when he falls short, nor am I presenting him as a model Christian. That’s also why I pray for him.”
If I’m dealing with an honest, thinking human being, I don’t see how it can be viewed as a hindrance to the gospel. That’s why I’m not going to accept my vote for Trump as a conversation ender. I’ll do my best to turn it into a conversation starter, one that quickly turns from our president to our Savior. He’s the only one I want to proclaim.
The media's and Trump haters' argument really is that a vote for Trump is an immoral act, even an act of violence. That is their bias and they will not be swayed. If a confessing Christian has perpetrated the immoral act, then they should repent publicly of course. That is the expected reaction that "they" are all waiting for.
Absent repentance, then they doubt our confession as a Christian, or discount the value of a Christian confession.
The ANSWER is to NOT conflate religion and politics (see my username). They are not stablemates in this day and time. It is like accusing someone of immoral violence for supporting the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. They would be conflating religion and football. That is the sad state of affairs regarding how far afield politics has gone from having moral inputs. ALIMHO
Yes, I voted for Trump and how dare anyone who didn’t, cast a shadow on anyone who did, for they voted for hillary and before her, they voted for obama... both were an abomination to our country!
The “christians” who would cast accusations on anyone who voted for Trump are so wrong they don’t know north from south.
I do believe God picked Trump out all the men/women in our land, to be our President. Why?
Why did God choose David (in the Bible)? David was not perfect in any way... he had an affair with a married woman and he had her husband killed. That’s pretty blatant and pretty bad. But God looked at the man, David, and said he was a man after God’s own heart. God saw something in David He wanted to use. Though David did wrong, he sought God with all his heart...he sought forgiveness and God always grants it to those who ask.
God looks around and finds those with a willing heart to do His works here on earth. “if you humble yourselves and seek my face, I will hear your prayers and heal your land.” Many were praying for our land after 8 years of obama’s “fundamentally changing our country” into his.
I also believe this land was brought about by God. The founding fathers included God in all their writings and decisions. I look at what they wrote in our constitution and know God was in it.
So I believe God had a purpose for this country He brought about and made as successful as it’s been and a country so many want to come to.. for realizing their dreams.
If God made this country into the best in the world, surely He didn’t want to see obama send us back to the lowest denominator. Surely God did not choose to forsake this land ... the land we fought for and died for to save it... the land God used to send missionaries from .. the land He gave so much to, that we shared with others and helped save other nations from being overtaken by an enemy.
Surely He did not aim for the foolishness of a younger generation who had not lived through a war or bleak and hard times, to dismantle everything that made us great.
After 4 years of obama, there were still too many who blamed everyone and everything but the one guilty... obamm. So their votes gave obama another 4 years. Eight years were enough ... the destruction and demolishing of our nation was before us.
God heard our prayers and sought a man... He went looking for a man who would serve.. a man who was capable .. a man who had the right training to fix our land ... BUT a man who was willing... a man who could take the heat, the attacks God knew were coming to him... a man who would not give up and a man who loved our nation enough to stand his ground and make America Great Again.
God didn’t ask that the man be pure as the driven snow or to be free of all past sins... God didn’t ask that the man go to church or be in the choir.. God didn’t ask for any qualifications, other than the man be willing to serve... God would do the rest. And in the process, God would also make President Trump a great man.. for the man was without pride in himself... only in his accomplishments for this nation we love and God loves!
God found that man in Donald J Trump! God is with him and those who dare to come against him.. come against the powers of the Heavens.. against our God!
Be of good cheer.. God has overcome the world! God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world!!
“I agree that some evangelicals have so visibly hitched themselves to Trump and/or the Republican Party that we have compromised our integrity”
If we left it up to hayseeds like this, we would be reading an op-ed about how mean President Hillary is to Christians, instead of someone have a first world problem.
It is sad that you feel that people respond to what other people say to them.
I feel really sorry for any friends or family (however far at arms lentgh you keep them) you may have.
“nteresting. A vote for Trump shows you are a bad person, but a vote for Hillery shows you are a good person.”
Where did you get this ? I obviously haven’t made myself understood.
If you read “Art of the deal” and the most important part of the book, the publishing date - it becomes clear that the harsh, brash and ruthless method to NYC business was actually spawned from his figurative loins.
Before that book, NYC operated like most cities and fostered the same kind of people that the rest of the US does. His book laid out how he made a personal success by being a foaming-at-the-mouth animal where people are easily pushed over. It’s not fair, but it’s the reality to his brand of success.
So for him to make his way in this environment is second nature. Because he practically invented this environment.
Abrasive. Would it have been considered abrasive when Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple? Nice?
No. I don’t worship Trump. And when he does something I disagree with, I feel free to say so. I don’t blindly move in lockstep with whatever Trump or anyone tells me.
Mostly I like his abrasiveness. It wakes people up and gets them to pay attention. It doesn’t sugarcoat everything to the point of obfuscation.
All A Christian need to do is re-read the parts of the Bible relative to David, a morally flawed man if there ever was one; yet he fulfilled his destiny and with all his flaws, in spite of his flaws, he Loved G-d.
I also remind folks in electing ANY president, I, for one, am not electing a necessarily “spiritual” leader of the nation, and do not expect ANY president to fulfill such a role.
It is wrong for any Christian to treat electing the U.S. president as if “electing” the head of their “national Church”.
Agreed (post 27 too).
...but, apparently it’s OK for you to respond to AndyJackson.
Cowardly bastard
I am utterly clueless as to any point you may be trying to make.
You mean a corrupt bunch of insiders who stay close to their friends in city hall - "honest graft" as Plunkitt of Tamany Hall called it. You know, the Bush family kind of corruption where we are all very nice to each other so long as palms get greased and backs get scratched and the country is run to ruin.
I wouldn’t have been watching CNN anyway, but Thank Goodness for Breaking News.
IOW, a good deed is not necessarily nice, and a nice deed is not necessarily good. A pithy point.
That's not his job. Its silly to think that's a president's job.
But he, as far as we know, isn't backing jihadists who slaughter Christians, doesn't back jihadists who are running drugs into the country, isn't in favor of forcing Christians to violate their conscience, isn't running guns to the Mexican Cartel, isn't helping Iran get a nuke, and isn't helping North Korea get a nuke. Like every other president we've had in recent years.
Most of the caveats applied to President Trump by his supporters are false narratives planted by the democrats and their media bullies.
The liberals have pushed the concept that a person must be a phony to be Presidential. They just don’t use those words. President Trump is turning that on its head by being real and being truthful. President Trump went to a school with a real honor code and I believe that has stuck to him like glue.
Don’t bother. It is not a good use of your time.
When dealing with the psychos on the Left, “nice” isn’t a word that should EVER enter the playbook.
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