Posted on 01/19/2021 8:17:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
(Please note: I wrote this on December 11, 2020, during a one-week prayer retreat alone in Texas, but I have waited to release the article until now. With the storming of the Capitol on January 6th and the loss of Republican power in the Senate on January 5th, every line that follows is now underscored.)
Like many of you reading this article, I voted for Donald Trump, which means I voted against Joe Biden. I have also written articles calling out the radical nature of the Democratic platform, drawing attention to Biden’s extreme, “transgender rights” position, and pointing to his continued shift to the left on abortion. And I have warned of the potential dangers of a Kamala Harris presidency.
Like many of you, I am deeply concerned about the direction America could be heading under a Biden-Harris administration, including potentially destructive dealings with China and Iran.
At the same time, I believe that the election of Joe Biden might be in the best interest of the Church of America.
How can I say such a thing?
Simply stated, it is because many of us Christian conservatives put too much trust in a man. (If you didn’t, fine. I said “many of us,” not all of us.)
We were looking to a man to preserve our religious freedoms.
Looking to a man to overturn Roe v. Wade through the courts.
Looking to a man to fight our battles, to be our champion.
Looking to a man to push back against the evil agendas of the radical left.
Looking to a man to bring peace to the Middle East.
Such an attitude is never healthy, especially when that man is Donald Trump, a man who could be as abrasive and destructive as he could be winsome and uniting.
And when it seemed that Trump might be losing the election, we turned to God in fervent prayer and fasting. But it was not so much for revival in the church and mercy on America as much as it was for Trump’s victory, as if only a Trump victory stood between America’s freedom and America’ collapse.
As I recall, Jesus taught us to pray that the Lord’s name would be hallowed and that His kingdom would come and His will be done, rather than to pray for the election of a particular individual or the success of a particular party.
To be sure, many were praying for justice, praying to “Stop the Steal.” Yet our prayers for the reelection of Donald Trump were far more passionate than our prayers for other critical issues, such as stopping the pandemic. Or our prayers to see our neighbors come to Jesus. Or our prayers for the safety of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
How could this be right?
As things stand, I truly believe that four more years of Donald Trump would have led to greater spiritual complacency and even triumphalism, not to mention the vulgarizing of our own souls.
Four more years of Trump (for which I, too, voted) would have led to even greater trust in a man, only deepening our dangerous trend.
Four more years of Trump would have destroyed our witness even more severely, as evangelical Christians (in particular, white evangelical Christians) would have been better known for association with Trump than association with Jesus. (As it is, much damage has been done and we have much ground to recover.)
Four more years of Trump would have kept our focus on the government, as if the White House or Congress or the Supreme Court could slow the national hemorrhaging or stop our downward moral and spiritual slide.
“But,” you say, “a Biden-Harris presidency means more babies slaughtered. That alone tells me you are wrong. Surely God doesn’t want more innocent blood being shed.”
Certainly, I share your pro-life passion, and I fully understand the implications of a Biden-Harris administration when it comes to the unborn. Absolutely, 100 percent.
But let’s face the facts.
Babies were slaughtered at a horrific rate through the Republican presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. That’s a total of 24 years and more than 22 million babies, which is far more babies than were aborted during the 16 years of the Democratic presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
At the same time, progress is being made every year in reducing the number of abortions through other legislative and grass roots efforts, all while we continue to press for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“But,” you say, “a Democratic victory now could mean the packing of the courts and the end of free and fair elections as we know it. We will never recover from this.”
You could be right, in which case, the situation is dire. On the other hand, now is the time to stand up boldly and exercise our faith. Why must we be so fatalistic?
The possibilities are indeed grave, but they are certainly not written in stone.
Personally, I do not believe most Americans will support the increasingly radical leftist agenda. In fact, it could be that the best thing that could happen to our country is for the radical left to show its real hand and for its fangs, so to say, to be exposed.
The more that BLM and Antifa terrorize our streets, the less popular they will be.
The more people see where a Green New Deal will lead (especially in their paychecks and freedoms), the less they will like it.
The more the Democrats seek to remake America, the more Americans will not want Democrats in power.
The more people realize that Big Tech is trying to rule their lives and the mainstream media is lying to them, the more they will resent this hostile takeover.
As for the Church, the more we realize that we cannot look to the White House or Congress to do our bidding, the more we will get back to gospel basics. And it is those basics alone that can save the nation.
To quote the words of the Psalms, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118:9). And, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save” (Psalm 146:3). Today, we could substitute the word “presidents” for “princes.”
Of course, these verses do not mean that we become passive and complacent when it comes to the political system. They do not mean that we have a kumbaya mentality when it comes to laws and policies.
But they do mean that we must not put our full trust in earthly leaders or earthly powers. And they do mean that our trust in God will be rewarded.
The truth is that, quite often in life, the worst things turn out to the best things. And as the saying goes, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.
A Biden-Harris presidency will not come close to killing us. Didn’t Jesus say that the gates of Hades would not prevail over the Church, meaning the powers of death itself?
Instead, an adversarial presence in the White House could be the best thing that happened to the Church of America in years.
Maybe this is what it will take to wake us up. An awakened Church remains the hope of the nation.
It is that force alone – the force of the gospel lived out – that can change hearts. Then, people with changed hearts can reshape the government and the courts. Then we will have change that can last.
Absolute hogwash and bovine excrement!!
I think the author is fine with an increase in abortions and a future of rigged elections, just so long as we longer have a "vulgar" president.
Churches in general have moved left, so they’ll love president Biden.
Sadly, they’ve lost me.
The church has always grown under persecution. That was the first thing that came to mind after reading the headline. Though I have not yet read the article.
The “Church” at least the one governed by Francis has turned remarkably left and “Reset” in its philosophy. A few priests and a handful of Bishops show a little courage but mainly they are silent and submissive. Sad!
What percentage of the church voted for this agenda - that’s the real problem. A house divided
Dittos
Because we’re all going to be flocking to church and praying like never before.
I suppose with this logic, “many of us” should never want a benevolent administration in office. Let’s always vote for Globalist, Leftist, Progressives, and Commies to be in charge over us.
You’ll get your wish soon enough. Enjoy it.
I agree. Hogwash.
How does Michael Brown think America will turn from G-dless Biden and his forces? Will it not be by men and woman organized to do that and will that NOT be undoing of the laws set be by Biden and his ilk, and will that undoing not be by political action, action led by political leaders.
How is it that some “religious” people lose total sight and understanding of the connection between the practice of the living out of their religion and our freedoms???
What “Church” was this writer talking about? There are many denominations subscribing to an over-church government, and hundreds of thousands of independent autonomous churches that answer to God alone. Which one (singular)?
It’s like saying “massive amounts of sugar are actually good for diabetics.”
When we lost in 1992, 2008, and 2020, we could turn to the Lord and seek His will and find comfort in that Paul wrote Romans 12, all the while living under emperors like Caligula and Nero.
Such bullshit. This morning my daily Bible verse app sent me Paul’s admonition from Romans, reminding me that I am required to submit to the government above me, because it exists from the will of God.
It’s a manure spreader of propaganda out there.
Rev 3:16: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Let the spueing begin!
Its convoluted Laodecian lukewarm puke.
We didn’t lose in 2020. Theft of election is not a loss, although the theft can be seen as a loss.
RE: I suppose with this logic, “many of us” should never want a benevolent administration in office.
I don’t think that’s what the author is wishing for. If I read his point correctly, he believes that the church sometimes gets too complacent and comfortable in the status quo and weak and soft. They also depend too much on a few strong personalities to defend their values.
It will take COLLECTIVE effort of the whole body of Christ to fight the decline in morality in our culture, not just one man.
Persecution for a short while, sometimes has a way of strengthening the spirituality of the church, just like exercise, no matter how uncomfortable and streneous, strengthens the muscle.
And Paul screwed up with that statement. His lunacy on that idea has been used for 2000 years to justify earthly Monarchs, and resisting those tyrants was blasphemy. And were Germans obligated to obey Hitler? Russians to dutifully obey Stalin? Would shooting either of them be a sin?
Paul was wrong. He wasn’t Jesus. I am a Christian, not a Paulian.
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