Posted on 02/24/2016 7:17:27 AM PST by TurkeyLurkey
Like the Blind Leading the Blind: Donald Trump and Evangelicals
This morning, like most mornings now, I found myself reading an article on Donald Trump’s candidacy. Everyday I ask myself the question, “How can so many American Evangelicals support such an openly narcissistic, power driven man?†Sarah Palin endorsed him, Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, endorsed him,[1] and not too long ago, a poll was released that showed that Evangelical Christians as a whole are gravitating to Trump.[2]
But, this article I read today gave me a much needed answer as to why Americans and specifically republican “anti-establishment†Evangelicals are gravitating toward Donald Trump. The author, Gina Dalfonzo, asserted, and rightfully so, that when fear is driving a certain people group, they will seek safety and power in the wrong places. The author then went on to make the connection that the American people, specifically “anti-establishment†republicans, are putting their faith in Donald Trump, because he projects an unwavering, albeit narcissistic, strength. She even takes a particular jab at American Evangelicals it seems, when she states, “Some who have professed faith in Jesus Christ are lured by a man who openly puts all his faith in power and money, the very things Christ warned us against prizing too highly.â€[3]
Americans are scared. And, when humans fear they look for security. And, what appeals to humans seeking security? Strength. This is why Trump is so appealing; he exudes a certain unwavering cockiness that somehow appeals to people as “strength.†But, Evangelical Christians must remember that to exchange morality and virtue for strength and power is to reject an important Christian principle.
American Evangelicals, by voting for Trump, are rejecting a key principle from the message of Christ and his incarnation: personal power is not to be prized.
I could to try and sway Evangelical voters by pointing to Trump’s not so morally consistent business and personal history. I could easily point to Trump’s multiple divorces,[4] his business endeavors, the fact he owned the nation’s first-ever casino strip club,[5] the fact that he preys on the weak by using his power to take their land through eminent domain,[6] his previous support of abortion, his sexist[7] and racist remarks,[8] and much more.[9] But, more than all of these actions, the reason why Trump should cause Christians to cringe is what seems to be his deep, personal, one could say philosophical, love of power and not virtue.
Trump fails to realize that power is neither good nor evil in and of itself. Power can be a good, or it can be an evil. Power can be likened to a hammer. In the right hands it is a tool that builds up and strengthens a structure. In the wrong hands it can be a tool used for destruction or tearing apart a structure. It is the character of the man wielding the hammer that matters not the hammer itself. Power needs virtue in order to be good. But, Trump insists that because he is successful, because he is rich, because he is powerful, he deserves your vote. Remembering our illustration, it is as if Trump is saying, I’ll be a good builder cause I have a hammer. This, I believe, contradicts the virtue ethic of the Bible. And, the question every voter, not only Evangelical Christians, must ask is “How has he used his power? How has he used his tools?â€
The Prophet Jeremiah writes, “Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.â€[10] This is a summary of the Christian message. The Christian message and ethic is that man’s boasting whether it be in money, power, or wisdom, gains him nothing. It’s worthless. But, God delights in men of virtue, of love, justice, and righteousness. Trump does not live a life of virtue, rather he boasts of all his money, power, and accomplishments to gain your trust and vote. Trump is successful; Trump is rich; Trump is powerful. I am not denying this, but American Evangelicals must question how he uses his money, success, and power. And, I believe if one questions this, he will realize that Trump’s actions show that he consistently uses his money and power unethically.
The Apostle Paul states in his first epistle to the Corinthians (not One Corinthians), “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast.â€[11] Jesus as our Leader, our Savior and King, did not rule this world with king-like power or with earthly riches. Jesus Christ lived a lowly life, a life of healing the sick, a life of serving the poor and the outcast. Christ lived a servant’s life, and he died a humiliating death to save mankind, even those who crucified him. Christ does not claim followers because of His mere power. Jesus Christ claims followers because of how he uses His infinite power. Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection show that true power comes from understanding virtue and enacting love, justice, and righteousness in our broken world. Virtue and morality is what builds and structures our communities, our cities, our states, and our union. This is what is called a Virtue-ethic. Man living for virtue’s sake not for personal gain.
That being said, there was a time when American Evangelicals voted from this Christian virtue ethic. Russell Moore says it well,
“One may say that Trump’s personal life and business dealings are irrelevant to his candidacy, but conservatives have argued for generations that virtue matters, in the citizenry and in the nation’s leaders. Can conservatives really believe that, if elected, Trump would care about protecting the family’s place in society when his own life is — unapologetically — what conservatives used to recognize as decadent?â€
Some American Evangelicals want to elect a man who stands for the exact opposite of Christ’s message of virtue as true power. They want a leader who mocks, scoffs, and ridicules his competitors and dissenters. Some Evangelicals want to elect Trump as their political “savior,†but sadly they cannot see his blatant rejection of their very Savior’s virtue ethic. Like the blind leading the blind, so Trump leads scared and impressionable Evangelicals.
I am not saying that Christians can only vote for verified Christians, there is no religious test for office; I am not saying that Christians cannot vote for rich men; I am not saying that Christians cannot vote for powerful men. The point I am wishing to make is that Christians cannot vote for rich, powerful men who reject virtue and have both a flawed character and ethic. As previously stated, I do not care if Trump is rich; I do not care if Trump is successful; I do not care if Trump is powerful. But, I do care how Trump uses his money, success, and power. Therefore, I care that Trump is immoral; I care that Trump is arrogant; I care that Trump is narcissistic. And, all of these characteristics paired with his personal and business actions show his blatant opposition to Christ’s message of true power as virtue. Thus, to vote for Trump is to accept the message of this world: that the powerful, the rich, the successful deserve power and leadership. And, if that is true, then Jesus Christ would not have been a good leader according to modern standards.
Evangelical Christians must understand that to seriously support Trump is to politically forget that morality is to be prized over earthly power; that divine virtue is greater than human strength.
If you are trusting in Jesus, then you are not a Dominionist. Dominionists believe that only through their WORKS can the earth be prepared for Jesus to return. They have to create the Kingdom of Heaven before He can return. That is why it is a heresy.
Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. My Kingdom is not of this world.
Jesus does not give electoral advice. Jesus is interested in YOU and you are accountable to Him for the way YOU live, He does not appear to be very interested in your judgments about others.
Guarantee that about Hillary if she steals the election.
No, Jim, it was that very faulty form of pietism you seem to be recommending that led to American Christians having a greatly reduced role in American government. So much so that Falwell et al came back with the Moral Majority to try and reverse the damage done.
But if you go back to the Reformers, there was no shortage of good, godly men and women willing to step up and get involved in civil policy, allowing their faith to inform all their thinking for the whole of real life, not just in some safe little Sunday School sandbox. Nor would they have tolerated the isolation of the Christian community into a kind of ghetto just begging the secular powers for permission to exist.
Indeed, Calvin had worked out an entire theory of “vocation,” systematic Christian involvement in life and culture, followed up by other great thinkers like Abraham Kuyper, who helped us think deeply about the two spheres of human authority, civil and ecclesiastical, and how they might be harmonized. Christians are to be salt and light in a wicked world. Our first mission is the preaching of the Gospel. But the Gospel has consequences to the culture and the body politic when it is adopted on a large scale.
And so we do render unto Caesar, but given the chance to elect who Caesar shall be, we should not choose a Caesar who is oblivious to his own lack of deity. It’s not just bad for Christians. It’s bad for everybody. If we are given, in our participatory form of government, a way to stop that bad thing from happening, why wouldn’t we do it?
Peace,
SR
Trump is never going to call on the Lord, like Samson, either publicly or privately. Samson was raised as a sanctified nazerite not as a hedonist.
And even if Trump was Samson like: I wouldn't wish Samson on Samson.
Judges 16:30
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Interesting analysis. Put it to the test with Rafael Cruz. How do you know he is not trusting Jesus? He claims to be born again, which by definition is a claim that he trusts in Jesus and in him only, not works, for salvation. At least that's what it means in evangelical circles. Do you have facts to back up your claim that Rafael Cruz does not trust Jesus?
Peace,
SR
I’ve done my Watchman duty with you. If you want to keep telling YHWH what He can or can’t do, and continue to judge the hearts of your fellow men, then your blood will not be on my hands.
Listen to his sermon, and he will tell you what he believes. You don’t have to speculate.
Have not sen The List recently. Is Samson on it?
Red herring. Nothing in the article has anything to do with "theocracy." Rather it has to do with the virtue that our Founders expected that both the people and the leaders they selected would posses.
Trump is weighed in the balances and found wanting.
I have seen many acknowledge that Trump is very virtue deficient and proclaim it to be of no consequence.
"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty."
John Adams
Blah, blah, blah.
Burn it down.
Go Trump.
Troubling thing about his conversion is that, from his own words, it seems more utilitarian and pragmatic than truly heart felt.
The "never thought about it" is just as damning as the aborting of the "loser" child.
So you are on record as being a French Revolutionary?
Oui.
Yes.
“I wonder how many FR people - who were appalled when Obama told his supporters to “get in the face†of opponents - are now applauding Trump when he says he would like to punch a heckler? Probably quite a few.”
Can you not see the difference between the two scenarios you describe?
One is a private rally bought and paid for by Trump, the attendees of which are his guests. If someone mouths off at a party of yours are not entitled to bust them in the mouth?
The Obama scenario is someone coming to your front door or stopping you in public to “get in your face”.
The two are not comparable.
Edit: “If someone mouths off at a party of yours are YOU not entitled to bust them in the mouth?”
How pitiful for you to disbelieve that such a thing is possible. I became a born-again conservative at age 50, even though I was raised Methodist and believed I was a Christian. After my political conversion came my surrender to Christ, even though I had been baptized and confirmed half a century earlier. God is good, and He is in charge.
I've listened to part of it. I don't like it:
Larry Huch: "...We will become so blessed that we will usher in the coming of the Messiah."
Is seems to me that the coming of the Messaih shall be heralded this way:
Luke 21
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
I believe Rafael Cruz loves the Lord and I'd love to ask him lo que da???. Anyway, having voiced my misgivings, I don't want to be a part of making a heathen like Trump a herald of the Messiah. I have no misgivings about that.
I'm going to watch/listen/comment on the rest of this, painful though it may be. Thanks SubMareener.
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