FAQ

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. - 1 John 2:21

Why am I doing this?

Until the advent of Trump, I was a straight Republican ticket voter. But the fact that Trump (who is blatantly and unrepentantly the opposite of all that Jesus is) is using the evangelical church to build his ego and lust for power is so obvious that a blind man could see it with a cane. Yet more than 80% of my brothers and sisters in Christ continue to act as his apologists and enablers. This dichotomy brings dishonor to the name of Christ and is damaging to the faith. So what is usually a simple political issue has become an acute theological issue with serious real world repercussions. It paints the church as hypocrites who claim to value Christian virtues but who are willing to back someone who epitomizes the exact opposite if it is to their political or cultural advantage. And it makes God out to be someone who smiles on the arrogant and blesses self-centered bullies. With the exception of those who are actively promoting Trump, most pastors have remained silent during all of this. So this is the only way I’ve found to get that message to the people who need to hear it. My goal is to speak the truth in love in the hope that some of the seed sown will bear fruit to repentance and that pastors will begin to address the issue with their congregations.

This effort is not sponsored by any religious or political organization.

But isn’t Trump fighting for the rights of Christians and for the policies they feel are important?

First of all, the only right Christians have is the right to suffer for His name. Secondly, they don’t need anyone to fight for them. They have the God of Heaven and Earth to do that. Lastly, Trump’s character and behavior proves that he cares nothing for Jesus or others and is blatantly using the fears of the church to satisfy his ego and lust for power.

No president has been treated as unfairly as Trump. His impeachments and legal cases prove that there’s a vast conspiracy by the Deep State to destroy him.

Or could it be that no President has ever acted with such flagrant disregard for the law and our democratic principles and it’s finally catching up to him?

I like Trump’s policies even though I dislike his personal behavior. And America is electing a President not a pastor.

We’re electing someone to lead and represent our nation and their character will determine how they will respond and the sort of decisions they will make. Trump’s example has already created chaos, conflict, and deep division throughout our nation and brought the quality of political discourse to new lows. His contempt for our democratic institutions, his obsession with revenge, and his flagrant disregard for the truth damages America in fundamental ways. Then there’s the fact that he lacks the traits essential to being President; sanity, decency, honesty, working well with others, thoughtfulness, self-control, compassion, etc. And there’s something more important at stake here than the future of our nation…the honor of the name of Jesus.

But what about abortion (or gay rights, immigration, gun rights, <fill in the blank>)?

Whether the evangelical church has it right on abortion or not (or any other issue), nothing justifies the church making its bed with someone so blatantly antithetical to all that Jesus is. Such Faustian bargains are always a mistake. And unscrupulous men like Trump know that they can manipulate these emotional issues to their advantage.

Do you think Trump is the Antichrist?

Over the past 2 millennia, many people have been accused of being the iconic evil figure described in biblical prophecy that ushers in the end of the world. And, of course, all those making such hyperbolic accusations over the years have been wrong. But regardless of your eschatology (i.e., theological beliefs about how the world ends), there are many people that could be described as what 1 John 2 calls “antichrists.” These are people that Paul described in his letter to the Phillipians as “enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame.” In other words, people who are defined by behavior and attitudes that are the opposite of those lived by Jesus. By this definition, Trump is clearly and demonstrably an antichrist (little “a”). And the evangelical church wants to make him the most powerful man in the world…again. This does not bode well. But whether or not he is THE Antichrist, remains to be seen.

Who are you to tell evangelical church-goers, their pastors, and their leaders that they’re wrong about Trump?

If I may quote Westley from “The Princess Bride,” I’m “no one of any consequence.” I have no advanced degrees in theology, I haven’t spent years meditating on some remote mountaintop, I’ve received no special visions or revelations. I’m just an average Christian who is deeply grieved by the inexplicable behavior of my fellow Christians and who is compelled to try and do something to change it. And as Bob Dylan put it, “you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

Trump is just like King Cyrus or King David in the Bible; imperfect people that God used despite their sins to lead His people.

It’s important to remember that Cyrus and David were chosen by God. They were NOT chosen by the people of God through an election. When we elect someone, WE are choosing them. Secondly, God never called His people to overlook or make excuses for the sins of their leaders. Thirdly, David repented of his sins while Trump has never expressed any kind of remorse. If you want a more accurate biblical analogy for Trump, I suggest the “little horn” of Daniel 7 and 8 who made “great boasts” and “flung truth to the ground” or “the beast” of Revelation 13 who was given “a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies.”

Why can’t you just keep your opinion to yourself and respect the right of others to have a different opinion? Isn’t politics a “gray area” where there is no clear right and wrong? Let the election decide.

There are many “gray areas” in scripture and many issues that are intentionally ambiguous. But this is not one of them. While we are not to divide over minor issues, we are not to ignore the grave and blatant ones. We are called to encourage one another but to admonish one another when needed. Much of the Bible is devoted to calling out sin, not among the world, but among God’s people; telling us to “correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction” the people of God (2 Timothy 4:2). And the truth concerning Trump is so obvious a blind man could see it with a cane. There is nothing subtle or hidden about his motivations or intent. He shouts it in our faces every day. The entire world recognizes that Trump only cares for himself and that he is using the fears of the church as his vehicle to power…everyone but evangelical believers. And their embrace of him paints the church as a haven and an apologist for bullies and would-be dictators. It remakes God into someone who rewards the proud and the arrogant and chooses the brutal to bless. Without the voting block of the evangelical church, Trump would be just another egotistical billionaire with a “god complex.” But this is not politics as usual. The fact that so many Christians continue to adamantly support Trump and regard him as “God’s chosen” has made this a theological issue. The result has been more damaging to the faith in America than any other factor in modern history. It dishonors the name of Christ. And it has to stop before it gets any worse and before our nation is transformed into a mirror image of this despicable and twisted man.

So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16