Responding to Trumpism

 How do you respond to a church goer who is all in for Trumpism?  Is it ok to free the capitol rioters who murdered police officers and damaged property?  Is it ok to have wanted to murder the Vice President?  Is it ok to believe conspiracy theories that run counter to Biblical teaching?  I want to be more skilled at pointing the discussion to God’s sovereign rule, His kingdom tk come and His kingdom working right now in our here and now moments. Evil is attempting to undermine the truth and destroy the moral order of our government. Evil is creating a distrust of every voice that has defended truth. 

One key step is not to be gullible, but well informed from a variety of sources. 

Esau McCaulley

The story of David and Saul, and the wider story of God, should make Christians cautious when trying to interpret events. There is just too much we do not know. Was the election of Donald Trump an occasion of God giving people what they want as a form of judgment, as with King Saul, or was it the raising up of God’s chosen, as with David? For a variety of character reasons, I am confident it is not the latter. God has already raised up the greater David—Jesus—and humanity is no longer in need of a savior. Still, I can’t say that Trump’s return to the White House is the result of God’s judgment upon America. History is too messy to make such plain proclamations.

I do know that Christians are commanded to pray for rulers and those in authority, because the more power a politician has, the more influence he wields in people’s lives. I will pray for Donald Trump just as I prayed for Joe Biden before him. Those prayers ought to have a certain focus: that our leaders use their power wisely to protect the vulnerable and establish justice for all.

And when a member of the clergy is given the honor of praying in front of a leader, the prayer should not merely evoke a kind of divine mandate but remind the leader of his solemn responsibility. We serve those in power well when we help them remember there is someone to whom they must give an account. A good prayer for a person in power ought to leave them with knees trembling rather than head nodding.