It hurts to watch. The Atlantic (Jonathan Merritt) was right. Conservatives in general and Christians in particular have done a peculiar 180° spin on the issue of character. We held the high ground back then. Now we hold the pragmatic ground. The Left said, "It doesn't matter about his character. What matters is what he accomplishes." And I'm hearing the same from Christians today. What does it matter what kind of man he is if he gets it done? Well, I guess I get stuck on the last part of the question. Gets what done? He's certainly not going to restore a sense of decorum and cooperation to the Executive Branch. He's already indicated that he has no dog in the pro-life hunt. He has suggested that he'll "hunt down his opposition" (my words, not his). Is that what we want done? What I want done is to have a president I can trust, and he won't get that done. One who will defend life. That's not him. One who will defend my values. Not gonna happen. But, of course, I didn't expect it ... from him or any other current politician.
So now we've removed Dems and Republicans from the principled position -- "Character counts" -- and into the purely pragmatic. They wanted the political outcomes that they wanted, character notwithstanding. Now so do we. What do we want? Maybe what we want done is simply to prevent Biden from doing 4 more years of damage. Maybe all we want is someone -- anyone -- in the White House that is not our current president. Now, that could be just about anybody, but obviously it would require someone who could beat Biden in an election. So maybe, from a purely pragmatic view, it will be necessary to vote for a man without significant character in whom I have little trust or expectations just to keep Biden out of office. What kind of a miserable option is that? Clearly from a low (but not necessarily faulty) view of American politics. When I consider these things, I call to mind, as the hymn says,
This is my Father’s world.
Oh, let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
9 comments:
This is one of the most challenging questions Christians wrestle with today. On the one hand, neither of our two choices are men of character, neither is pro-life in any meaningful sense, although Trump has actually given the pro-life camp what they have wanted for years. Neither is honest, or anything else you mentioned. The problem is that one of these two is going to be president for the next 4 years and shouldn't we support the one that will be less bad? Obviously there a a lot of people on both sides, and for many pragmatism wins. I find myself in that position, although it's unlikely that my vote in my state will matter one way or another.
I think that ultimately, the pendulum will swing back toward character as the primary virtue of political candidates. Unfortunately, not until 2028 at the earliest.
I am so glad you opened this subject up, a hot bed that it is. Before I post the following quote from a believer I respect, I am one of those people who will be voting for the lesser of the two evils. I am sure like you Craig, that my vote will not count, being that I live in California. I have been given the right to vote, so I will. Here is the quote "“Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 1 Samuel 8:19-20
Their desire for an earthly, fallible, sinful leader superseded their desire of having the God of the universe, whose mercies are new every day, rule over them. Their eyes were on a man. That man turned out to be King Saul. A man who was arrogant, self-centered, selfish, and most of all, proud.
And, let me tell you that God hates pride!
SO WHAT?
So what does all of this have anything to do with what just happened to Trump?
Well, I believe that, though tragic and upsetting as it is, what this really did was bring to the forefront the focus of many within the church. Much in the same way that the Israelites longed for an earthly leader, the church is (and has been) making the same mistake for centuries. Essentially, the church by and large has been putting their focus on Trump, a man, as a means to “save” us from the rapid and inevitable decline of America. He’s been elevated to “savior” status by way too many pastors and congregations alike.
Much of the chatter and sentiment that came out of this assassination attempt via many in the church was implying that because God saved Trump from this (and the Lord surely did prevent it), he is somehow now endorsed by God Almighty to go forth, lay hold of the presidency and make all the wrongs right. There’s this prevailing attitude that Trump is God’s instrument for righteousness and therefore cemented his status as ‘savior’ of America.
My prayer, as I hope is yours as well, is that Trump will realize that the One that turned his head at the perfect moment was none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Not chance, coincidence, luck or fate. It was God Almighty! I would love to hear Donald Trump acknowledge Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. I’d love to hear similar words spoken by Trump that were uttered by Nebuchadnezzar over two millennia ago…
“And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever
I made this post longer than I wanted...it's a good read from a guy Pablo Frascini (Serpents and Doves) It sure got me to thinking since I've been a little caught up in all that has happened this week. Thank you for letting me share.
I think the Right has stepped away from "character counts" because they've seen themselves losing the cultural battle for so long. We've gone pragmatic because it feels like principle has failed. I think that goes against our call to be righteous, but out might explain the why. I was on the fence this year about whether to vote for him or to throw my vote away, until this weekend. Providence saved his life, so maybe it's God's stamp of "approval".
I don't know if it's God's "stamp of approval." Since he was in charge, Hitler was God's choice for Germany at the time, but clearly not for the sake of Germany. Trump may be God's choice for the U.S. right now, but I can't say it is in order to make America better. I certainly won't count on Trump (or Biden or ...) to make things better without first tossing an entire set of ethics based on Satan's lies. I don't see either of them doing that without ... divine intervention.
David,
I think that you're on to something because we've seen the culture move away from valuing character highly, and seen the left having "success" without character. It certainly goes against our call to righteousness as believers, but can we expect non believers to value character and righteousness as highly as we do? Without some degree of pragmatism in how we vote are we not just ceding the battlefield to our adversaries?
While I agree that YHWH's providence was involved in Trump's survival, at least in the general sense the He superintends everything, I think I'm leaning toward Stan in thinking that Trump winning might not bring about what people want.
Are we looking to gain the whole economic world, but lose our soul in the process?
I agree with you, Stan--we face a “miserable option.” That summation is especially germane coming on the heels of your post on integrity yesterday. I too have a “low view…of American politics.” Praise the Lord, “God is the ruler yet” and always will be!
I was very much hoping that the shooting would humble Trump--that he would see how close he came to “meeting his Maker” in a flash and to sense that reality in a very personal (not political) way. Trump was quoted as saying, “By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God, I’m still here.” How sad that Trump apparently doesn’t know for himself God’s true part in this event (I agree Trump’s survival was indeed “by God” but not in the way those “many people” probably meant it). I for one will be praying that Trump will come to a point (if he hasn’t yet) that he will acknowledge that he “dodged a bullet” in a very real way and that God has graciously allowed him more time to get right with the Lord personally--as a sinner and not a politician/quasi-savior.
Lorna, I agree that Trump being humbled like that would have been a great outcome.
Let me clarify. I fully believe it was divine intervention that prevented Trump from being killed. I believe that it means that God wants him to still remain as the candidate, if not become President. I didn't believe that he will be the means of saving this nation or that he will move us in the direction we do desperately want. I do believe he will move the country in the direction God wants, and if that truly is the end of democracy in this nation as the Left so loudly warns, then let it be so. I'm not voting for him because I think he will do any great things for this country, but that God clearly has a plan for him.
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