Crawling Out From Under a Rock and Getting Out of the Bubble

 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.  When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.  Psalm 146:3-4 ESV

The election is over.  Trump lost.  There is no credible evidence of "massive voter fraud."  The election officials who handled the process in their respective states did as good a job as they have ever done.  Trump's call for poll watchers produced what has become the most observed election process in American history.  And what we are seeing now, in the President's behavior and in the response of those who have had to buy into his political support for their own survival, is the pitiful proof of what his critics have said about his complete unfitness as a leader and the awful corruption of his administration.  End of story.  

This President's most ardent supporters, the conservative side of Evangelical, Protestant Christianity, are in deep trouble and open denial.  Denial to the point where you have to wonder if some of these people are living on the same planet with the rest of us.  Trouble in that self-proclaimed "Evangelical Christian" leaders are saying and doing things that undermine virtually every doctrinal and theological point they preach to their congregations.  It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to take some of these pastors, preachers and ministry leaders seriously because of what they are doing and saying when it comes to Trumpian politics.  Sure, this is America and free speech and expression are constitutionally protected, but there are consequences for lying and no excuses for these self-appointed leaders not to check the facts first.  Their credibility is gone.  

When Christian leaders get away from preaching the gospel and venture into secular politics, losing credibility is a risk they run.  When those leaders become so caught up in partisan politics that they deny the truth, the consequences can be disastrous.  And the fact of the matter is that the alliance that has formed between the Trump administration and some Evangelical Christian leaders is wreaking havoc on churches.  Offerings are down, attendance is down, membership is declining.  But beyond that, an increasing number of Christians, and I put myself in this group, are losing the trust they once placed in many well-known, self-appointed Evangelical Christian "leaders."  And there is more than just anecdotal evidence that this is happening.  

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.   Matthew 24:24 NRSV

When the author of this verse used the term "great signs and wonders" he was most likely referring to things that were miraculous or supernatural in nature, or at least appeared to be that way to those who were observing.  There are those within Trump's Evangelical base who indulge in "signs and wonders" and who claim that these things point to God's favor being bestowed upon this presidential administration.  That may be more widespread than it appears since it isn't theologically or doctrinally "correct" to admit to the presence of Pentecostal-type signs and wonders in some Evangelical circles. There are others who, without any substantiation or evidence, wrap themselves up in the lies and deceptions of conspiracy theorists like "Q Anon."  But whatever path they may take, I believe that Evangelical Christians who support Trump have indeed been led astray by a mirage reflecting things that do not exist, ignoring the evil that has been done.  

The evidence that is clear points to the truthful evaluation of the Trump administration as the most corrupt in American history, undermining the very roots of this constitutional republic and bringing us a close to the brink of a dictatorship as we have ever experienced.  It has eroded trust and confidence in institutions of our government on which its ability to function has rested.  It has been motivated by greed and self-interest, evident in the lopsided tax benefits given to Trump's wealthy friends and in the pardons handed out to self-confessed criminals who were deliberately obstructing the constitution and the rule of law for the personal benefit of this President, not in the best interests of this country. 

"Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  Ah you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!  Ah you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of their rights.  Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten and their blossoms go up like dust, for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Hosts , and have despised the word of the Holy one of Israel."  Isaiah 5:20-24, NRSV

Trump had a long legacy of corruption, business failure and fraud, adultery and lying, earning most of his personal fortune off entertainment businesses like strip clubs and casinos.  He literally glorified his womanizing, used it to build the kind of worldly reputation that he sold to the entertainment industry.  He gloated and celebrated the corruption he was able to get away with in business, and he brought it to his administration, resulting in multiple investigations and an impeachment.  Those who provided the testimony to, and evidence of, this corruption are his own business associates, lawyers and political appointees.  Check your facts on where all of the information in those investigations came from.  It didn't get "made up" by Democrats, it came from people who knew Trump personally and who accepted his offers of jobs, his business and now his political allies and associates.  Evangelicals who say "I'm not electing a pastor-in-chief" are hypocritical in their denial of the truth. 

It could be that we are seeing, in Biblical terms, the chaff being separated from the grain.  Evangelical Christian leaders have been like the proverbial frog in the kettle when it has come to seeing the signs of church decay and decline that church researchers were pointing out more than a decade ago, and have been loathe to admit it.  But the declining attendance and membership is also being mirrored in collection plates which is being followed by staffing cuts, elimination of programs and reductions in the number of missionaries being sent overseas.  The venerable Southern Baptist Convention, largest of American Evangelical denominations, has finally admitted that many of its state bodies, along with its own seminaries and mission boards, have burned through reserve funds and most are going through a massive reorganization, restructuring and downsizing process to adjust to the reduced income.  

Is it coincidence that some of the most monstrous scandals among Evangelical Christian leadership has happened during this same time frame and has beset some of Trump's most ardent admirers among the self-identified Evangelical community?  The scandal that hit the Falwell empire is as tawdry and twisted as some of Trump's antics have been.  Falwell has been as ardent of a supporter of Trump as he was a judgmental critic of Bill Clinton.  His recent actions show us that, for him at least, it was all about the politics and never about faith in God.  The silence about both Trump and Falwell from most of those considered leaders of the Evangelical political right is a demonstration of widespread hypocrisy.  Remember that the next time you hear one of them preach.  

Revival isn't coming as a result of electing the "right" politicians, notwithstanding the fact that someone who has made a public career out of indulging the flesh like Donald Trump would never qualify as the "right" politician in any case.  There's a commonly held belief among many American Evangelicals that they and their churches will be the vehicle through which America will experience a spiritual revival and a "return to God" so to speak because many of them think of themselves as being more doctrinally and theologically correct and closer to Biblical truth than other Christians.  But how "correct" can you be when your discernment has been so bad and you have been, and still are, blind to the reality that is staring you in the face?  No prophetic word is coming out of that kind of confusion. 

If Evangelical Christians have any hope at all of being part of any spiritual revival that God brings to America, if that's his will, they will have to crawl out from under the political rock that is powerfully holding them down and robbing them of their credibility.  Repentance, perhaps collectively in the case of some churches and denominations, is in order, from the sin of believing that political power is mightier than God's power and of acting like that is the source of truth.  A true spiritual revival, something that is talked about frequently but which is rarely seen, doesn't start in the voting booth.  It starts with humility at the foot of the cross.

"And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you in due time."--Peter, the Apostle, First Epistle 5:5b-6 NRSV