"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
"And what I do, I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about. For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds." 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 NRSV*
In 1993, right after the election of President Clinton, Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, one of the largest and most well known congregations in the SBC, preached a sermon entitled, "Does Character Count." Dr. Rogers did not mention the President by name, but many Evangelical Christians who used his words in their own criticism of the President, and in their arguments that Christians should not support him by voting for him, certainly did.
Evangelicals laser-focused their criticism of Clinton's Presidency on their stated character requirements for someone to serve in any public office and based it on their personal judgment that he did not measure up. Their standards and expectations were indeed expecting the President to be the "Pastor-in-chief," in fact, their expectations represented higher standards than most of them would have expected of the pastor of their own church. It renders that recent cliche hypocritical.
I'm not sure that Dr. Rogers would have walked his 1993 sermon back when Trump came along, like most other Evangelical Christians immersed in right wing politics have done. He passed away several years ago. But the pass on character and morality that most Evangelical Christians, including quite a few self-appointed leaders, have given Trump is a definite abandonment of the same standards to which they held President Clinton. They've been led astray. The "elect", if they really are that, have been deceived.
Trump's Fame Was the Result of His Debauchery
Trump flaunted his lack of character in order to build his fame and reputation. But there was more to it than that. His niece, Mary Trump, in her book Too Much and Not Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, points to behavior which indicates deep personality flaws and behavior that indicates mental illness. She accurately predicted the fit that he would throw and the lengths to which he would go to deny losing the election and she was right. But his niece wasn't the only person who put out warnings about Trump.
What is hard to understand is how so many white, Evangelical Christians were convinced to support this man in spite of his past behavior that includes two divorces to marry the "other women" he was involved with in affairs, bragging about having "hundreds" of illicit sexual relationships, business fraud, thousands upon thousands of lies, and a whole long lifestyle of what the Christian scripture describes as "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Though few Evangelical leaders involved in right wing politics stepped back from pronouncing judgment on Clinton's spiritual condition, I'm going to step back from doing the same regarding Trump. I'll just say that his actions and behavior have not shown any attitude of repentance, which would be the first step toward redemption, and his own words on this subject would indicate that the conversion experience most Christians require to justify bad behavior never occurred. The fact that Trump himself has frequently proclaims that he hasn't done anything for which he needs to ask forgiveness is a self-judgment. But most Evangelicals would deny, or blow right past that statement, even though the proof is pretty clear.
To be frank, Trump's lack of character, and obvious personality flaws making him incapable of handling the Presidency rank far higher on my political priority list than issues which are never going to be much more than platform planks for the GOP anyway. I'd have never voted for him, not for public office of any kind and that decision is based on the Biblical guidance I get from my own, personal Evangelical Christian faith. Events of the past four years have proven my decision to be the absolute right one based on Biblical values and Christian faith.
Leading the Elect Astray
It has been more than disappointing and discouraging to see how Evangelical Christians have completely abandoned their core convictions in cult-like fashion and have not only given Trump their support, but have, with their own lies, turned him into some kind of paragon of virtue and in many cases, a "savior," echoing Trump's own words that he is "the only one" who can solve these problems. I guess they have, sadly, forgotten who their savior really is. But don't try to make that point in a conversation with a Christian Trump supporter. It'll be the last time you ever hear from them.
Matthew 24:24 kept popping into my mind when Trump was first running for President in 2016. That phrase, "to lead astray, if possible, even the elect," kept running through my mind. I know the literal context of the verse is different and you can get into major theological arguments over the use of the term "elect," but it's clear that for right wing, politically involved Evangelical Christians, the values system has drastically changed. And so has the preaching.
Evangelical Christians are characterized by the doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy. That is the belief that the text of the Bible, both Old And New Testament, are without error in either the transmission of the words from the original authors or in the application of the content. Some Evangelicals require an interpretation that considers the historical context of the author's original words while others, mostly Fundamentalists, prefer a literal, "word for word, verse by verse" interpretation. Honesty and truthfulness are core values. Forgiveness and grace are abundant gifts but they are connected to conviction of sin and repentance.
But the caustic criticism and vicious lies which many in the "religious political right" use to attack opponents, mostly Democrats like the Clintons and President Obama, are no more consistent with the scripture they claim to believe than their giving a pass to Trump whose behavior is a litany of consistency with Galatians 5:19-21. Some give him a pass and blithely dismiss it with the "I'm not voting for a pastor" line, which is hypocritical. Others either ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, or they are completely blind to it and have turned Trump into some kind of paragon of virtue. That kind of denial is the sign of a cult, brain-washing, radicalization or whatever you want to call it.
And in most cases, it's willful and deliberate.
It Keeps on Going
There's been no repentance. Most of the Evangelical supporters of Trump don't seem to be capable of seeing his lack of character, incompetence, or immoral behavior. The simplistic dismissal of it is that he's being picked on by his opposition who won't leave him alone and let him do his job, or it is just an attack from the mainstream media. More disturbing than the blindness is that there are those who are willing to step outside of their Christian worldview to actually defend this evil man.
I was raised in a very conservative church that had a lot of solid "rules" when it came to the kind of outward behavior which gave evidence of the spiritual transformation that had taken place within the soul. A distinction was made between "worldly" behavior and "spiritual" behavior in things like the way you dressed, your hairstyle, your language, being truthful and not lying, whether or not you smoked or drank alcohol, how many times a week you passed through the doors of the church for worship, prayer meeting and Bible study. Things like adultery and divorce, fornication, were at the far end of the "bad" spectrum. So it is very difficult for me to wrap my mind around people who were raised in similar kinds of churches with similar guidelines for behavior giving someone like Trump, who characterizes all of that bad behavior into a single personality, a pass and as a result of that, having to own his bad behavior because frankly, that's exactly what people will think they are doing.
Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs lest they trample them and turn and attack you. Matthew 7:6, ESV
And if you ignored all the bad behavior over the past four years, and for most of Trump's life before that, it's impossible to ignore the past two and a half months. The lies, which have literally been a daily part of this Presidential administration, and which have done enough damage already, have turned deadly and dangerous to the American Republic. The lies about voter fraud in the election, not only provably false but proven completely false by evidence, still manage to convince many of his supporters that he is right and the election was stolen. What's been stolen are thousands of churches, from their Biblical mission and purpose.
Is God writing "Ichabod" over the door to Evangelical Christian churches?
https://time.com/5932014/donald-trump-christian-supporters/?fbclid=IwAR3aCVv0iGyYTNUXcNju9R4-EDC1MwJBMyir1GV5xRWW0Wm74AIx-oxVGMk
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