"Evangelicals, this is your guy," so said Joe Scarborough on his Morning Joe segment on MSNBC this morning.
He was referencing Donald Trump. You know, the twice divorced man of the world, who has cheated in business, defaulted on debt, indicted for lying about a payoff for political purposes to a porn star with whom he had an affair, currently undergoing a civil trial for an alleged rape, the instigator of the January 6th insurrection, a pathological liar and con artist who dabbles in conspiracy theories, advocates revenge politics. twice impeached for mind-boggling corruption. That guy.
There are a lot of things Evangelicals claim to believe which they say distinguishes them from other Christians, specifically Catholics and liberal, mainline Protestants. I grew up in an Evangelical church, so I can recite from memory most of what they claim are "distinctives" of their doctrine and theology which set them apart from other Christians and, in their eyes, demonstrate that they are the "true church" in a world of pretenders. But the evidence that comes from observing what they do creates an entirely different impression than what they claim.
For all of the distinguishing they do, classifying Christians they don't like as liberals, and their long standing condemnation of Catholicism, the political posturing of many Evangelical leaders in the extreme far right of Republicanism is a convincing argument against taking any of them seriously when it comes to what they preach about their faith. From embracing politicians who are practitioners of liberal mainline denominations, including one former President who was a close friends with the first gay Episcopalian bishop, or who have no known Christian background or church membership, to embracing one particular Republican who is the epitome of worldliness as described in the scripture, far right political Evangelicals are saying to the world, "Our faith means nothing. Politics is everything."
Their "guy," a politician that white Evangelicals have supported at higher levels than any other Republican, is an adulterer by Biblical definition, by his own admission, hundreds of times. He is twice divorced, in situations where he openly humiliated the women he abandoned, in both cases marrying the one with whom he had an affair. He has been found guilty, multiple times, of business fraud in ventures aimed at cheating people out of their money. He has defaulted on multiple debts. He is a prolific, provable, pathological liar.
Their "guy" is currently on trial for rape, and facing multiple indictments for business fraud in a case where he authorized hush money payments to a porn star he slept with. How's that for giving a testimony to Christian values? Indictments are coming for his role in inciting the January 6th seditious insurrection against the government, something that would be totally against the values of Christian faith. His dishonesty and corruption doesn't warrant support from any segment of the American population. The fact that his supporters don't seem to care about the danger he poses to American democracy and our freedom is an indication of their own disloyalty and ignorance.
The fact that he has plenty of support from white Evangelicals, in spite of his lifestyle and image being the diametric opposite of what they claim to value and preach, means that they can't be taken seriously on any subject, especially since they are so easily willing to abandon their principles and the gospel of Jesus Christ for political expediency. Apparently, they don't trust God to do their political bidding or don't believe he can.
That doesn't mean Christianity is not a valid faith. There are plenty of American Christians who haven't sold their birthright for a bowl of soup (an Old Testament example). There are plenty of American Christians, in fact, who do live by the virtues and values of the faith, who love their neighbor as they love themselves and who love this country and the freedom that results from its democratic principles. They see all humanity as a creation of God, in his image, with lives that have value and meaning and purpose. And they wouldn't compromise their faith for political expediency.
They are supporters of a constitutional democracy that puts a wall of separation between church and state, in much the same way as the early Christian apostles did, recognizing faith as a matter of individual conscience, not government coercion. They have separated themselves out from the infiltration of evil into the church on the coat-tails of far right wing extremism. Most of the Evangelicals who are still true to the Christian gospel are minorities. The biggest difference between them and the political religious far right is the difference in who their savior really is. Theirs is Jesus, the political religious right believes in Donald Trump.
So it's not surprising people have trouble listening to the message these Christians are supposed to be preaching, one of redemption by grace through faith in Christ, not one of achieving its ends by the use of secular, political power. It's not possible to claim to be a Christian who has doctrinal and theological ducks correctly lined up, and yet choose Donald Trump as a political leader. Christ has no fellowship with Belial, and Christians have no fellowship with Trump.
The political support Trump gets from the religious right is a visible sign of heresy, apostasy and corruption in the church, and of their abandonment of the Bible, the virtues and values preached and taught by Christ, and of his sacrificial, redemptive death on the cross. As Scarborough said this morning, "He's THEIR guy." They stand for what he stands for. Not Jesus.
For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our Lord into licentiousness and deny Jesus Christ. Jude, V. 4
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