I can't get behind someone based on incidental agreement with some of his policies, but whose character is atrocious, lacking any moral or ethical guidance, and the complete opposite of what Jesus Christ taught about character to his followers. I'm one of them, and that makes it difficult for me to even listen when Trump speaks, and impossible for me to even think about voting for him for President of the United States, a country whose constitution, laws, and government his actions show that he despises and hates, and a Christian faith, it's confession, repentance and grace, which he absolutely refuses to acknowledge.
For those who read this who were not raised in, or have never been a member of an Evangelical church in the United States, some of what you may read here will be difficult to understand. I was raised in an Evangelical church, a small, conservative, Southern Baptist congregation of 50 people, and I received most of my higher education in a university and graduate school affiliated with the same denomination.
I'm going to put this in the kind of terminology, using interpretations of passages of the New Testament, that Evangelicals will understand. Those who are not Evangelical, or who are not Christian, can still figure out the message that is being communicated. In one sentence, it is this: Following the guidance provided in the Bible about what it means to be a Christian, committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Trump's worldly character and lifestyle are completely inconsistent with Christian faith and practice and voting to put him in the Presidency of the United States would be antithetical to the kind of commitment and loyalty required to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Loyalty is to Christ, or to Trump, But It Can't be to Both
Evangelicals have been deceived by Trump, and they have been spiritually blinded. Most of them are single-issue voters, they get all of their information inside a closed bubble of their own biased sources, they have believed provable lies, listened to his rhetoric, and given him the loyalty that they once reserved only for Jesus Christ. He's become a political messiah, and their support is based on imagery, and on lies. They've become radicalized in their support of him, seeing an image of him that does not exist in reality. They are blind to his corruption, dismissive of his blatant immorality, including his objectivization and sexual abuse of women and his fraudulent business practices. They ignore his refusal to even take the first step toward a genuine Christian faith, which is acknowledging conviction of one's sinful nature. He claims he is sinless. Yes, he does. Openly.
The Bible's authors warn Christians about being beguiled and deceived into idolatry. The problem here is that, because they stand to benefit from the political power that Trump will get if he is elected to the Presidency once again, they are unable to see the truth.
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, NIV
Trump's masquerade of himself to conservative Evangelicals is rooted in the abortion issue. This is something they've been after for decades, going all the way back to Jimmy Carter's term in office, when Jerry Falwell, James Roberson and Pat Robertson first formed their organizations to support Reagan, because President Carter's interpretation of the establishment clause didn't open the door for them to try and get judges on the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe.
Since then, that's been a single issue to which most conservative Evangelicals tie their votes, not only for President, but for other offices. It has distorted their perspective, allowed politicians to play on their convictions, using this issue to get support for their own agenda, often leaving this one behind for someone else to try to pick up. Reagan didn't apply the litmus test of abortion to his SCOTUS nominees. Bush Sr., ignored the religious right and nominated pro-choice justices based on their financial and business convictions. Dubya kept the swing "balance" in place to avoid having Roe overturned while he was in office, sensing that it could bring political disaster to the GOP.
And that left Trump, a man who loved having his immoral sexual escapades become the front page headlines of the gossip columns and social media outlets. Trump has never been opposed to abortion, at one point openly stating his support for it, and being the subject of multiple rumors at times when an affair he had may have resulted in an abortion or two, especially after he already had all the heirs he wanted to leave behind. Nor is he opposed to it now, as he clearly stated in Tuesday night's debate. He's just interested in the political effect supporting the pro-life Evangelical position has on his ability to win Presidential elections.
He claimed he was a "deal maker." And so, he made a deal with the political structure of the far Evangelical right, through groups like the Heritage Foundation.
They made a deal with the devil. And he deceived them to get what he wanted.
He made it pretty clear during the debate on Tuesday that he doesn't think the six week limit on when an abortion can be performed is long enough. It's a short statement, but he said that clearly. And he doesn't think a woman's right to an abortion should be restricted. He only supported the overturning of Roe because "everyone, Democrats, Republicans, everyone wanted it to go to the states." That's a direct quote.
So he deceived his Evangelical supporters into believing he was pro-life, when he was only using that as a means of getting their vote. And now, he's trying to get the votes of those he thinks are pro-choice liberals. His duplicity is simply a sign of something that we knew all along, Trump cannot be trusted.
Trump Rejects Basic Christian Doctrine, Including Conversion or Salvation
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Jude, V. 4, NASB
From an Evangelical perspective, Trump is "not one of us."
He is an intruder, whose gateway into American conservative Evangelicalism was political power, not spiritual leadership. His morality precludes his being able to get in on the latter basis. His open denial of having had a genuine conversion experience means his Evangelical supporters can' even claim that his bad behavior, including his incessant lying, pushing for violence on his behalf and the whole string of crimes he has committed, have been washed away with all his other sins, because he claims he doesn't have any sins that need to be washed away.
Among Evangelicals, "salvation," or the conversion experience that leads to forgiveness of one's sin and restoration to a right relationship with God, is a core and essential doctrine. It is not possible to be Christian, by the Evangelical definition of the word, without being converted, and it is impossible to be converted without first experiencing conviction for one's sinful nature, and the sins that have been committed in their life, and then recognizing that receiving God's grace through the sacrifice Jesus made, his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, is how that grace is received and applied.
The first step toward conversion is conviction and confession of one's sin. This, Trump has publicly refused to do. Even when directly confronted by well known conservative religious leaders, Trump denies that he has ever done anything requiring God's forgiveness.
By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. I John 4:2-3, NRSV[emphasis mine]
Those are the words of the Apostle, John. The confession of Christ is essential to a salvation or conversion or confirmation experience in every Christian tradition, including the Evangelical one.
There are those who are critical of Evangelicals who sometimes try to "baptize" politicians or political views that are not consistent with Christian doctrine and practice. Trump has made it impossible for them to run around accountability on that bypass. And this separates Trump from Christianity. Failing to acknowledge this on the part of many Evangelical leaders separates them from Christianity, too.
The Dilemma Associated With Project 2025
And the Devil took him up and showed him all of the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."
And Jesus answered him, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve." Luke 4:5-8, ESV
The Christian church has been tempted with the bait of political power to advance its ends since Constantine issued the Edict of Milan and declared he saw a vision of a cross with the words, "By this sign, conquer." The only problem with all of this is that establishing a "Christian nation", a theocracy similar to the Old Testament covenant relationship with Israel, has no basis in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's clearly illustrated in the symbolism of this particular temptation of Christ.
The end result of seventeen centuries of the church being subjugated and merged with the political power of the state was centuries of warfare and bloodshed, the virtual death of any real evangelistic or spiritual Christian faith, and a church which became an unrecognizable institution when compared with the one Jesus envisioned and inspired the Bible's writers to describe, explain and instruct.
The principles, practices and virtues taught by Jesus, found in the gospel, are antithetical to violence and bloodshed which resulted from forcing a pseudo-Christian, false gospel on people using the political power and authority of the state. It was tyranny, and the various versions of Christian nationalism being advanced by far right Evangelicalism contradicts every precept and principle taught by Jesus, commanded by Jesus and every example set by Jesus. It is not Christianity, it is antichrist.
And on top of all of the tyranny that the 900 some odd pages of Project 2025 would impose on the American people, including the threat of the use of violence and bloodshed against those who resist, someone on one side of the issue or the other is lying through their teeth. It's either the Heritage Foundation, which authored this draconian, heretical, tyrannical political platform with Trump's approval, blessing and input, according to them, promising he would implement every point of it if they helped him back into the White House, or it is Trump lying about not ever having anything to do with it, and trying to distance himself from it because his campaign team told him supporting it would guarantee his defeat in November.
This is yet another dilemma for a narcissistic politician who is playing one side against the other in the hope that neither one will notice while they are voting for him. He's a two faced liar. And I can't be any more clear than that. To conservative Evangelicals, he's pro-life and the killer of the Roe decision. To moderate, pro-choice voters, he's the guy who did what "everyone" wanted, by letting the states vote on abortion, but keeping it legal outside the six week ban now imposed by some conservative states. To conservative Evangelicals, he's the reason Project 2025 exists, and they wrote it for him to implement. To everyone else who is alarmed by its extremism, its pandering to billionaires and stripping the American middle class of the last vestiges of their wealth, and this is something someone else came up with that he's never heard of.
We don't need that kind of mess. That's a disaster waiting to happen. We need leadership, not equivocation, truth, not lies, character, not corruption.
Yes, Character Does Count, for a Whole Lot
For a branch of the Christian church that claims such a high level of doctrinal integrity, theological accuracy, and spiritual superiority for itself, Evangelical support of Trump is an astounding display of ignorance and gullibility.
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:24, NRSV
Even while Jesus was alive, he was warning his followers of the consequences of being deceived. All of the theological and doctrinal accuracy, and belief in the inerrancy of scripture is worthless if those who claim to believe it fail to recognize its message and cannot discern the absence of any kind of the visible values and character the Christian gospel says are the visible signs of belief and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't think it is that difficult to discern the lack of character in someone who lives a licentious, worldly, lifestyle centered on the acquisition of power and money, determine that he embodies the spirit of antichrist (I John 4:2-3), and to avoid putting that person in any kind of leadership position on which our country depends.
Policies are the product of the kind of give and take required in a free society where the people are empowered by democratic values. Politicians must understand they are the servants of all, not just obligated to favor those who agree with their particular preferences and stance on the issues. The character of a candidate is a much different matter. Leaders must be trusted and their character tells us they can be trusted. No leader is going to get 100% agreement on policy from 100% of the people they are responsible to lead. But they do need to get 100% of the trust of those people who are depending on them for the nation's security and prosperity.
Dr. Adrian Rogers, the late pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, preached a sermon back in 1996 entitled "Does Character Count?" In it, he used biblical principles to affirm that the character of a leader, even in a secular democracy, is of far more importance than a platform of issues, and he laid out some specific evaluations of character for his listeners to apply to candidates for which they were planning to vote. Of course, Dr. Rogers was aiming to steer Christians away from voting for Bill Clinton, and his bias is duly noted. But his biblical principles are still valid points, and they haven't changed. If Bill Clinton, by those standards, did not have the character to be the President of the United States, then I would submit, by those same standards, neither does Donald Trump.
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