Evangelicalism in America Will Not Survive Trump

At this point, I would say that it is already past any point of no return, and is headed for a fall.  What is known and identified as "Evangelical Christianity" in America will not survive the Trump Presidency.  The declines in membership and attendance, and in the number of people who self-identify as "Evangelical" has dropped 25% since Trump first descended the escalator to announce his run in 2016, and it is getting difficult to determine where the lines have been drawn at this point.  

The Apostle Jude, in his very short, but straight to the point epistle in the New Testament warned the church about "ungodly" intruders who had slipped into the churches to subvert its message and use it for their own purposes.  They were in and among the membership, their deception unidentified, and in a position to influence others with immorality, along with denying the sovereignty of Jesus Christ.  

This is what I see happening now, as congregations come under the influence of intruders who are perverting the gospel, because the practice of its principles, which is Christianity itself, does not support their use of religion as a political tool.  And while there have been some Evangelical churches who have insulated themselves against this intrustion, and have not allowed it to pervert their preaching and teaching, the fact of the matter is that many churches have been subverted and corrupted, and there are plenty of those ready to step up to do the same in churches that have remained faithful to the Christian gospel.  

Evangelicalism Has a Faulty Theological and Doctrinal Basis

The Fundamentalism that developed in the 19th century following the Second Great Awakening, as a result of the lack of seminary trained preachers and pastors, led to some faulty theology and doctrines that skewed the interpretation of the Bible, and launched multiple groups that were more cult than Christian.  The historical and cultural context in which the Bible was written, along with the original meanings and purpose of the writers was lost in interpretations which failed to use the words of Jesus as an interpretive standard.  Belief in what Fundamentalists call the "verbal, plenary" inspiration of the Bible, and that it is without human error in its "original manuscripts," have led to the development of a theology and practice that is very different from twenty centuries of Christian faith and practice.  

Failure to consider the words of Jesus as the criterion for interpreting all of the rest of the Bible has led to all kinds of theological aberrations, including a very legalistic faith practice requiring intellectual assent to a specific set of doctrines in order to be considered "Christian," or experience conversion.  And the failure to connect to the historical and cultural contexts that determine the original meaning of each author's words has led to false prophetic outlines of doomsday threats, with "end times" scenarios based on those faulty interpretations of the Bible.  Things like "Seven Mountains dominionism," and a false way of looking at the book of Revelation known as "dispensationalism" have led to a postmillenial perspective among many Evangelicals that translates into white, Christian nationalism.  They think that by creating a Christian theocracy in America, they will usher in the second coming of Jesus.  

Blending extremist right wing politics with this white, Christian nationalism isn't Christian.  It does not lead to conversion, nor does it lead to the kind of influence, being salt and light as Jesus described it, that Christianity was designed to be.  It creates a power and money hungry cult, and it traps people who think they are sincere Christians inside, with no way to escape. 

There are Christians in most conservative Evangelical churches who see it for what it is, and who are doing their best to escape it.   Evangelicalism has lost over 16 million members of its churches since the 2016 election.  However, for the most part, the same gullibility that causes people to fall victim to this intrusion of false doctrine into the church also lends itself to their inability to see Trump as a corrupt, morally bankrupt, mentally imbalanced narcissist who is incapable of being President of the United States.  

Exposing the Pseudo-Christian Evangelical Cult Will Lead to Its Demise

The blend of extremist right wing politics, which is showing signs of complete collapse, with ultra-conservative Fundamentalism, especially some of the "word of faith" prosperity gospel cults, has exposed this intrusion of an "ungodly perversion of grace," as the Apostle Jude calls it in his epistle, verse 4.  And as Americans set aside the Trump version of populist politics, so will they set aside the Evangelicalism that supported this attack on Constitutional democracy.  

Christianity was never intended to be the kind of theocracy that once governed ancient Israel.  That was a unique aspect of revelation that had its own time and place, and then passed off the scene.  What it left behind was a deposit of information about how those people who had lived at that time perceived the idea of God.  When Jesus came along, according to Christian tradition, his divine nature not only provided a much clearer revelation of God, but also made it possible for him to be the sacrificial offering for human sin.  

What he left behind was not a faith that needed any kind of financial or political power to survive and to fulfill its mission and purpose, but a faith practice that exhibits a specific lifestyle, aimed at uplifting and encouraging others, and bringing human beings together in a spirit of  unity.  

In the aftermath of this Christian nationalist nightmare, the political power that Evangelicals now have because they are virtually the only Americans who are now loyal to the President will collapse.  And while there are always gullible people who will still think that this is the truth, even though it is not consistent with the Christian gospel, and has been demonstrated to be an immoral intrusion, the influence that this group will have in both political circles and in religious influence, will be minimal.  

It's in the Math

In addition to the fact that there are about 16 million fewer Americans who call themselves "evangelical" than there were a decade ago, real evidence is showing up, in denominational membership statistics, that people are leaving Evangelical churches.  The largest Evangelical denomination in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention, has seen its membership fall from 16.2 million members in 2015 to just 12.2 million members in 2026.  This figure, reported by the churches themselves, adds up to almost 250,000 members per year.  

In 2026, several church research groups reported that attendance and membership in churches that self-identify as "evangelical," "conservative," or with the Charismatic or Pentecostal movement, has dropped significantly in the last decade.  And it's not just the church researchers willing to speak the truth.  Census data on religious belief and attendance has shown that there are an equal number of members between Mainline Protestant denominations and Evangelical conservatives.  Those numbers haven't been equal for more than 30 years. 

This is the United States, so it's not likely the number of conservative Evangelicals will fall below about 2% of the population.  But I believe that it is safe to say that there are not enough of them to have any kind of an effect using their normal tactics.  Authentic Christianity spends its resources and its time in helping people out, not on political campaigns.  

Being Salt and Light

Hopefully, the remnant of those in Evangelicalism who have turned away from white, Christian nationalism and the populist cult will become what Christ intended his church to become, using the terms "salt and light' to describe its mission and purpose.  Christianity is a faith that is practiced through lifestyle values like peacemaking, humility, integrity, a sense of human community and equality that works to make life better for those around us.  The fact of the matter is that the true practice of the Christian gospel that was revealed and preached by Jesus is woke, in every sense of that word.  

In Christianity, the core principle of practice is belief in the existence of God, and the only manner in which that belief is demonstrated is by loving one's neighbor as one's self.  Jesus defined that as the first and greatest commandment.  And I tend to think that this translates itself into action that includes caring for the elderly, using government resources on things like universal health care, education, improving housing, making the abundant food resources we have in this country accessible to everyone.  Loving our neighbor means lifting up, not putting down.  

Maybe that will be the result of the demise of the pseudo Christian nationalist cult.  I can only hope.