Something Trump Said About Christianity

Something Trump Said About Christianity And Evangelicals Alarms Me As A Pastor

Donald Trump said, in October 2015, to a crowd in Iowa something I flagged as indicative:

“First of all, I am a great Christian –- and I am –- I am. Remember that. And I do well with the evangelicals. But the evangelicals left me down a little bit this last month. I don’t know what I did. But I am a great Christian.”

When I first heard that statement I thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” To anyone familiar with Christianity, that statement is absurd. One of the paradoxes of the spiritual life is this: the more you try to live a holy life, the more you recognize your own sinfulness and selfishness. Conversely, the less serious you are about growing spirituality, the better you feel about yourself. This paradox is an essential part of Christian theology.

For example, the Apostle Paul, when reflecting on the change that God brought about in his life said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief…” (1 Timothy 1:12-15). Note the Apostle did not say, “of whom I was chief.” Rather, he used the present tense, “of whom I am chief.” The closer he moved toward God, the less he thought of himself. This is the case for any Christian. True growth in Christianity makes you more confident in God and less confident in oneself.

Mr. Trump seems to be more confident in himself than in anything else – including God.

With that understanding, the Donald’s statement, “I am a great Christian,” actually reveals two things: 1) He doesn’t really understand Christianity, and 2) he doesn’t take Christianity seriously. His boasting vainly contradicts the very point he’s trying to make. It would be akin to his saying, “Of course I have respect for women. I haven’t met a hot broad I didn’t respect.” In reality, we could easily imagine him saying something like that, which brings us to the main point about many of Trump’s statements.

Trump repeatedly reveals that he doesn’t have a firm grasp of the things he addresses. Even more concerning is the fact that many Americans aren’t concerned with Trump’s asinine statements.

From a pastoral perspective, the most concerning aspect to all of this is the support that prominent evangelical leaders are giving Trump — most recently, Jerry Falwell Jr., the President of Liberty University, and Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, TX. Disturbingly, when the latter introduced Trump in Iowa, he prefaced his remarks with, “Although as a pastor I cannot officially endorse a candidate…” What? Did he really say that? One would think a pastor who is heavily involved in politics, such as Jeffress, would know that he has the right, as a US citizen, to say anything he wants about political candidates. Perhaps this lack of clarity on important issues like the separation of church and state contributes to a lack of clarity on choosing state officials who will support the values of the church.

No one is expecting the future president to lead a church choir or preach a sermon. However, conservative Christians should have some sense of discernment when it comes to choosing their leaders. I wonder how proud Falwell and Jeffress are of Trump dropping the F-bomb at a recent New Hampshire rally. (Here’s an article from 2011 by Dennis Prager highlighting the issue of Trump’s vulgarity.) Sadly, a lack of discernment with respect to religion and politics has been par for the course with evangelicals for for decades. Conservative Christians championed President G. W. Bush as an evangelical torchbearer when his life reflected very little evangelical commitment. Bush used evangelicals similar to the way Obama uses African-Americans, but in both cases a lack of discernment is the ultimate culprit.

When it comes to selecting a president, evangelicals should, like all Americans, be looking for someone who is competent and qualified for the job, not someone who shares their every opinion. Much like selecting a surgeon, if you have to have surgery, then you want the best doctor, and your primary concern is not the doctor’s religion or whether or not he/she uses profanity. Your primary concern is the doctor’s ability to do the surgery right. How comfortable would you be if, during the pre-op appointments, your doctor was pontificating on things he clearly knew little about and was saying things that you knew were not accurate? I’d be looking for another doctor — and so it is with Mr. Trump.

Here’s some advice for evangelicals that my father used to share with me: “Listen with your eyes.” In the case of the Donald, his actions “trump” his words.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

Rit Varriale

Shelby, NC

Rit is a pastor, author, blogger, former Army Ranger with the 82nd Airborne Division, concerned citizen and unashamed Christian. Rit holds a B.A. from The Citadel, an M.Div. from Campbell University, a Th.M. from Duke University, and a D.Min. from Princeton Theological Seminary. You can read more from Rit on Facebook or at GodBeforeGovernment.org.