Trump’s communication style has been normalized by the way American Evangelicals wholeheartedly endorse him. This is reinforcing the idea of many outside the Church that Christians are defined by their hate for those who are different from them. How can we come together and find a way for the church to model to the world the LOVE of JESUS rather than only his JUDGEMENT and WRATH as seems to be the case too often at the moment? We need to be offering forgiveness not rejection.
Rudeness, misogyny, and brashness is seen in every speech Trump makes and this has not been challenged. Trump is being upheld by many Christians as a “strong” leader to be emulated. This bring shame on the church, and is risking a whole generation of Christians believing it is OK to speak like that. Where is the humility and meekness?
As a society today we seem to be becoming more angry, less forgiving and less compassionate. Social media behavior and language is really very similar to the insulting and belittling way that Trump often speaks about his opponents. And on social media this language is not unique to the right. People throw insults at each other in a way that denigrates the name of Jesus.
�My heart is truly heavy right now in regards to a large swath of the Church in this nation. You may not like hearing me talk about it so much, but it is the greatest crisis of the faith I’ve seen in my lifetime. We have always fallen short in areas, no doubt. But what…
— Jennifer Erin Valent (@JenniferEValent) November 14, 2024
In further reflection on my previous article Is Trump Fueling The End-Times Rebellion Of The Church? I realize that perhaps my title was a bit biased. After all, as the article points out it is not just Trump who maps onto some of the things Paul warns us about in the end times rebellion.
But in the aftermath of the election, where are the Christians who are even willing to say “Look we supported Trump because of his views on abortion, but we do want to say that Christian speech should not be like this”?
It was a secular podcaster who has described the most clearly the danger of our acceptance that this is now an OK way for public leaders to speak:
“The bellicosity of this man’s rhetoric is having an affect in your family and the culture in our society. And it’s giving licence to people to be cruel to each other. I don’t want to represent that” Anthony Scaramucci
I am not sure whether he has a faith or not, but if so it’s not part of his regular public persona. Where are the explicit Christian voices loudly saying that tone matters, that character matters, that maybe we voted for Trump for other reasons, but we don’t support his constant belittling of others and we do not want our children growing up in a world where it is now the normal way for people to speak to one another in this bellicose way (which means argumentative, belligerent, aggressive and wanting to start a fight).
Too many Christians have taken on the idea that we should be at war against “the liberals” and there is a distinct lack of willingness to listen to alternative views, to be winsome, and to try and build a society where all can truly live together at peace, and hence the gospel can go forth.
Scaramucci also spoke in that podcast about “belonging without othering” and I think that is something for Christians to consider. We are meant to be a people of love who exist for the benefit of our non-members and who call out to them with gentleness and humility rather than excluding them and becoming more and more angry with them.
As an old issue of Christianity Today said:
The Scriptures command us to be gentle and kind to unbelievers, not because we are not at war, but because we’re not at war with them (2 Tim. 2:26). When we see that we are warring against principalities and powers in the heavenly places, we can see that we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). The path to peace isn’t through bellicosity or surrender, but through fighting the right war (Rom. 16:20).
Moore, R.D. (2011) “The Gospel at Ground Zero: The Horrors of 9/11 Were Not unlike Those of Good Friday,” Christianity Today, p. 27.
For those of us who never supported Trump, we need to recognize that “They won. We lost. Next” which is also from the same podcast. We need to try and help other Christians understand that we need to be more gracious towards one another. Perhaps I should start by trying to be more gracious towards those who did support Trump. Many of them probably do still have reservations about Trump’s manner and behavior. Not to mention the constant lies, and the moral issues that seem to come up over and over again. How can I connect with my brothers and sisters who felt compelled despite those reservations to vote for him?
How can we come together and find a way for the church to model to the world the LOVE of JESUS rather than only his JUDGEMENT and WRATH as seems to be the case too often at the moment?
More from Adrian Warnock
Compassion fatigue, the Saviour complex, and Benevolent detachment
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