When Character Is Cast Aside: Trump, the Church, and Witness

I believe that the goal of the Christian life is to grow in the likeness and image of Jesus. As Paul says, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete [telos] in Christ” (Col 1:28).

With this in mind, we might begin each day by asking, “Lord, help me, by the power of the Spirit, to reflect the love of Christ today.”
NB: Of course, we could just utter the Lord’s Prayer!

Character Matters

I believe character matters. Character affects how we treat others. And it enables us to respond to situations that align with our values.

This is why I am deeply concerned about the current president of the United States.

NB: I realize that once we open Pandora’s Box of Politics, everyone gets on edge.

My central concern is the Church. When we (the people of God) attach ourselves to any leader, whether that is a pastor or a president, we hinge the reputation of Christ on them.

Consequently, when they fail, our witness fails.

At some point, we need to be able to separate Christ from any given leader or movement. We must be able to criticize them when they fail. However, it appears that in our current political climate, we are unable to do so.

An example of how character matters

In Mar 2020, Trump began referring to COVID-19 as the “China virus.”

NB: The problem with listing only one example is that many will rush to defend Mr. Trump by asserting some “everyone makes mistakes” mantra. There are several reasons, however, for using this particular example.

One of the problems with this is that, by law, the President of the US is required to uphold the Constitution and protect US citizens.

When confronted by an Asian reporter on the White House lawn during a press conference as to why he insisted on calling the Covid virus the “China Virus,” Trump doubled down by asserting, “Because it came from China.”

When the reporter replied by inquiring if he realized how much harm this brought to Asian communities, Trump reiterated something along the lines of, “Because it came from China.”

It is my conviction that the episode reflects Trump’s consistent inability to show concern (or empathy, which, incredulously, has been redefined to mean something that we should not have or that we must use with great caution) for others. He doesn’t seem to care when his actions have a negative impact on others.

There was no concern that by racializing a virus, Trump was deliberately bringing harm to some of the very people whom he is obligated to protect. Neither was there any hint of empathy for her or other people of Chinese and Asian descent.

In other words, this was not a simple mistake. It reflects a lack of character. When confronted with his mistake, Trump not only doubled down, he did so even when confronted by a reporter of Asian descent who informed him that he was causing serious harm to tens of thousands of Americans like her.

Harming Asian Americans

I recently interviewed Russell Jeung on a Determinetruth live stream to discuss America and immigration.

NB: Click here to watch the full interview with Prof. Jeung.

When Trump racialized the Covid virus, Professor Jeung, who is a sixth-generation American, knew that this was going to increase hate crimes against Asian Americans. So, he co-founded AAPI to assist any Asians who became the target of racialized hate crimes.

Russell, who was voted by Time Magazine in 2021 to be one of the 100 most influential people in the world because of his work with AAPI, began by recounting the US history of crimes against Chinese citizens and immigrants.

Within days of Trump’s racializing the virus, Russell noted that AAPI was receiving hundreds of reports every day of violence against Asians.

Why does character matter?

Character matters because it often helps a person recognize that something is wrong or that it may cause harm to others, thereby influencing their decision-making. If Trump had enough character, he would have realized his mistake and aimed to correct it.

The fact that he racialized a virus brought serious harm to many. “But,” you might say, “everyone makes mistakes.” This is true. But when confronted by an Asian reporter about the harm that his mistake was bringing to her community, Trump should have offered sympathy and begun to rethink his labeling of the virus.

Sadly, he not only failed to do either, but he also continued to repeat the rhetoric. His refusal to acknowledge his mistake shows that he lacks the character needed in a person who holds as much power as he does.

Now, I could go on.

The Church’s allegiance is to Christ

However, there is a greater concern for me. Namely, that many in the Church continue to give Trump unquestioning loyalty.

I am not saying that one cannot approve of his policies, judicial appointments, economic strategies, position on border security, support for Israel, and an America-first approach to foreign policy.

I am saying that we cannot endorse everything he does. We cannot endorse everything anyone does. Our allegiance is to another king.

When we endorse the actions of our political leaders that are immoral, reckless, hateful, murderous, racist, unjust, corrupt, violent, and dishonest, we become complicit. However, more significantly, we fail to imitate Jesus, and in doing so, we destroy our witness.

In the case of the “China virus” rhetoric, we destroy our witness to all Asian people. And we fail to love them as we love ourselves.

There is no Christianity in this! When we fail to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we fail to reflect Jesus to the world.

The same could be said for our endorsement of so many things in the present day.

We fail to reflect Christ,
When we fail to call out the abuses in immigration practices . . .
When we fail to grieve the loss of innocent life . . .
When we justify the mistreatment of the poor . . .
When we sit silently in the face of racial injustice . . .
When we fail to denounce violence . . .

“Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy” (Prov 31:8-9).

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