Donald Trump is everything the Bible warns us against, in both the New Testament and the Old Testament. What is the Christian response to Trump?
What does the Bible say?
Repeatedly the Jewish scripture describes ungodly people exactly the way we can describe Trump.
“For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.” – Isaiah 32:6
“A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.” – Proverbs 6:12-14
“Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word; you deceitful tongue!” – Psalms 52:1-4
“In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. His ways are always prosperous; your laws are rejected by him; he sneers at all his enemies. He says to himself, ‘Nothing will ever shake me.’ He swears, ‘No one will ever do me harm.’ His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.” – Psalms 10:2-7
“I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.” – Psalms 36:1-4
When Jesus tells us what evil looks like, he’s describing Trump.
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” – Jesus, Matt. 12:34-35
“It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles him. Out of the heart come evil thoughts and reasonings such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech” – Matt. 15:11-19
In his life, values, ethics, vocabulary, behavior, public policies, and every other way possible, Trump is the opposite of the message of Jesus. To support Trump is to reject everything Jesus teaches.
Because Christ warns us that ungodly false prophets like Trump will deceive believers, Trump supporters simply ignore Jesus.
Because Trump is the personification of Biblical evil, Trump supporters are forced to ignore not only the warnings of Jesus, but also his orders to help the poor, the foreigners, and those on the lowest levels of society. Jesus tells us to do justice for minorities not give tax cuts to society’s super wealthy.
Trump defenders will cite King Cyrus as an example of God using a non-Jew to free the Jewish people from captivity 500 years before Jesus. They also compare Trump to King David, which makes absolutely no sense at all, because David was a young man after God’s own heart, not the profane godless man that Trump is.
Nothing Jesus describes as good or virtuous can be found in Trump. Nothing.
Trump doesn’t represent the message of Jesus.
Trump is everything the New Testament warns against – a godless liar telling people what they want to hear.
Some will rationalize and try to compare Trump’s evil to Kamala Harris, but is that what the Bible tells us to do? Rate our values? Rationalize and try to justify selecting that which is clearly evil?
Some support Trump because he is against abortion. Trump has said abortion is a state issue, not a federal issue, so the reason to support him no longer applies. Besides, since the Bible says life begins at breath, Christians should be pro-choice.
Some Trump defenders will say “all politicians lie,” but no other politician in the history of the United States, no public figure, is as antichrist as Donald Trump. He is everything the Bible warns against and is not the “same” as anyone who has ever run for public office.
“Do not judge,” some will say, trying to excuse Trump’s horrible behavior, which Jesus says comes from Trump’s horrible heart.
But the scripture, “do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you,” isn’t about dismissing sin, which is what they do in Trump’s case. Jesus is telling us to hold ourselves to the same standards as the other person, about treating people fairly and equally.
Who else would you approve of behaving like Trump?
Your pastor?
Your child’s teacher?
A church elder?
Why would a Christian want such an unchristian man leading the country, when you wouldn’t even want him around your own children?
Many Trump supporters who claim Christianity are so enmeshed in identity politics that they can’t untangle themselves long enough to accept the reality of Trump. To admit the king has no clothes means admitting that they were originally fooled into believing his lies.
Some Americans call themselves Christians, but if they aren’t doing what Jesus says to do, are they really Christian? Or just people who claim to be?
“The sickness or, you can say the sin, that Jesus condemns most is hypocrisy,” Pope Francis told a group of young people in 2016. “You cannot be a Christian without living like a Christian,” he said. “You cannot be a Christian without practicing the Beatitudes. You cannot be a Christian without doing what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25,” which is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and welcome the stranger.
“It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help,” he said. “If I say I am Christian, but do these things, I’m a hypocrite.”
If I claim to be vegetarian, but I spend my days eating Big Macs, ballpark hotdogs and backyard barbecued ribs, am I really vegetarian? I may go to my vegetarian meeting once a week, but if I’m a conspicuous, consuming carnivore the rest of the time, I’m not much of a vegetarian.
Meanwhile, I’m making real vegetarians look bad, by not actually doing what a vegetarian is supposed to do.
Are you really a Christian if you don’t have faith, hope, and love? Trump has no faith, no hope, and no love. He is no man of God. Trump is no Christian and neither are his supporters.
Good people don’t vote for bad people.
For other articles by Jim, visit:
Five Reasons Christians Should be Pro-choice
The Civil Rights Struggle Continues, so Others May be Free
The Clark Doll Study Documenting the Damage of Segregation
Martin Luther King. Jr. and the Original Black Lives Matter Movement
A Blood Red Line of Racism Flows Through the United States
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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.