Some observers thought he was joking. Others were indignant. Quite a few were mocking. Some Christians made the point that he can’t get to heaven by creating world peace, that he can only do that if he accepts Jesus Christ.
It’s true that Jesus is the only way to heaven, but I wish Christians wouldn’t make it sound as if “accepting Jesus Christ” is something we do, as if salvation through Christ is just a different kind of “good work” that saves us. What we need is faith in Jesus Christ.
That comes, first of all, by repenting, by realizing that we are sinners who can by no means get to heaven. Once that sinks in, we can be receptive to the good news that God Himself has become incarnate in Jesus Christ, has taken our sins into Himself, has paid the death penalty that we deserve, and has risen from the dead, taking us with Him all the way to heaven. In other words, the Law convicts us of sin, leading us to faith in the Gospel of free forgiveness through Christ.
Back in 2015, then-presidential candidate Trump was asked at a Christian event whether he had ever asked God for forgiveness. His reply sort of shook his Christian supporters:
“I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so,” he said. “I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”
He later responded to a question about that statement by taking it even further: “Why do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness, if I am not making mistakes?”
So ten years ago, Trump was saying that he didn’t need forgiveness because he doesn’t do anything wrong, and if he does, he doesn’t need God because he can handle it himself. Today, though, it sounds like he is changing his tune. Now he is worrying that he might not get to heaven. He hears he’s not doing well in that regard, and, unlike other criticism, he seems to believe it. “I am really at the bottom of the totem pole.” In the scale of moral uprightness, he feels that he is “really” at the bottom. This is spiritual progress.
He hopes to improve his changes by the really dramatic good work of establishing world peace. Indeed, as even his critics have to admit, he has s
ettled at least five global conflicts (Armenia vs. Azerbaijan; Congo vs. Rwanda; Iran vs. Israel; India vs. Pakistan; Cambodia vs. Thailand), and by some counts six (Ethiopia vs. Egypt). That’s commendable and pleasing to God. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” said Jesus, “for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
Maybe President Trump is showing some early signs of spiritual awakening. Let’s pray that he will turn to the true peacemaker, the son of God who makes peace between sinners and their divine Judge. And that He will empower President Trump to make peace within the nation over which he presides.
Photo: President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pray at the altar in the Redemptor Hominis Church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks) via Flickr, Public Domain.
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