Here we have a petulant, shouting, arm-waving demagogue who’s fond of gold thrones and exploitable women. Self-professed conservative Christians are going after him in droves, making excuses for him when he violates the commandments; they truly believe that this man can save them and make us great again. We even had a priest decorating an altar with a dead baby in Trump’s honor. I’m not saying that any other candidate would have been a saint. I’m just saying, when you put it like that, doesn’t it sound like a description of the Antichrist?
I take people seriously when they ask if Donald Trump may be the Antichrist.
I think the only answer to that question is: well, he’s somebody’s Antichrist.
I’m no expert in eschatology, but it seems to me that we should think about the End Times in two ways. I believe that, at some point in history, Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, to separate the sheep from the goats. I believe that before that time there will be a trial, great persecution, and a literal Antichrist– someone who will deceive many with an answer to all of their troubles, if only they will follow him in place of Christ. I don’t know if that will happen within my own lifetime. No one knows that except the Father. It very well may.
But I also believe that I am in my own personal End Time, regardless of where I am in the course of history. I have something less than a lifetime left before the end. At the end of my lifetime, Christ will judge me, personally.
And the spirit of the Antichrist is already here.
You are the same way. Every person reading this is in their own End Times right now. You, yourself, have less than one lifetime ahead of you. You, yourself, are experiencing the trials and persecutions leading up to the end. Pretty soon, you’ll appear before Christ and He will show you the course of your entire life, the choices you made, all the times when you saw him hungry or lonely or naked and what you did in response. May God have mercy on each of us, on that terrible day.
But the spirit of the Antichrist is already among you.
The spirit of the Antichrist is already appearing to you every day, promising all the kingdoms of the world, if only you will bow and worship him.
I can’t tell you what your personal Antichrist is. For a lot of people, it’s politics, and we’ve had a good demonstration of that lately. Politics and elections are supposed to be a time to scrutinize all of your choices, vote to lessen evil as much as you can, and vote to do some good if you can. But if you honestly believe that one candidate is a new king who will save us– that he or she will bring salvation, solve all your problems, destroy your enemies, make you prosperous and bring Heaven on Earth; if you think that following one candidate makes you righteous and everybody else damned– then you’re bowing to the Antichrist. And as far as any politician presents themselves as a king who will save us and make us great, he or she is voluntarily becoming an Antichrist. He or she is the Antichrist, for those who end up idolizing that politician.
If you’re being tempted to sin because of a good that will come of it, that’s the siren song of the Antichrist. Committing a sin against God in order to solve our problems and have good things– that’s what the Antichrist wants us to do. That’s how he gets us. Commit adultery so that you can find love. Abuse your child verbally or physically, so that they’ll repent of their sins and come back to the Faith. Cheat your employees out of their wages and buy your wife some pearls. Deny lunch to a hungry child to teach him fiscal responsibility. Pressure poor women to have more children so they’ll be pious according to your idea of piety. Pressure poor women to get abortions so that they’ll not be a financial drain on society. Join in a pogrom against your Jewish or black or Byzantine neighbors, so that society will be peaceful and orderly. Shout “we have no king but Cesar,” have the innocent preacher crucified, and maybe Rome will not destroy you. Sacrifice someone to Molech, and perhaps the famine will end.
It wears so many different masks: progress, responsibility, level-headedness, being a grown up, being a true conservative, being a true liberal, being a good citizen.
When Christ removes all masks at the end, you will see that it was idolatry and the Antichrist all along.
Christ is among us. Serve Him. The Antichrist is also among us. Don’t bow. You can tell the difference every time if you remain watchful.
Stay awake. Keep watch. You don’t know the hour or the day, but you know that we are always in the end times.
May the hour not find you sleeping.
(image via Pixabay)
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