4 More Years
Depending on who you are, you read the title through a lens of hope; or, you read the title through a lens of dread. In November, the people will have the power to either re-elect the most divisive president in Amerika or to elect the next president who ‘plays his role’ in the history of Amerika. With a disregard for the choices of the world, my concern is with my brothers and sisters who practice the same faith as I. There is something quite quaint and faintly disturbing in learning that, no less than, 90% of Trump’s voters claim to be Christian. A dark shadow of disappointment rises in my heart, knowing that men and women, irrespective of ethnicity, support Donald Trump. I am only disappointed because I had high expectations, morally and ethically that is, of my supposed Christian siblings. Now, we must understand there is a chasm like that between Heaven and Hell that lies between supporting and voting for Donald Trump. I believe in strategic voting. This means one can vote for a candidate because one is passionate about an issue, let’s say, abortion or private capital or militarism. Nothing is wrong with this— one has this right. But, overt support of Trump reeks of racism and white supremacy. To support a man whose fruit of the flesh feeds wickedness like oxygen in a forest fire; to support a man who mocks Christianity with self-proclamations of piety and reverence and loyalty to the living God; to support the heart of a man who personifies lust, hubris, and avarice shows forth the motives of your heart. This apathy and coldheartedness and ignorance show forth the texture of your heart. How can one sit in Church for years and forget that the greatest of these is love? Will I be condemned for reminding you of the Christ whom y’all have forgotten? I guess you will have to condemn Albert Mohler who agrees with my argument and says, “A significant number of evangelicals are being diluted. They have demonstrated a lack of discernment that is staggering in this election.” And, while you’re at it, don’t forget your stones for John MacArthur. He too concurs with the disillusionment of Trump’s supporters by saying, “This is a man being elevated that is a model of everything that is destructive in morality in our culture.” Should we do as Mohler and MacArthur do, as Paul would say, and call out wrong? Or should we sit back in silence and let our heart and soul rust like a ship in the Dead Sea?
In evil times like these, men and women, who according to their proclamations of faith, should be pleasing aromas; yet, they expire like milk and grow rotten from a lack of moral courage that should be innate to the Christian. Thus, when I look around it seems as if Christianity has been co-opted. “Preach the Gospel to the ends of the Earth'' has been subverted with vain isms; you can watch these isms duke it out on a social media platform near you. Have we forgotten that eternity is at stake? God, have mercy on us! The Christian, reaching over to influence the world has fallen in, and this false piety and nationalism stinks in the nostrils of the world. A.W. Pink prophetically said, “ ‘Religion’ is now as corrupt as the general morals of the masses.” It is this overt support of Donald Trump, and the simultaneous silence on injustice in Amerika that provokes violent and venomous reactions from the people. Yet, while the fire burns, Trump’s supporters walk around with their chins in the air as if they have become the moral standard. They walk around as if they were too good to be blown on by the wind. Have we forgotten that we were made from the same dirt? Have we forgotten that the breath in our lungs comes from the same Source? Nevertheless, the day is coming when the chaff will be separated from the wheat. And, those who preach the Gospel more with their mouths than hands and feet will face Him who stands on neither left nor right.
In evil times like these, men and women, who according to their proclamations of faith, should be pleasing aromas; yet, they expire like milk and grow rotten from a lack of moral courage that should be innate to the Christian.
There is always more to say, and time is always fleeting. Honestly, this was not written so that one can choose a side; rather, this was written because injustice needs condemning, and truth needs saying. I challenge all, who call on Christ as Lord and Savior to challenge your motives lest you love controversy more than Truth itself. We are living in dark times, and now is not the time for divisive social media posts or expressions of who has your political support or mocking of either the left or the right. To the left I say, stereotyping others is a barrier to listening. It makes you hear what you expect rather than what the person actually says. To the right I say, a deaf ear is the evidence of a closed mind. To the Christian I echo the words of Mother Teresa, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” To all I say, reflectively, the solution isn’t left or right and unless we turn to Him, we will all perish like flies in honey. To all I say, it’s just four more years— there is hope.
“But you must love with a high, serious intimate sympathy, with a will, with intelligence, and you must always seek to know more thoroughly, better, and more.”
