There's a post making its rounds on Facebook right now, and a few folks have sent it my way. It's addressed to "Christian America," and it doesn't pull any punches.
Here's what set it off. On October 25, at a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, President Trump broke from his speech to a vulgar comment on Nicki Minaj's hind parts - - - out loud, in front of the cameras - - - and then told her to stand up. She stood. She did a little spin. The crowd applauded.
The writer of that post wants to know where the accountability is. "What would you call that if a Democrat did it? What would you call it if your pastor did it? What would you call it if your own husband did it?" Then he dares Christian Republicans to stand up and say they will no longer defend it.
Well, I'll take that dare. But I've got a question of my own. And I'd like an answer too.
Guilty As Charged
Let me start where the writer got it right. Because he makes a valid point.
What the President said was crude. It was indecent. It dishonored his wife, it dishonored the office, and it dishonored a woman made in the image of God (whether she minded the attention or not).
I do not defend it. And I have never defended that type of behavior.
And I'm on the record here. I have critiqued Pres. Trump's ways many times. I've said before, and I quote: "Aside from him being president (and I honor the office) - I'm not sure I would even invite Donald Trump to a family gathering - unless it was for an opportunity to witness to him about the condition of his soul."
Have him over as President? Sure, come on over. (I would be honored.) As friend? I'm afraid we wouldn't have very much in common - except for my desire to reach him for Christ.
Is Trump a Christian? I very seriously doubt it.
I'll leave his heart to God. But Jesus said, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). And what we watched in Michigan is not the fruit of a regenerated heart. There have been other examples as well.
So on that point, the writer and I agree. Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil." Shrugging off lewdness as "just Trump being Trump" is calling evil good. I won't do it.
But let's not get things turned around, either... Isaiah 5:20 cuts in both directions - - - and that's exactly where the author's original post goes quiet.
Now Answer Mine
Here's my question. If the disconnect between Donald Trump and the Christian voter is so glaring... so worth making a hubbub about... Why don't the Democrats pounce on it?
Think about it. The left has literally been handed a gift - - - Millions of Bible-believing Christians who are genuinely uncomfortable with the man at the top of the Republican ticket. All that the Democrats would need to do to capitalize on this gift is offer a candidate that a pro-freedom, pro-life, pro-God, and pro-Bible Christian could actually champion.
They won't. They never do. (And they never will.)
Instead, they offer a platform that defends abortion with virtually no limits, wants the government deciding what your children learn about their own bodies (without your permission), and treats the praying coach and the Christian baker like enemies of the state - - - and then they have the gall to ask, indignantly, "How could YOU ever vote for Trump?"
Really?!?
What the Democrats will not admit is that they forced this decision on us. Plenty of Christians would have entertained an honest-to-goodness choice at the poll. The Democrats made sure we didn't have one.
And I'll say this plainly, because I don't care how you frame it: Abortion is child murder. That name (abortion) was made up so it's proponents wouldn't have to say 'baby murder.' Holy God sees it as murder too. Proverbs 6:16-17: "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood." More than sixty million children since 1973. That alone is reason enough for many Christians to stay as far away from the liberal, child-murder approving, democrat candidates as possible.
So when the writer asks what I'd call it if a Democrat said what Trump said - I'd call it the same thing. Lewd. Dishonorable. Sinful.
Now let me ask him. What would he call a party that has made the killing of children in the womb a plank in its platform?
Jesus asked it better than I can: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:3).
A crude remark at a rally is a legitimate sin. But, in comparison, it's a mote - - - a speck of dust when compared to the political party who've built their whole platform around the right to end innocent life. That is a beam if I've ever seen one.
Add to that a party that would take a nation founded on freedom and very certain inalienable rights, begin stealing money from hard-working Americans and hand it to those who either broke in illegally or simply refuse to work - - - and I would say Trump is a walk in the park in comparison.
God Has Used Godless Kings Before
None of this is new, by the way. Scripture is full of pagan rulers God used to protect His people.
Nebuchadnezzar was the king who burned Jerusalem and destroyed many people. He was proud, violent, and godless. But he saw what Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego brought to his kingdom: "in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm" (Daniel 1:20). He made Daniel "a great man" and "ruler over the whole province of Babylon" (Daniel 2:48).
He saw the value of God's people to his society - even while he didn't know their God.
Then there is King Cyrus of Persia. Over a century before he was born, God called him by name through the prophet Isaiah: "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus." And then this: "I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me" (Isaiah 45:1, 4). Cyrus sent the Jews back to their homeland and ordered the temple rebuilt (Ezra 1:2-3). He likely didn't know the Lord personally, yet God used him anyway.
Whatever you think of Donald Trump good or ill, he moved our embassy to Jerusalem in support of the Jewish people, brokered the Abraham Accords (trying to establish peace in the Middle East), and appointed the justices who sent Roe v. Wade to the ash heap.
Even in his godlessness, he has been a far sight kinder to Christians and Jews than those who came before him. And his pro-America stance - standing for the America that was founded in righteousness and godliness (not the one progressives have captured and redefined) - has endeared him to a great number of people who love this country.
Now, My Challenge To The Christians In America
Here's where we need to turn the spotlight on our side for a moment.
Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel. He also built a golden image sixty cubits high and threw three faithful men into a furnace when they wouldn't bow to it.
Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar. He never once bowed to his statue.
That's the line, Christian. The moment "the lesser of two evils" gets shortened in our heads to just "not evil," we've done the very thing Isaiah warned about. Holding your nose in the voting booth is one thing. Laughing along in the stands is something else entirely.
Did I vote for President Trump because he was the lesser of two evils? Absolutely. And I'll keep praying for him (1 Timothy 2:1-2) in matters of wisdom for our country, and certainly for his salvation in Christ. I'll also keep praying for the day the Christian voter in this country gets a real choice. Though in fairness, I don't think the democrats are trying to attract our vote anymore.
Until that day comes, I'll rest in this promise: "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will" (Daniel 4:17).
Signed,
A Christian Voter Who'd Love a Real Choice
(and in honor of Daniel, who never bowed)