How Can You Follow Jesus and Support Donald Trump?
By Shane Idleman Pastor, Westside Christian Fellowship
Like many, I’m perplexed by the “divide” in the Christian community over President Trump—but I’m not surprised. The media is fueling “lies” and the world is listening.
This was demonstrated in a worship song by Daniel Deitrich. Talk about the wrong place to express your “political” views. Deitrich’s song was written in response to the 81 percent of white evangelical Protestant voters who supported Donald Trump in 2016.
Here are part of the lyric: “They started putting kids in cages. Ripping mothers from their babies. And I looked to you to speak on their behalf.” Daniel Deitrich is referring here to Barack Obama’s caging of “illegal migrants breaking down the southern borders.”
This, of course, is in response to what is “perceived” to be happening at the border. I assume that Mr. Deitrich is sincere, and his heart truly wants to help people, but we must get our facts from reputable sources or first-hand experience. God willing, I’m touring the border with other California pastors very soon and hope to gain that perspective personally.
Some say, “How can you follow Jesus and Donald Trump?” We are not following a man, we are shaping a movement. A better question to be asking, though, is “What direction is the country heading?”
- If a leader “lacks” Christian character but is “pointing” the nation back to God, is that a bad thing?
- If they are “minimizing” murdering babies and “maximizing” godly values, is that a bad thing?
- If they are being a “terror” to terrorists and making America “secure”, is that a bad thing?
- If they are honoring “hard” work and minimizing “free” handouts, is that a bad thing?
God doesn’t judge a nation based on the “character” of one man; He judges it based on the “spiritual” health of her people. Never forget that.
I regularly say that we Christians love legal “refugees and immigrants” and are eager to help with “food, lodging, and jobs.” But at the national level, the president is to put the “safety and provision” of the American people first. When an airplane loses cabin pressure, parents put on their “oxygen masks” first to better assist their child. This isn’t selfishness; it’s wisdom.
Opening the borders parallels cabin pressure falling and a limited supply of masks. Our law enforcement officers could not sustain the “illegal” load, nor could our nation. Let’s streamline the process and welcome God-fearing “legal” immigrants and have them “contribute” to society so everyone benefits. The truth is, “kids are not being put in cages and ripped from their mothers,” as the song accuses.
The majority of news outlets “spin” everything to put President Trump in a “bad” light. Their “hatred” for him trumps the “truth.” Their agenda is simple and clear: “remove him from office at any cost!” And I hope you realize this: “they are really coming after you, me, and our Christian values.”
The push toward “open” borders is more about ”votes” than truly “helping” people. Open borders would be like me telling my kids to leave their “windows” open in case a stranger needs a “warm” night’s sleep. That would be severe parental “neglect” because many “harmful” things could also enter through those open windows. Open borders would parallel that type of “irresponsibility.”
Additionally, our “financial” system cannot support people flooding in who need “assistance.” How is that using wisdom? It’s not a matter of if this type of financial “irresponsibility” causes damage but when and how much. Our California representatives in Sacramento need to “wake up” to this fact—and wake up quickly. There is a better way, but our leaders must “repent and seek God for wisdom.”
Most critics don’t “care” what the facts are. Their “hatred” for the president overshadows their “desperate” need for “humility.”
Let this sink in:
- innocent children are being protected,
- godly counsel is surrounding President Trump,
- terror is being restrained,
- good judges are being selected,
- socialism is being resisted,
- families are being encouraged via employment,
- black employment is at an all-time high,
- prayer is being brought back in schools,
- God’s wisdom is being sought,
- and on and on it goes.
So again, we are not following a man, we are “revitalizing” a movement, a movement “back” to God. I’m more concerned with our nation’s “national” character than I am with the president’s “personal” character.
An analogy that I often use will bring this point home. The head of a “neighborhood” watch program, who took the late-night watches, had previously had an “affair.” He was occasionally “gruff and impulsive” and sometimes his words were “crass and offensive”, but he watched over the neighborhood “diligently” each night.
Each week he invited church leaders into his home to “pray” for him and his family and to seek their “advice.” He often stood against others on the committee who wanted to enact “policies” harmful to the neighborhood and to the children, such as advocating an “open-door” policy where residents were required to allow “anyone” into their homes at all hours of the day for handouts.
Is this not the “kind of person” you would want leading your neighborhood watch? Does his past or his “demeanor” matter more than the results he is “accomplishing?” If you are intellectually “honest,” the answer is not difficult.
In the same way, the answer is simple for America. Again, we are not voting for people based on how “godly” they are; we are voting for the “future” direction of America: “the right to life, the elevation of God’s Word back to its proper place, the appointment of conservative judges, securing America and her borders, creating jobs, and improving the quality of life for all Americans.”
As a personal observation, I have noticed that those who “oppose” President Trump typically embrace “liberal” theology. It makes one wonder what is truly leading them: “worldly mandates or biblical principles.”
I will close with what I stated in a brief op-ed: “we can’t have our cake and eat it too,” there is no middle ground for Christians today. You can choose a president who will wear a Planned Parenthood scarf at her inauguration or one of the countless others who would seek to “destroy” the America we know and lead us down the “primrose path of socialism or worse.
Or you can choose to “back” President Trump. There is no “Plan B.”
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