Can evangelical Christianity be saved? I still believe — but only if it dumps Trump

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump pray outside the U.S. Capitol Win McNamee/Getty Images

In my own personal life, I have an aversion to accepting advice and even to human touch. I react in similar ways to both of these expressions. If someone touches my arm, intending only kindness, I tend to scratch it off, as was observed by a past partner.  If someone pushes their advice into my life, I often do the same: Scratch it off. Another friend once told me that the only way to get me not to jump in a puddle was to tell me to jump into it. At age 47, I’m not much involved with jumping into puddles — but if someone told me not to do it I must admit I probably would.

Dealing with this element of my own intimate human experience can help explain the love affair between Donald Trump and American evangelicals. Trump is the “bad boy” that many liberals have been warning Christians about — and now, the more dangerous he seems. the more they like him.

Another way to look at this is that someone only ends an unhealthy relationship if they can come to that conclusion on their own. Evangelicals will never dump Trump because of some clever argument by Rachel Maddow, or a brilliant takedown by Bill Maher. Such a breakup, if it ever happens, must come from within the evangelical movement itself.

The impetus for a breakup also cannot come from the more progressive or leftist elements of the Christian church. Most of the Christian left has no backbone or force when it comes to speaking out against their evangelical brethren. There is an understandable reluctance to condemn people they feel connected to by faith, and who they hope to redeem. But in fact, by watering down their attacks on evangelical philosophy they lose the respect of the evangelical fellowship they wish to win back.

I have read a great deal about the Civil War and it’s clear how divided the Christian faith was 160 years ago around the issue of slavery. Far too many were willing to espouse a perversion of Christian theology that justified the brutal enslavement of human beings. Yet the Christian church in the North played a central role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad, providing a consistent ethical and moral clarity in arguing that Black people needed and deserved freedom and full citizenship. What I’m saying is that in every generation Christians face a choice. That’s as true now as it was then.

Both sides in the 1860s believed they were following the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully. But some chose to support oppression, murder, rape and genocide, while others fought for equality and sought to express forgiveness, repentance, love and grace.

The only way we will ever see that kind of change today is from a movement from the evangelical church itself. But there’s a big problem: Evangelicals must do something that, so far, most simply do not want to do. They must reject the last 50 years of political posturing, at least, embraced and endorsed by the evangelical church and its leadership. They must reject the very foundations of the political agenda that has provided the evangelical church with so much power, even as its absolute numbers in society have continued to decline.

My appeal is to the fellowship of evangelical believers, some of whom know that they must now reject the teachings of their pastors and turn away from shallow, self-destructive reasoning. I want cheaper groceries and cheaper gas as much as the next working-class, unemployed former evangelical minister — but I am not willing to sacrifice my morals, or what I regard as my true faith, to get them.

As Christians, we believe that one day we must all face judgment before our creator. What will we tell him about the decisions we made during this dark time in America? “We loved you, Lord, and we loved our neighbors — but we forgot about that part for a while because inflation made us uncomfortable and we thought that foreigners were taking over our country.”

In their hearts, believers don’t think that will go over well with Jesus, who was tortured to death by cynical politicians who gloated as he died, and yet offered them — and the rest of us — unconditional forgiveness. Jesus embraced the poor, the sick, the foreigner, the hungry, the imprisoned and the oppressed. That’s not my opinion — go read his words for yourself.

Sooner or later, evangelicals must save their own souls by standing up for a better America and a better version of the Christian faith. That might be painful for some individuals, but the true nature of our faith is to love others and to do more for them than we do for ourselves.

In all honesty, I can understand the contrarian viewpoint embraced by many evangelicals more than most people do. Even now, I can feel the temptation to enjoy Trump making fools of the “liberal media” and those that would mock my Christian faith. That spiteful approach may be the way of the world, but if the Christian faith is to persevere it can only do so by rejecting the current American culture of spite, vengefulness and selfishness.

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At risk of repeating myself, the Christian faith is based on love, forgiveness and grace. Without those elements then it is something else entirely, and no longer preaching the message of Christ. Rejecting Donald Trump and what he stands for is nowhere near the end of the fight to save the Christian faith in America, but it’s a good place to start. If evangelical Christians really want to save this country and redeem the message of Christ — as I believe most of them do — they must begin by renouncing the Antichrist who has led them so far into darkness.