AMAZING EVANGELICAL STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP
Many, perhaps most, of you have already seen or heard that Mark Galli, the editor-in-chief at Christianity Today writing in an official Christianity Today publication, said that “Trump should be removed from office.”
This is an historic and momentous action.
That it is controversial is clear from the November 21 front page story in the New York Times about the Christianity Today piece and the blistering (typically dishonest) attacks from the president himself. (Trump tweeted: “I guess the magazine Christianity Today is looking for Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders or those of the socialist/communist bent to guard their religion”) Prominent pro-Trump evangelicals like Ralph Reed and Franklin Graham have also sharply attacked Christianity Today.
The New York Times story starts by saying that Christianity Today is “small, reaching just a fraction of the evangelical movement.” It is true that the print edition goes to only about 80,000 subscribers but it also has a large on-line presence. And Christianity Today is in fact the most influential Christian publication in the US – – and in many other places.
In 2016, just a couple months before Donald Trump was elected with 81% of the white evangelical vote, I was told by a prominent evangelical leader that none of the scores of evangelical leaders on the board of the largest evangelical organization in the US supported Donald Trump. But virtually none of those evangelical leaders dared to say that publicly. Christianity Today now dares to say that he has committed numerous immoral actions in business and with women. “His Twitter feed alone – with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies and slander – is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused. “
The fact that 81% of white evangelicals voted for such a man has besmirched the name “evangelical” and led countless younger Christians to abandon the evangelical world, even Christian faith itself. Christianity Today is right that if evangelicals continue to brush off Trump’s immoral behavior, the reputation of the evangelical world and even the Gospel itself will be fundamentally undermined for decades.
The immediate vicious attacks show that Christianity Today will suffer--perhaps severely-- because of this courageous. But history will report that Christianity Today had the courage to speak the truth when so many white evangelicals supported a patently immoral person.
It is time for all evangelical leaders who agree with Christianity Today to say so publicly.
I attach a few excerpts from the Christianity Today column (available at Christianity Today Weekly, newsletter@lists.christianitytoday.com):
“But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?”
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