CHRIST-APP by philtierneyblog

6.    Trump Upholds and Models Traits that Contradict Jesus

In what we’ve come to call the Beatitudes, Jesus explained that the humble, grieving, meek, those craving righteousness and justice, the merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and those persecuted for righteousness-sake were actually blessed by God.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5 3-12)

In a world so often characterized by the tangible successes of human assertiveness and aggression, those traits might seem unreasonable and self-defeating. What was Jesus thinking about when He said that? Jesus saw through a different lens. He looked at things from a God’s eye view. He thought with a different paradigm. He thought from a spiritual perspective. Each of the outcomes He mentioned was spiritual in nature, not material. People were blessed spiritually. People were blessed because they could depend upon God and grow in their trust of God.

Trump holds the opposite values and models the opposite traits from Jesus. He abhors weakness, meekness, purity, righteousness, mercy, losing, vulnerability and humility. He regards such traits as typical of those he calls suckers and losers, as sheep to be shorn. Trump upholds aggression, strength, power, wealth, pride, sexual prowess, beating others and dominating them. He models the very opposite values and has contempt for the traits Jesus upheld. 

Trump sees things through an entirely different lens than Jesus and thinks with a different mindset. Some people follow the values passed on to us by our parents and grandparents and others follow different paths. Many of us do a little of both. At least in part Trump was shaped by the values of his father and grandfather. His grandfather immigrated to America from Germany to escape the military draft, there. He migrated from New York City to the Pacific Northwest and then to the Yukon in Canada at the start of the Klondike goldrush. He started restaurants and hotels, where prostitutes were made available. He made a small fortune in Canada before returning to New York City.  Trump’s father took advantage of the resources he inherited and by profiteering from FHA subsidies to buy tenements and build apartment complexes in New York City. Trump’s father taught him not to be a “sucker or loser;” but to be a “killer” and a “king.” He told Trump that he could have “1,000 mistresses, but to not get caught.”

Needless to say, those values and the traits they foster are very different from the ones most decent people are trained to embrace. They are completely opposed to the traits that Jesus taught and exemplified. It would be extremely odd for Christians, including American Christians, to tolerate them in someone they’d follow. Nonetheless, many do just that.

Christians must be aware that everyone sins, without exception.  As St. Paul has written, “No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3: 20-24). More than that, most of us are gripped by what’s been called besetting sins – habitual misbehaviors. Christians are not excluded from this propensity to sin and fall short of the righteousness of God, but that doesn’t mean that we uphold them as virtues.

Trump offers a completely different set of values and traits to the young and easily influenced in America. Christians who follow and urge support of Trump are seen as embracing his traits and are regarded as hypocritical, as people who promote the opposite traits from what Jesus stood for. That, too, is a stumbling block to onlookers. Trump models and tempts people to adopt intemperate thought and behavior.

A large proportion of American Christians rightly claim that they are primarily concerned for the influences to which children are exposed. The position of the President of the United States is perhaps the most influential in America. That includes the traits, temperament and values that a president projects as well as the policies a president promotes. Consider the impressions that Trump projects to the young and easily influenced. A president will have an impact on children by what he says and does. Trump consistently models bragging, lying, name-calling, bullying, aggression, cheating, sexual abuse and conspicuous materialism. He projects such traits as signs of strength, and it appears that the majority of American Christians want such strength in their president. To onlookers American Christians, by following Trump, seem to believe that children should be exposed to those traits and values as signs of strength. And yet they are diametrically opposed to Jesus’s way. American Christians need to choose Jesus’s way or Trump’s way.

7.    Trump Advocates a Counterfeit Gospel

Jesus proclaimed the Good News, the Gospel. What is that “good news?” He told people that God is here with us, that God loves us more than anything, that God is always ready to forgive us and to give us a new life, no matter what. All you need to do is receive that grace by faith. God’s grace, from the Greek word χάρη, means unearned favor. It means a gift offered for nothing in return. It means the gift of unmerited forgiveness.

God’s forgiveness is a cornerstone of what Jesus said and did. God’s forgiveness was key, and so also was people’s grace toward others, their unearned forgiveness of others. This was Jesus’s spiritual formula: God loves, forgives and gives you a new start, new spiritual life. When you receive those expressions of undeserved favor and pardon by faith, you’re set free. St. Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians: 5:1) God’s forgiveness sets us free from guilt, shame, fear and self-recrimination. And so, it also sets us free from holding onto the sins and offenses inflicted upon us by others. We no longer need to be psychologically affected by them or to let them weigh us down. More than that, we are free to let go of grudges, grievances, defenses, recriminations and retribution toward those who have hurt or offended us. We are free to set others free form our hostilities and grudges. We can even tell them. Then they have the choice to pass that grace onto others, as well.

Trump has absolutely no use for grace and forgiveness. It is public knowledge that Trump has perpetrated every indecency in the Book. He has consistently behaved as a sexual predator, cheat, fraud, liar and bully. He has sinned and fallen short of the righteousness of God by his thoughts, words, deeds, livelihood and lifestyle.  And yet, it is on the public record that he has publicly professed never to have felt the need to seek forgiveness. He has said that he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness or forgiveness from others. He has also consistently demonstrated that he has absolutely no interest in giving grace or forgiveness to others. Imagine that! Trump is opposite from Jesus when it comes to forgiveness.

Trump’s gospel is an alien gospel, a counterfeit gospel. This seems to be Trump’s gospel: Live however you like. Do whatever benefits you. Take advantage of anyone you want. Never apologize, ask for forgiveness or forgive anyone else. Everything is transactional. You don’t give anything to anyone unless they earn or pay for it. If you can get away with it, get whatever you can without paying and sell whatever you can without giving anything for it. If someone does a job for you, don’t pay them for it. If someone disappoints you, fire them. If someone hurts you, hurt them more. If anyone is loyal to you, you don’t owe them anything in return. If anyone is disloyal to you, destroy them as best you can. His gospel is this: Gain wealth and power any way you can, and then you’ll be free to do whatever you want. 

Christians who follow and support Trump demonstrate that they follow his gospel rather than Jesus’s Gospel. And Trump’s gospel is tempting and infectious. Then again, altogether too many American Christians already embrace a “Prosperity Gospel.” That gospel is also counterfeit gospel. Jesus never said, “Come unto me and I’ll give you whatever you want in this world plus heaven, too.” The American prosperity gospel says, “God adopted you through your faith in Jesus. Your God’s child, now, and so you’re a king’s kid. You’re The King’s Kid. So, you’re entitled to have whatever you want. Your Father, the King, wants you to be rich. So, pray the prayer that Jabez prayed and get the riches Jabez got, or just ask God to give you what you want and you’ll get it if you really believe.”

That’s a false gospel. It’s an American gospel, an amalgamation of Jesus and the American Dream. It’s one of the facets of cultural Christianity in America. That manufactures a counterfeit gospel, which Trump has easily been able to pick up on. It also shapes the minds of American Christians to be receptive to Trump’s gospel. He simply substitutes himself for God, for Jesus, as the one who’ll bestow whatever his followers want, if only they trust and are loyal to him, but that certainly doesn’t include forgiveness.

Trump’s good news is not Jesus’s Good News. Their gospels are mutually exclusive. You decide. Will you follow Jesus or Trump?