There is much to speak on with this topic, but I felt the need to particularly call out the a blog post that we, as a church, cannot accept or stand up to have spread around. This article by Mario Murillo is one that I would deem as poisonous to our church and congregation. It also does not bring out a good, theologically sound argument for how it interprets scripture. The Bible cannot be interpreted to fit our thinking or arguments. This is exactly what Mario is trying to do.
Here is the article published on July 5th by Mario Murillo Ministries: https://mariomurilloministries.wordpress.com/2019/07/05/the-secret/
Mario starts off by asking a very simple question. Why do people hate President Trump? I cannot speak for non-Christians, but as for Christians, I do not believe we should or are truly hating on President Trump. This is a presumption and if we hate Trump then it is not a Christ-like attitude. I remember when President Obama was in office, i'd see signs that say "God Hates Obama". God does not hate, nor should Christians.
What many of us see through President Trump's actions and words are not scriptural. Actions have spoken louder than his words and the increased hostility in regards to people of color, gender, and social status are putting most of us on edge. What many of us are asking for is accountability, justice, and truth. What are getting is not this. Addressing President Trump as having no direct proof of being a white supremacist, racist, colluding with Russia, or other issues is to ignore the entire argument from the other side. This is the equivalent as treating President Trump as a saint that does no wrong. Accepting the issues is important. On the other side, Mario is arguing that other people in the government should be put into jail and convicted of crimes. Who are you to pass judgment on others and release Trump of all wrong?
Mario uses John 11:45-48 to justify his argument. This is the story of the reaction that some of the Jews had after seeing the resurrection of Lazarus. They were worried what the following of Jesus would do after this miracle and went to tell the Pharisees in Jerusalem. What Mario wants to do with this story is to replace Jesus with Trump to make his point about how the political elite(minus a few righteous Republicans) are against him. That if we lose Trump as our president, we will lose our country as a "Christian" nation. This is not a correct assessment to make.
The apostle John used this story to show Jesus' power over death, His humanity, and ultimately how this miracle would force the Pharisees to finally make the decision to kill Jesus. The Pharisees were scared of what the people would do and knew that either Jesus would have to be killed or lose control of the power that they so loved. They feared man(Romans) more than they feared Jesus(God), That is why they were blinded by what Jesus came to do, that is to die for our sins on the cross. In verses 50-51, we also see that Caiaphas prophesied that year as to Jesus dying for the Jewish nation and the scattered children of God. How profound! We could extrapolate from these verses that people in power do not want to lose it in exchange for truth, but Trump is not the one who holds the truth. Nor is Trump the beacon of truth that will set us free. This is why the post by Mario is an abuse of scripture.
President Trump is not a beacon of hope for Christians. He is simply a tool, a person that God is using for the greater purposes of bringing about the end times and to fulfill the prophecies of the old testament. Trump is not defending Christianity or God, he's defending his own personal interests. He is driven by selfish ambitions just like the rest of humanity has been throughout the millennia, since the beginning of time. The only way we can change the hearts of people is to reach those around us for Christ and not put our hope in a person in power. They will always let us down.
Trump is not defending Christianity, he's not a savior, and he's not a saint. We should pray for God to use Trump to help further the kingdom of God and even for Trump's own salvation, but this is something we should be doing for every person in power. I wish that these same prayers and thinking were for President Obama, but they weren't by most Christian's on the right.
We need to remove the hypocrisy from the church. This is not a right versus left debate, this is a fight to stop making Trump as the savior of our nation. It is the distorted interest of certain "Christians" that are affecting our ability to be a light to the world. The powers of evil are against God and his people and we lose our focus if we look to Trump for our salvation, not to God. What has the church become to think like this? We are losing our grip on this nation, not because of the presidency, but because our focus is on the presidency. We have lost the people we are truly supposed to reach.
Let us pray that God will use us to reach the nations with the gospel message, that peace and justice will be before us. Let us not lose focus on politics, but instead focus on what we can change, that is those around us and our neighbors. Christianity, when politicized, always leads people astray.
I will end with a few select quotes by Philip Yancey from his book, Finding God in Unexpected Places.
"Although Jesus spoke of a "kingdom that is within you," throughout history the church has faced a constant temptation to form alliances with external centers of power. The U.S. church faces just that temptation today, with its emphasis on politics rather than spirituality."
"In moral crusades such as abolition, civil rights, and anti-abortion, Christians have led the way. I do worry, though, about an increasing tendency to see the labels "evangelical Christian" and "Religious Right" as interchangeable. The gospel of Jesus was not primarily a political platform."
"A political movement by nature draws lines, makes distinctions, pronounces judgment; in contrast, Jesus' love cuts across lines, transcends distinctions, and dispenses grace. If my activism drives out such love, I betray his kingdom."
