Watching Donald Trump take over the American political church months ago in Iowa on the holiday that celebrates Martin Luther King, it became clear how far the church has fallen from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In King, the American Christian church had a man who fought for the oppressed and expressed love for his enemies. In Trump, the American church has a man who blames the downtrodden for every ill this country faces and seeks revenge on his enemies.
Nathaniel Manderson
According to Franklin Graham, Trump is just the man his father, America’s pastor Billy Graham, would have supported. In other words, America’s pastor would have followed Trump by rejecting Christ.
As a minister, my feelings and admiration revolve more around King. Having a calling into ministry is a very personal thing. A future pastor looks to receive some form of affirmation from people who are not blood related to you. It was nice that my grandmother always believed in me, but a calling requires more than that.
I am sure King had the support of his grandmother, along with being affirmed by leading the greatest grassroots political movement this country ever has seen. A movement that was not endorsed by Billy Graham, which may mean Franklin Graham is right about his father.
“He needs our prayers but never our vote.”
Considering King, as it relates to the current discourse around politics and religion, is enough to throw me into a depression. He perfected the art of combining his ministry to the needs of the working class and the politically disenfranchised. He never needed to demonize the opposition, while remaining uncompromising to his faith.
Now, I have to watch evangelical ministers like Franklin Graham falling over themselves to unite behind Trump. This association with the Republican Party and the evangelicals is nothing new, but this unholy alliance with Trump is a disgrace.
As I was considering this dichotomy, I realized Trump will lose the election. Trump will lose, and then this country can head back to a place where one half does not hate the other half. The American church can return to preaching, teaching and living as Christ instead of Trump. The example and legacy of King can be remembered properly, and the American church can be born again — again.
Trump will lose because just enough of the American evangelical Christian population, who do not live in Iowa, is going to remember what it means to be a Christian. Enough of my Christian brethren will remember that Trump no longer can represent the faith of Jesus Christ or America. They’re going to remember that being able to buy less expensive eggs and turning away desperate foreigners at the border are not the foundations of the message of Jesus Christ.
Enough people of faith are going to walk into that voting booth and remember that Trump represents himself and his interests and nothing else. People of faith will notice that Trump preaches vengeance against anyone who has stood against him. Trump preaches hate against our neighbors and hate for the very people Christ taught his followers to love. Therefore, Trump does not deserve the support of the Christian church. He needs our prayers but never our vote.
My brothers and sisters will remember the legacy of Martin Luther King. They will remember his commitment to social justice, along with his commitment to forgiveness, love and grace. The evangelical faithful will remember Trump represents the opposite of every single foundational pillar of the Christian faith. If the American evangelical church wants to survive and save the teaching legacy of Christ, it is time to reject Trump.
“These false teachers use the word of God to condemn the people Christ came to save.”
This rejection is incomplete until Christians openly reject evangelical leaders like Ralph Reed, Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham. Personally, spiritually and biblically, I want to say I do not like, respect or value these men in any way. These evangelical leaders are manipulators, modern-day Pharisees (the teaching hypocrites who had Christ killed) and self-serving sons of the devil.
The enemy of the Christian faith is not found outside of the church but within its walls and leadership, and no one exemplifies the misleading of the Christian faith better than Reed, Jeffress and Graham.
These false teachers use the word of God to condemn the people Christ came to save. They reject foreigners, love guns, embrace the wealthy and support the new leader of the evangelical church, the felon-in-chief Donald Trump.
Reed, Jeffress and Graham are an enemy of American democracy and more importantly an enemy to the ministry and teachings of Jesus Christ. Reed, Jeffress and Graham are more devil than Christ, and it is time to put away the evils of the evangelical movement that has dominated conservative politics for the last 40 years and turn to a new theology based on the actual words and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Nathaniel Manderson was educated at a conservative seminary, trained as a minister, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA and guided by liberal ideals. Throughout his career, he has been a pastor, career counselor, academic adviser, high school teacher and advocate for first-generation and low-income students, along with a paper deliverer, construction worker, package handler and whatever else he could do to take care of his family.
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