Thoughts on Tuesday's Election

By Robin G. Jordan

I am convinced that Christians who voted for Donald Trump will come to regret voting for him over time. A close examination of both his character and temperament reveal a man who is unprincipled, dishonest, untrustworthy, divisive, immoral, egotistical, and vengeful. It also reveals a man who is easily-angered, has poor impulse control, is prone to lash out in response to real and perceived criticism, and holds grudges. These are not qualities that are desirable in the occupant of the Oval Office. They are not qualities desirable in any leader to whom Christians are lending their support. They conflict with Biblical standards, standards that not only apply to Christian leaders but leaders in general. 

While his supporters may have chosen to ignore the existence of these traits in their candidate or to minimize their seriousness, they are an integral part of Donald Trump. They are not going to miraculously vanish now that he is President of the United States. Whatever he does wrong while in the Oval Office, those who elected him will share the responsibility for what he does. They, after all, put him there. They cannot plead ignorance. The facts were presented to them. They chose to disregard them.

I believe that we can expect to see during the Trump presidency is a nation even more polarized than it was before the election. I also believe that this polarization will make the task of evangelizing the younger generations much more difficult than it is already.

I am a student at a local state university where I am taking a language course. Many of the young people with whom I have daily contact are dismayed by the news of Trump’s election. These students are the young people whom local Christians are seeking to reach and engage. Those Christians who voted for Trump, however, have raised a barrier between these young people and themselves—a barrier to the gospel. These students now view them in the same light as they do the more extreme of Trump’s supporters. Their perceptions of local Christians are likely to grow even more negative as Trump and the Republican Congress trash the things that they value such as green energy, the climate change pact, and the like.

I would add that I am not surprised by Trump’s election. His success in obtaining the Republican Party nomination and now the US presidency has a spiritual dimension that has been overlooked. I am not talking about the belief that Trump has a special anointing from God, a belief that a number of charismatics pastors are promoting. Rather Trump has repeatedly portrayed himself as the savior of the nation. In other words, he is claiming to be a type of Christ figure. Jesus himself, however, warned his disciples about those who would come after him and about whom they themselves or others for them would make such claims. I am inclined to view Trump’s election as a part of the evil one’s strategy to weaken Christ’s Church and to damage its ministry and mission in our day and time. Let us not forget that it is the ruler of this world that blinds human beings to the truth.