Trumped

In Romans 15, we read an admonishment by the apostle Paul to his readers - and to us today -
reminding that our hope is not in human devices or ingenuity, but in Almighty God:
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

That's a great picture of the body of Christ - people who have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who are marked by the Lord Jesus, who desire to please Him, to live by His principles, and to radiate His love into a culture that needs hope.  Our Lord is a reliable source of hope for this world, and we are His representatives, called to tell His story and to bring Him honor.  When we are disappointed by events in this world, we can press in to the source of lasting hope.

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In Psalm 42, we can find a passage of Scripture that can remind us of our source of hope, even when we are troubled by internal struggles or external events:
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, "Where is your God?"
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.

The Republican convention is now in the history books, and just a few months from now we will know if Donald Trump will be the President-elect of the United States.   Not surprisingly, results were mixed for his acceptance speech last night - he chanted his standard mantras highlighting what is wrong with our current condition as a nation and promising to fix things.  And, he thanked evangelicals for their support, saying that he didn't deserve it.

The evangelical role in the current election is a subject that has yielded quite a bit of analysis. Leading evangelicals such as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Jerry Falwell, Jr. of Liberty University addressed the gathering yesterday; however, so did Peter Thiel, who declared himself a gay Republican, the co-founder of PayPal, the company that decided to shun North Carolina because of legislation that affirmed traditional gender ideals.

And, yesterday, it was announced that James Dobson had endorsed Trump - a Christianity Today story covered that, then moved into some coverage of evangelical support of the billionaire Republican nominee.  A few tidbits:

More than 3 in 4 white evangelicals like Dobson are voting Trump this November, according to the Pew Research Center. However, it’s mostly a vote against Clinton, not in support of Trump himself...

The story also reported:

Overall, about a third (36%) of evangelicals are voting for a candidate they like, while more than half (55%) are voting against the candidate they like the least.

That’s exactly what most evangelical leaders (very few of whom supported either Trump or Clinton when the election began) advise.

When faced with two disagreeable candidates, 60 percent of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) board members polled last month said that Christians should vote for the candidate they dislike the least, while 28 percent said to vote for a third-party candidate and 12 percent said to not vote for that particular office.

The CT story also related some information from WORLD:

In World magazine’s last poll of evangelical influencers—conducted in May, after Cruz left the field open to Trump—the 77 respondents appeared to be split down the middle. Half said they would still never vote Trump (51%), but the other half said they could be persuaded if he promised to appoint a pro-life Supreme Court justice or chose a vice president they liked.

Almost all of those who wouldn’t vote for Trump said they would choose a third-party candidate. Forty-six percent of respondents said they’d pick one on principle, even if that person had no chance of winning. Another 29 percent said they’d choose a third-party candidate only if he or she had a real shot at winning.

The top three issues the World panel said they were considering when selecting a candidate were abortion, religious freedom, and Supreme Court nominations. None overlap with the top considerations of white evangelical voters in the pews: terrorism, the economy, and foreign policy/immigration.

The "in the pews" reference is based on a Pew Research poll.

But, what is an "evangelical" in the eyes of survey-takers and the media?  Baylor professor Thomas Kidd tweeted out:

Polls show evangelicals support Trump. But the term ‘evangelical’ has become meaningless.

He refers to a new Washington Post article he has written.  He also wrote a piece recently for The Gospel Coalition, in which he said:

...many of these supposed American evangelicals have no clear understanding of the term ‘evangelical,’ or of the gospel itself. They figure, “I’m conservative [another ill-defined term] and a Protestant, therefore I am an evangelical.” Or maybe they think, “Well, I watch Fox News, so I must be an evangelical.” Or, “I respect religion, and I vote Republican, so I must be an evangelical.”

These vague associations have turned ‘evangelical’ into a term that luminaries like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield would not recognize. And, more problematically, they represent a faux gospel of moralism, nationalism, and politicization. That is a gospel that certainly cannot save.

Aren't you glad that evangelicalism is not a political movement - or at least it isn't supposed to be? And, perhaps that label may be growing more obsolete.  Truth is, we are followers of Christ, we are His disciples, we are children of the Most High King.  Those are just some of the ways that we can refer to ourselves.  But, evangelicals - what does that even mean any more?

And, we can be likewise glad that our hope is not in politics or politicians!  Politicians, because their are human to the core, will fail us.  They will promise and commonly not deliver.   With our current political system, it is difficult for one man or woman to make sweeping changes and to conform with what he or she has declared, and that could actually be a good thing!

I believe that we are called to be involved in politics, to exercise our right to vote, and to speak up on important issues from a Biblical perspective. But, in many instances, we can hold on loosely rather than tightly, lest we become consumed by an unhealthy interest in political matters, rather than in the God whose ways transcend the political system.