The Voice of the Church?

A nation that is devoted to upholding God's principles is a nation that will experience God's blessing - and the converse is true. Proverbs 14 says:
34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

Our selection of leaders does not absolve us of the responsibility of doing what the Church is called to do.  We cannot make the mistake of looking to a President or member of Congress, a Governor or a Mayor to do that job of the body of Christ.  So, the votes have been cast, leadership has changed, but our perspective should not change - we are called to be salt and light, tellers of truth, people of prayer, so that God might be exalted in our land.

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From Psalm 67, we can be reminded of God's ultimate authority over the nations:
(1b) God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us. Selah
2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the nations on earth. Selah

The analysis and reaction has continued over the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.  One piece of exit poll data that has already begun to attract attention is the white, evangelical vote.  Christianity Today offers this analysis:

Despite reservations expressed by many evangelical and Republican leaders, white born-again/evangelical Christians cast their ballots for the controversial real estate mogul-turned-politician at an 81 percent to 16 percent margin over Hillary Clinton.

Evangelicals of color—who represent 2 in 5 evangelicals, but aren’t segmented out in most national political polls—largely preferred Clinton leading up to the election. But she ultimately underperformed among Hispanics and African Americans compared to President Barack Obama before her.

The article also pointed out that, "White evangelicals made up 1 in 4 of all voters in the 2016 election," and said:

Americans who attend religious services weekly also favored Trump, but by a narrower 56 percent to 40 percent margin over Clinton. Monthly worshipers also broke for Trump more narrowly, 49 percent to 46 percent.

Also, Trump won with Catholic voters, 52-45%.  Obama had won the Catholic vote the previous two elections.

39% of voters said that they most wanted a president who “can bring change,” and Trump took 83% of those.  Clinton won 53% of the voters who most wanted a president who “cares about me,” 90% who wanted a president with the “right experience," and 66% of those saying they wanted one with “good judgment."

The role and composition of the Supreme Court seemed to be a major factor.  Writing for the First Things website, Biola University professor Daniel Patrick Guerra wrote, "...70 percent of the electorate said that the composition of the Supreme Court was the most important or an important factor in their vote for president. Trump won these voters, 50 percent to 46 percent. Among those to whom the Court mattered little, Trump lost by ten percentage points. The composition of the Court thus was a major factor in the election’s outcome, and religious voters seemed to emphasize it in debates over whether or not to support Trump."

One further thing: CNN reports that, "Some 88% of African-American voters supported Clinton, versus 8% for Donald Trump, as of very early Wednesday morning. While that's a large margin, it's not as big as Obama's victory over Mitt Romney in 2012. Obama locked up 93% of the black vote to Romney's 7%."  This year, around 12% of the electorate was African-American, compared to 13% in the last election.  Trump also fared better with Latino voters than Romney, winning 29% of that demographic vs. 65% for Clinton.  In 2012, it was 71% for Obama vs. 27% for Romney.

In considering some of this data, some random thoughts come to mind.

For one thing, we are a deeply divided nation, and it is helpful to understand one another's position. Even in the faith community, different voting patterns can be seen: white evangelicals trend Republican, minorities in the faith community seem to go the other direction.  There is much to contribute to this, including traditional constituencies.  But, I think this points out that the Church, regarding matters of public policy, has some challenges in coming together in unity to address really massive issues in our culture.  And, while we will likely not come into agreement, I think it's important that well-meaning people are devoted to understanding one another and can sit down and have conversations how to make for a better culture.

Also, there has been way too much finger-pointing within the evangelical community, especially on social media, regarding support or opposition to Donald Trump.   Evangelicals who voted Trump did so, apparently, because of their disdain for the policies that Hillary Clinton would bring to the Presidency.  Certainly, the Trump victory does not signal some sort of death knell for evangelical Christianity.  Because no politician can ultimately overcome or override the Church.  There are some who think that evangelicals sold out by voting for Trump - others disagree.  Fact is, Trump has been elected as President for all the people, and it is up to evangelicals to pray for him and to continue to speak truth to him.  We regard him in the right context - he is a tool who can be used of God for His purposes.