A Public Servant, not a Savior

The Bible is clear that the Lord works to place people in positions of authority in order to carry out His will.  Now, that does not exempt us from allowing God to use us in that process - including prayer and casting a ballot, since we have that God-given duty and responsibility as American citizens.  And, citizens of heaven. The book of Daniel, chapter 2, says this:
20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.
21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.

It was only 10 days ago when Donald Trump took the oath of office for the second time to become the 47th President of the United States.  And, Christians were influential in putting him there.

To review, the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, where noted Christian researcher George Barna is the Director of Research, issued a post-election survey report, which said:

The one segment that has gotten virtually no attention from the media are Christians. Simply put, among self-identified Christians, President Trump won a 56% share of their vote.

The report also noted, “...Christians represented 72% of the voters who turned out,” and the Center indicated that segment's turnout in favor of Mr. Trump “...made the difference in the race.”

But, Christian turnout was lower than it had been in 2020.  The report said "...the pre-election research by CRC predicted turnout among Christians would fall below their 2020 levels. While that prediction clearly was fulfilled, its potentially devastating impact for the Trump campaign was blunted by the even lower levels of turnout among the Harris campaign's target segments."

Two days after Election Day, the New York Times ran a piece by two experienced religion writers, who stated: "...as Mr. Trump’s sweeping re-election victory brings them to new heights of power, they believe his return is more than an electoral mandate: they believe it is a divine one." They go on to say:

Mr. Trump has repeatedly invoked a religious anointing since he survived an assassination attempt in July. And when he claimed victory on Tuesday night, he did so again.

“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Mr. Trump told supporters. “And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.”

The article was laced with a variety of biased statements and cherry-picked quote to try to characterize the new Administration as some sort of Christian power trip.  Take, for instance, this paragraph:

While politicians have often invoked God or cited passages from the Bible to make their case, the country is entering a new landscape, one where Mr. Trump is not only the leader of the Republican Party but also the de facto figurehead of conservative American Christianity.

Well, I hope not.  Trump has a history of decisions that are favorable to the Christian community, including a video message at last Friday's March for Life, where Vice-President J.D. Vance was an in-person speaker.  But, he was not elected to be a Christian leader, and certainly not a savior. 

BBC ran an article in late November, with the headline, "'Anointed by God': The Christians who see Trump as their saviour."  News flash: that is true, but it does not and should not mean that Trump is a spiritual leader.  I think based on the book of Daniel, you could make the case that all leaders are at least "appointed" by God and blessed with a tremendous opportunity to lead and hopefully exercise godly wisdom.  They may even be called, "anointed," but they have to take advantage of His power. 

Now, regarding this "savior" mentality, here is some material from the BBC article, including comments from Franklin Graham:

“Church attendance is not going to go up next week because President Trump has been elected - but what I think it does mean is that legislation that we might have seen coming down the road that that would make it very difficult for people of faith will not come,” he says, referring to the idea of more progressive legislation around, for example, abortion and gay and trans rights.

“He will protect people of faith, he will protect religious freedoms in this country. I don't talk about just Christian religious freedoms… [but] all people of faith.”

Nashville businessman Peter Demos, who has been a guest on The Meeting House on Faith Radio multiple times, made this statement in a Christian Post op-ed piece:

While I deeply appreciate his policies, achievements and boldness in confronting challenges, Christians must maintain a clear distinction between political leadership and spiritual authority.

He goes on to say:

Trump has shown commendable leadership in areas such as defending religious liberty, appointing conservative judges and promoting values that align with Christian principles. These accomplishments merit recognition and support. However, viewing Trump as a divinely-anointed savior figure conflates his role as a political leader with spiritual authority — a dangerous and unbiblical misstep.

Demos offered a four-point prescription to provide the correct focus:

1. Keep Trump’s role in perspective: Trump is a political leader, not a spiritual one.

2. Look towards Christ as Our Lord and leader: Keep our ultimate hope and focus on Jesus, not on earthly rulers.

3. Hold leaders accountable: Expect Trump and his entire administration to uphold Christian principles while expecting them to make mistakes. They are human after all. 

4. Pray without ceasing: Pray for Trump, his advisors, and our nation, asking God for wisdom, guidance, and protection from Spiritual Forces of Darkness (Eph 6).

The results of the 2024 election, especially regarding Christian turnout, show there is much work to do regarding motivating believers to be involved in voting.  But, it's more than just a matter of turning out on Election Day - we have to practice a Biblical viewpoint on civic engagement.

For instance, according to Barna's CRC research, the Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservatives, the SAGE Cons that he has identified and studied for years, registered a 99% voter turnout, same as 2020.  Two-thirds of those who possess a Biblical worldview - the Integrated Disciples, as they're called - turned out with a 3-point rise.   

I believe there is a relationship between spiritual involvement and what we would call "political" involvement.  But, we must always allow the Bible to govern our political decisions and actions.  Otherwise, we run the risk of losing focus.  

Regarding the President and his Administration, we should always be diligent to pray for them and never to worship a governmental leader.  The President will have so many who will be desiring his attention, who would like to influence him to carry out their agenda.  If he is a man who truly believes God has spared him to lead our country, then we should always pray that he show himself to be pursuing that calling.