What influence does God have on politics? Sometimes we struggle to find God in the mess of our political system.
I’m making the choice to do something a bit different and share some of my political views from the most recent national election—the one that brought us President Trump.
Candidate Trump was not my first choice for the Republican nomination. I watched all the news, and I thought Trump acted like a child. I followed the process carefully. I watched all the debates. My ideal candidate exhibits values similar to mine. I want someone who cares about what I care about. I like someone with character and I like the idea of a devout Christian president.
Trump surprised everyone when he won the presidential election in November of 2016. Evangelical Christians overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump—a notion that has confused and astounded many. After digging in to some research, I found one thing to explain this. Trump’s platform—and presidency—supports evangelical causes, arguably more than any modern-day president.
He supported nonprofits and religious organizations who petitioned for exemptions to the Obamacare contraception mandate.
He signed an executive order on free speech and religious liberty allowing churches to talk about politics without the fear of retaliation from the IRS. Trump said, “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced anymore. We are giving our churches their voices back.”
He reversed the FEMA policy which denied disaster aid to churches.
President Trump consistently supports pro-life causes. He nominated Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court—a conservative justice who could be key in overturning abortion rights. He is the first president to speak at the March for Life, the yearly pro-life march held in Washington, D.C.
A three-word change to an obscure Health and Human Services (HHS) document may be the most significant and boldest move of the year for Trump. His administration is defining life as “beginning at conception.” The statement reads, “HHS accomplishes its mission through programs and initiatives that cover a wide spectrum of activities, serving and protecting Americans at every stage of life, beginning at conception.”
President Trump wins over evangelicals with his overwhelming support of Israel. In December 2017, Trump announced the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
It is in these ways evangelicals see the influence of God on the office of president—and it cements their support.
We are about to go into a bloodbath of a political season, and it’s going to be awful. It will be a strain on friendships and families. I know some family members quit speaking to each other because of political discussions. Don’t let politics break your relationships—even if you disagree passionately.
We have a new culture right now, and it’s called tolerance. This new tolerance says, “if you don’t agree with me you are a bigot.” The dictionary definition of “tolerance” is “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.” (Oxford)
However, the scripture does give us a really good example for loving people different from us, and that is in my Jesus. You don’t have to be good enough to be loved by Jesus. You don’t have to be good enough before Jesus respects you. You don’t have to earn respect because you’re already cared for—you already have a relationship with him before you did anything wrong.
At the Rock, you don’t have to earn your way in to be part of Rock Church. I want to be like Jesus, and I want to love you unconditionally right away. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to tolerate you because your differences irritate me, your belief systems are different than mine, but I think Jesus would want us to be tolerant. You don’t have to earn your way in, but your acceptance is deeper than just agreeing with you. I want this to be a place of love and acceptance that doesn’t have to be earned.
