Evangelism

During an interview Tuesday on Fox & Friends, President Donald Trump spoke at length about Monday’s historic White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

Sharing his burden over the rising death toll suffered on both sides in eastern Europe, President Trump then offered, with a seeming smile in his voice, another motivation for trying to help broker a peace deal.

“I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he explained. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”

For Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times, President Trump’s comments were quite shocking. From the Old Grey Lady’s White House beat writer:

This would have been a highly unusual admission from any president, but it seemed especially out of character coming from this one. The man who is regarded as a messiah by many of his own supporters — a belief he has encouraged at every turn — says now that he knows he’s no saint.

This fear of perdition raised some questions. Chief among them: Who, exactly, has been informing the president that he is “not doing well” with regard to kingdom come? Did Michael the Archangel somehow get Mr. Trump’s cellphone number?

Heaven comes up a lot in popular cultural conversation, and even with people who may not even consider themselves “religious.” There are people who mistakenly believe “all roads” lead there, and then there are those who discuss it in Hollywood-esque terms, a vague place populated with angels and harps.

It’s actually not unusual for politicians, journalists and even the general public to talk about somehow earning their way into Heaven. Ask a room full of people, many of whom might even profess belief in God, whether they’re going to Heaven when they die, and you’ll inevitably hear answers comparable to President Trump’s self-evaluation.

At a campaign rally last October, President Trump told the crowd, “I know my mother’s in Heaven. I’m not 100 percent sure about my father, but it’s close.”

One of the thrilling and overwhelmingly reassuring aspects of Christianity is that admission to Heaven isn’t merit based. There is no totem pole to climb, no boxes to check – no way to earn our way by being great or even good enough. Whether you make it to Heaven won’t be decided like a photo finish of a race. Close won’t be close enough.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them,” said Jesus (John 3:36). We later read in John’s Gospel another declarative promise from the Lord: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6).

As Christians, we don’t have to wring our hands in worry or frustration. We don’t have to wonder about our eternal destiny.

Believe and be saved – simple, and yet so beautifully profound.

Image from Getty.

Writing in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, columnist Peggy Noonan appears convinced that President Donald Trump’s natural governing inclination is to fight:

“What we’ve seen the past six months is what we’ll see in the future. It will be fight, fight, fight, not only or primarily for a movement, program or platform, but because fighting is good and the natural state.”

“Of all his weaknesses that is one of his greatest, that he’d rather hurt himself than not fight. He’d rather hurt the country than not fight. The fight is all.”

Since 2016, President Trump’s critics on both the right and the left have made similar accusations. Are they right or wrong? Is this good news or bad news? Where you stand on those questions seems largely dependent on your opinion of Trump himself and how he is governing the country.

But as believers, how should Christians think about fighting the ongoing cultural battles?

Many like to point to the apostle Paul’s encouragement to members of the Church in Rome, when he urged them, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18).

Taken in context, Paul is relaying to believers what true Christians look like. Earlier in the letter, he writes:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor …Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer… Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them …Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all (Romans 12:9-10, 12, 14-17).

But does that mean we can’t push back against the wickedness of the culture?

Of course not. To “abhor” or “hate” evil is to fight it, not passively watch the wicked run roughshod over the innocent. Addressing believers in Ephesus, Paul advised Christians to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:10-11).

God can orchestrate anything with our without our assistance, but passivity is more likely to invite the status quo. 

Last week it was announced that Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare provider serving nearly 13 million people across eight states, was stopping all gender mutilation surgeries for any patients under the age of 19. 

The healthcare behemoth hasn’t really had a change of heart or “seen the light” but instead is responding to pressure and executive federal action.

They’re responding to the fight.

From an internal memo written by CEO Greg Adams:

Since January, there has been significant focus by the federal government on gender-affirming care, specifically for patients under the age of 19 … In response to these federal actions, many health systems and clinicians across the country have paused or discontinued providing gender-affirming care for adolescents … After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause gender-affirming surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers.

Notice how many times (three) they used the term “gender-affirming” – a dishonest and reckless description of a destructive act that deforms and leaves young people to manage irreversible consequences. And a “difficult decision”? It’s the only right decision after the disastrous one that has led to the maiming of sexually confused children.

It was Winston Churchill who once quipped, “I like a man who grins when he fights.”

C.S. Lewis was right. “Christianity is a fighting religion.” Christians are called to be happy warriors who fight evil with good, who defend the defenseless, and who fight based on principle not on predicted or anticipated outcomes. Loving Christians fight because they hate the evil and love their neighbor. They fight and leave the outcome to the Lord.

Image from Getty.

As he did with his first cabinet meeting, President Trump invited Scott Turner, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to open the gathering in prayer.

The former NFL player, Secretary Turner served in the Texas State Legislature (2013-2017) and was an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

The former church shepherd has described himself as a “purpose-driven person” who sees his life in terms of a calling rather than a career.

“All along the way, you know, I believe the Lord was preparing me,” Turner said, “I believe God is a sovereign God … I believe that from before the womb of my mother that [God] was preparing me for this moment, for this day, for such a time as this.”

In his role at HHS, Secretary Turner has vowed to “restore biological truth to the federal government.” He then added, “This means getting the government out of the way of what the Lord established from the very first day, when he created man in his own image, male and female.”

Under Secretary Turner’s watch, any federally funded shelter must offer services according to a person’s biology not their identity and imagination.

On Tuesday, in the aftermath of the horrific flash flooding in Texas, here is how the secretary prayed in the Cabinet room:

Father, we’re humbled by your grace. We’re humbled by your mercy. Lord God, we surrender to you.

Jesus, you are the great Redeemer. And Lord, we thank you. I thank you for every man and woman around this table.

Thank you for the President, Father, and his leadership. Lord God, as we think about the families in Texas, Lord God, we don’t understand. We don’t know how to explain it.

We don’t know why, but we know who. We know who to trust. Father, we thank you that you are God Almighty, that you are all-powerful.

And Lord God, we lift up the families that are mourning, that are grieving, those families that are hurting. Lord God, we pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding. And your scripture says that Jesus, you said, “I’ll give you a peace, not the peace of the world, but the peace I give.”

And we pray, God, that you would give them a peace that in the midst of tragedy, that they don’t even understand how they can be in comfort. And Lord God, we pray that as we work together as a cabinet, as a President, Vice President in this administration, Father God, that you would give us all the tools that we need, Father God, to show up and to support and help to rebuild and to restore. The Bible says in Isaiah that we are “the restorers of the breach and the repairers of the street.”

Father God, as we roll up our sleeves and pray for these people, God, we just pray right now for your favor and grace. Thank you for the first responders and those that are working on the ground right now. Lord, we pray for miracle upon miracle.

And Lord Jesus, those that are still there that are alive, Father, we pray you would help us to find them, Lord God, and bring them back to their families. We love you. We honor you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

That a government official would pray so boldly and unapologetically in Jesus’ name inside the White House should encourage every Christian believer regardless of their party.

Lord, please hear our prayers.