American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part Seven)

I’m intrigued by “Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction,” a document signed by well-known evangelical leaders that aims to address the current social conflict and political confusion by making seven affirmations:

1. We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.
2. We will lead with love not fear.
3. We submit to the truth of Scripture.
4. We believe the Gospel heals every worldly division.
5. We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
6. We value every person as created in God’s image.
7. We recognize godly leaders by their character.

I’d like to look at each of the statements and evaluate them in light of current polarizing politics in America.

SEVEN: We recognize godly leaders by their character.

We affirm that the character of both our political and spiritual leaders matter. Within the Church, we seek to follow spiritual leaders those who display evidence of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus warned us to be on guard against false teachers who come as wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). These voices will tempt us with flattery, bad doctrine, and messages we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). They serve the false idols of power, wealth, and strength rather than the true God. Outside the Church, we will evaluate leaders based on their actions and the fruit of their character and not merely their promises or political success (Matthew 7:15-20). When any leader claims to have God’s approval, whether in the Church or in politics, we will not confuse effectiveness for faithfulness, but carefully discern who is truly from God (1 John 4:1).

We reject the lie that a leader’s power, popularity, or political effectiveness is confirmation of God’s favor, or that Christians are permitted to ignore the teachings of Christ to protect themselves with worldly power.

Here are the Scriptures referred to (in the NIV):

• ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
• ¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
• For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3)
• Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

What I hear from Christians who support former president Trump is, “He is in no way a perfect person, but then again there was a guy who once said, ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone’”.  Franklin Graham is a bit more subtle, urging that Trump is not the “pastor-in-chief”:

Trump — he’s been demonised [sic] by the media very well,” says Graham, although he concedes: “Is he the poster boy for Christianity? No, he’s not. He’s done a lot of very terrible things in his life, but he has also done much good.”

This is the very new way Christians have been looking at political leaders. Their character is meaningless; it’s the things they do for Christians that matters. And this is the very thing the Evangelical confession of convictions denounces. Character does matter, not just for spiritual leaders but for political leaders, as well.

Wayne Grudem, the well known author of Systematic Theology and former supporter of Donald Trump for President, has recently asked Trump to drop out of the race.

Since Trump has been accused of and charged for various ethical issues, one might assume that the topic of ethics would be at the top of Grudem’s list. However, that’s not the case. In fact, Grudem recently disagreed with Pastor John Piper when the two “reached different conclusions about [the 2020] presidential election.”

At the time, Piper wrote, I remain baffled that so many Christians consider the sins of unrepentant sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness (alazoneia), unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), unrepentant factiousness (dichostasiai), and the like, to be only toxic for our nation, while policies that endorse baby-killing, sex-switching, freedom-limiting, and socialistic overreach are viewed as deadly.

In response, Grudem argued that when choosing government leaders, “policies and laws are not the only consideration, but they are the most important consideration,” even more important than the leaders’ character.

This is not the view of Scripture. There were “successful” kings in the line of David who were nonetheless excoriated by God and His prophets for their character, saying they “did evil in the eyes of Yahweh” (1 Kings 16:25). Scripture teaches,

Proverbs 29:2, When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice.

Exodus 18:21, But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.

2 Samuel 23:3,4, When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.

Strangely, those who support Trump will often point to the moral failings of his opponents. Should we not be giving them the same pass as Trump, not casting the first stone, or is this a way of saying the score card is even between them, so stop focusing on Trump’s character. Meanwhile, Trump clearly casts the first stone, calling his opponents stupid, crazy, and immoral. What happened to ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander’?