I have been asked some serious questions: Why is Donald Trump in office? What purpose does he fulfill in the plan of God? What judgment might his actions bring upon America?
These questions deserve more than a political slogan. They call for an open Bible, an honest heart, and enough humility to admit that we do not know everything God is doing.
I do not write as someone who has received a private revelation concerning this president. I write as a country preacher who believes that rulers are accountable to God, that the church must speak truth, and that our confidence belongs in Jesus Christ.
I cannot tell you every reason God has permitted this presidency. I can tell you that no presidency releases the church from obedience to the Lord.
Winning does not prove God’s approval
At the human level, presidents come into office through elections, institutions, and the choices of voters. Those choices involve responsibility. We cannot make political decisions and then escape accountability by saying, “It must have been God’s will.”
Daniel declared:
“And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings.” —Daniel 2:21, KJV
God remains sovereign over human history. But sovereignty does not mean approval of everything a ruler says or does. Scripture records rulers who possessed authority while practicing conduct God condemned.
Hosea records this accusation against Israel:
“They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not.” —Hosea 8:4, KJV
These passages come from different circumstances, but together they caution us against a careless conclusion. A ruler’s possession of power does not establish the righteousness of his conduct.
Winning an election does not make a man holy. Political success cannot turn dishonesty into truth or vulgarity into virtue.
That standard applies to every president.
We must not pretend to know God’s secret counsel
Some Christians are quick to identify a favored politician as a modern Cyrus. Others are equally certain that a president they oppose must be Pharaoh or the Antichrist.
I believe we should exercise much greater care.
“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” —Deuteronomy 29:29, KJV
God has revealed enough for us to obey Him. He has not revealed every purpose behind every political event.
In Scripture, God used rulers to preserve life, restrain enemies, expose evil, and execute judgment. But the biblical text identifies those purposes. We do not possess the same authority to assign a prophetic identity to a modern president.
A comparison may illustrate a principle. It must not become a substitute for revelation.
I would rather confess that I do not know God’s entire purpose than speak confidently where He has not spoken.
Being used by God does not excuse wrongdoing
Even when God uses a ruler, that ruler remains morally accountable.
Isaiah 10 describes Assyria as an instrument of judgment. Yet the same chapter announces judgment upon the Assyrian king because of his pride:
“I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.” —Isaiah 10:12, KJV
The lesson is sobering. Serving a purpose within God’s providence does not give a ruler permission to practice arrogance, cruelty, or injustice.
We should remember that whenever someone says, “God is using him,” as though that ends every moral question.
God’s ability to work through human events never makes repentance unnecessary.
What this presidency may be revealing
Here is my opinion, offered as an interpretation rather than a prophecy: this presidency has become an occasion for exposing the loyalties of the American church.
It raises questions we cannot answer honestly with campaign slogans.
Do we believe character matters only when the president belongs to the opposing party? Do we condemn vulgarity in one man while laughing at it in another? Do we insist upon truth until a falsehood serves our political interests?
I remember the moral arguments made during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Many evangelical voices insisted that conduct mattered and that the example of a president influenced the nation’s children.
I believed character mattered then. I believe it matters now.
If Christians condemn misconduct in Clinton while excusing vulgarity in Trump, the inconsistency deserves examination. The issue is whether Scripture governs our judgment when applying it becomes politically inconvenient.
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.” —James 2:1, KJV
This does not describe every evangelical or every Trump voter. A ballot does not reveal every motive of the person who casts it. But wherever Christians defend wrongdoing because it benefits their side, the church’s witness suffers.
God can use that exposure to call us to repentance. We must decide whether we will receive the correction.
Judgment can begin with what we choose
When people ask what judgment America will suffer, they often imagine a sudden catastrophe.
I will not claim that a particular storm, disease, economic collapse, or military defeat is God’s punishment for this president. Scripture does not authorize me to make that prediction.
Jesus challenged the assumption that victims of tragedy were worse sinners than other people. He turned His hearers toward their own need for repentance:
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” —Luke 13:3, KJV
That should restrain our willingness to explain someone else’s suffering as a divine sentence.
Nevertheless, wrongdoing has consequences.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” —Galatians 6:7, KJV
Paul addresses moral choices and their consequences. We should take that warning seriously in our personal lives and in the public conduct we encourage.
A society that rewards dishonesty weakens its ability to trust. A society that celebrates humiliation teaches its children to despise. A society that excuses corruption makes justice harder to obtain. Decisions that disregard human life bring grief into real homes.
These consequences may unfold through ordinary human decisions. They are reason enough to resist wrongdoing before its harvest arrives.
Romans 1 also describes God giving people over to desires they persistently embrace. That chapter does not name America or predict this presidency. But it warns us that judgment can involve being permitted to follow a destructive course we refuse to abandon.
We ought to tremble at the possibility that getting everything we demand could expose how badly we have chosen.
The president is not the only one accountable
A president bears responsibility for the authority he exercises. Advisers, lawmakers, religious leaders, and citizens bear responsibility for their own actions.
Those responsibilities are not identical. Neither can they all be transferred to one man.
If a pastor knowingly excuses wrongdoing, that pastor must answer for the excuse. If a citizen repeats a claim known to be false, the citizen bears responsibility for repeating it. If we applaud cruelty, we must examine our own pleasure in it.
The church cannot surrender its conscience to a political leader and later claim it had no choice.
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” —Acts 5:29, KJV
That confession has meaning when obeying God costs us something.
God’s concern for the vulnerable has not changed
Psalm 82 declares:
“Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.” —Psalm 82:3–4, KJV
Whatever conclusions we reach about the beings addressed in that psalm, God’s concern for justice is unmistakable.
Political power must not make us indifferent to suffering. The poor, the stranger, the child, and the civilian caught in war remain human beings whose lives matter before God.
As a Friends pastor, I cannot put away the teaching of Jesus whenever national anger rises.
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” —Matthew 5:44, KJV
Loving our country does not cancel that command. Supporting a government does not remove our obligation to speak when its actions violate the principles we profess.
Judgment begins at the house of God
Before the church announces judgment upon everyone outside its doors, it should hear Peter:
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” —1 Peter 4:17, KJV
Peter writes in the context of Christian suffering and God’s judgment. His words should sober us and direct us toward faithfulness.
Have we made national power more precious than Christian obedience? Have we become more eager to defend a president than to tell the truth? Have we allowed political enemies to become people whose suffering we enjoy?
Those questions belong before the Lord.
I must ask them of myself as well as others. There is no virtue in exposing another person’s pride while nourishing my own.
My prayer is for repentance
I do not want to see America destroyed. I do not want to see Donald Trump destroyed. I want him to repent of wrongdoing, receive wisdom, and govern justly. I want the same grace for every person in public office.
I want the church to recover its freedom to tell the truth.
We can pray for a president and hold him accountable. We can acknowledge a sound decision and rebuke shameful conduct. We can oppose injustice while praying for the salvation of those responsible.
Our task does not depend upon knowing every hidden purpose of God.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” —Micah 6:8, KJV
That is where this country preacher must stand.
Whatever purpose God permits this presidency to serve, my duty is to remain faithful to Jesus Christ. The church must never become so committed to defending a ruler that it forgets to obey its Lord.
