As I've said, I am dealing with COVID19, and I'm mostly tired out today. My post tomorrow will be on how racism is not pro-life, and I want to address head on the idea that not all evangelicals who voted for Trump were racist. Unfortunately, if you could excuse him, I'd say you have areas to deal with in yourself. But I would like to explain in more detail why I say that, so I'll write about it. I'd also like to talk a bit about the parallels between the evangelical myth of persecution and cancel culture outrage. Then Friday's post is about beginning to address where do we go from here? Because it's very clear to me the big lie that got US here is this nonsense that Trump is pro-life, and that's what matters most to his Christian supporters. Never mind who he harms during his tenure.
I want to address here something I have alluded to on Twitter recently. I tweeted yesterday that the fact Christians think highly of John Calvin is at the root of where we are today with Trumpism in evangelicalism. I think it is a pertinent point to a more in-depth look at the kinds of theology that got US where we are today. It is very worth trawling through the deterministic teachings of what is understood today as Calvinism. Neo-Calvinism's impact on the evangelical world that voted for Trump, is very worth considering.
You see, to vote for him, you had to have a certain level of callous acceptance of whatever will be, will be. Those who excused the situation to me often referenced the sovereignty of God, to the detriment of the human responsibility involved in choosing this leader. It was a way out of taking personal responsibility or having any humility about the damage evangelicals had done to their country by supporting an evil man.
I want to point out that the seeds of the cruelty that led US to Trumpism were already evident in the way that certain Calvinists in American Christianity interacted with people. The escalation of cruelty from fundamentalist men in the Trump era was not much of a surprise; it wasn't my first rodeo being mocked and told I wasn't a Christian or godly woman or some such. That bully culture was already well established by (definitively) ungodly men, who think that correct intellectual understanding of their gospel trumps loving behavior and attitudes.
There was an absence of Christlikeness in the evangelical world, particularly of the Southern Baptist variety. It was no surprise these people could justify Trump, when they could justify callous cruelty in their own lives. Even some pastors I had respected, when turning to Trump, disgraced themselves with cruel jokes, then laughed at those who asked them why they would mock like that. They have destroyed their credibility and their only way back is not to be dignified as authorities on anything, but rather, to grow in humble obscurity, owed nothing.
In 2015, I wrote about certain attitudes on the fringe that were appallingly cruel. These same folks didn't necessary support Trump, but it is my contention that their gutter level of discourse and lack of concern for the grief of others, is part of what led US where we are today. There is a harsh cruelty among so many, even towards those who mourn the deaths of loved ones. They kick people when they are grieving. It explains to me the callousness of people who do not now care who dies for the American economy.
For context, please read:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/justandsinner/the-15-and-the-reprehensible-dishonoring-of-christs-martyrs/
tenderhearted as God
Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth. Narcissism will one day be wiped out, and those who bully, accuse, and abuse others will no longer humiliate God's people. We Christians need more tenderheartedness, more genuine care and concern for fellow believers from every tradition which does not imply we must compromise the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need childlike faith and humble repentance, more "true religion" and much less arrogant talk. We need to come to know Jesus more than our theology books and quit divisive arguing over doctrines since God gives His people freedom to disagree. We need to stop trying to make everyone else in our own image and start following Christ even if we have to do so alone. It makes me sick and sad to see God's character, which is love, profaned by people who claim to hold to correct doctrines. I am aware that the idea of only one true church is not limited to Calvinists. The concern I have is that those who associate with bullies now may answer for it later. We should weep for those who harden their hearts and yet accuse others of the same. The fact is God calls us to follow Him. It is a long obedience in the same direction. It is not about head knowledge but heart repentance. A life changed by the Holy Spirit is shown not in apparent adherence to correct doctrines but in a heart work that results in the spiritual fruits described in Galatians. The church is far bigger than many Christians will allow for and yet perhaps paradoxically smaller than any of us might like to believe. Our faith rests in the person of Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross, not our outward church involvement or our correct articulation of essential doctrines. His call is "follow me", and His character is humble and gentle of heart. This is the same God who stands against injustice; He is able to be angry at evil, yet kind to the one who needs Him. The Scriptures say that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves instead of lovers of God. Could it be that this is what we are seeing in much of our Christianity? The one who stands firm to the end will be saved. That stand rests secure in Jesus the Anointed One, and cannot be shaken, not even by selfish and cruel "Christians". There is still time for everyone to repent and trust Him instead of our intellectual understanding of the gospel. As Jesus said, "the meek will inherit the earth." And that gives me hope. As a postscript, here are two of my favorite blogs that give me hope for their honest stand. http://littleredsurvivor.com/ {update October 2020: blog no longer trusted nor recommended} It also gives me hope when I see people turning evil to good. Check out this beautiful artwork from the author of littleredsurvivor.com:
###
What if Christians in 2016 had been kind, tenderhearted? What if they had loved and humbled themselves enough to hear the hurt and harm they were causing those of us who knew what narcissistic abuse can do? What if they had cared about women, foreigners, or racial and sexual minorities? My lament is this: so much could have been avoided, but now, here we are. None of it is acceptable, and people have died, because narcissism kills.
Comments