Please allow me to expand on something I posted (below) in
reply to some questions that came up in an earlier comment-thread. Here is my
answer to friends who wonder if there’s a contradiction between my sounding an
alarm during an election year regarding Donald Trump’s character vs. my own
frequently-expressed opinion that churches and pastors should keep partisan
politics at arm’s length, and Christians should not be deluded into thinking
that the machinery of the American Electoral College can be commandeered for
the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.
This isn’t about politics. My concerns about Donald Trump
have nothing to do with his political convictions. Even if I agreed with every
position he took on both foreign and domestic policy, it would still be my firm
belief that he does not qualify to lead this or any other nation. It’s
frightening to think that such an irascible and capricious man, severely
lacking in both self-control and moral boundaries—a man whom we have repeatedly
seen fight like a 7-year-old schoolgirl—might have the power to invoke war or
take other executive actions.
Of course Trump is by no means the only Presidential
candidate (including certain current office-holders) who is morally,
spiritually, and ethically stunted. He’s surely the *worst,* but he’s neither
the first nor the only scoundrel who doesn’t deserve anyone’s votes. American
politicians for years have seemed to be trying to outdo each other to see who
can be more arrogant, more narcissistic, more ostentatious, more wantonly
driven by the flesh, and more cleverly deceitful—while being less accountable,
less open to instruction or admonition, and above all, less modest. But Trump
has greatly upped the ante, and he is certain to be the hands-down winner by an
incredible margin in the contest to see who can be the mouthiest and most
unsavory political candidate ever. I can’t imagine how anyone could ever
surpass him for sheer carnal chutzpah.
I’m especially annoyed by the ridiculous pretense (put
forward and fostered by Trump himself) that he is a faithful Christian who
"reads the Bible more than anyone else”—even though he claims he can't
remember ever asking God for forgiveness or even needing to. This man is not a
Christian, and as long as he insists he is—and (evidently) manages to get lots
of people to believe it,—my conscience is continually telling me I have a duty
to warn my friends and members of my flock not to be duped by this swaggering
loudmouth falsely masquerading as a messiah.
I’m appalled by the pathetic gullibility of hundreds of
thousands who self-identify as "evangelicals" (presumably people who
would say they believe the Bible is true) who nevertheless are quite willing to
believe that this arrogant adulterer represents hope, or promise, or an improvement
of some kind.
Americans already voted an overweening narcissist into
office eight years ago. Why would anyone think an even more egomaniacal
blowhard is going to make things better for our nation?
Yes, I know God is sovereign, and that the king’s heart is
in His hands (Proverbs 21:1), and I DO rest in the knowledge that His truth
will ultimately triumph, and He will use all things for our good and His glory.
But I’ve never viewed my Calvinist convictions as an excuse
for indifference or inaction. I needed to say something.
Phil Johnson on Facebook, 3/2/16
