Praise for Christianity Today
I was pleased to read the article from Christianity Today (CT) regarding their views on Donald Trump's moral failure and the need for his removal from office. Trump's tweetstorm on the issue was to be expected but I was a bit surprised by Franklin Graham's response in which he states that those at CT "certainly don't represent the Bible-believing segment of the evangelical community." It would appear that Mr. Graham and his followers are reading a different Bible than I am. Let's see what Jesus has to say about all this.
Donald Trump says (and I assume Mr. Graham agrees) that America should be first - Jesus says the first shall be last.
Mr. Trump says America needs to be great again - Jesus says those who are greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are servants to all.
Mr. Trump uses fear, arrogance, and threats as his political strategy - Jesus lifts up the poor, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for what's right, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers as those who are blessed.
Finally, Mr. Trump says that immigrants are rapists, criminals, and terrorists. We should be afraid of them and keep them out of the country. Jesus (and the Old Testament prophets) say we are to welcome and care for the strangers, the hungry, the sick, the naked, and the prisoners. In caring for "the least of these" we have cared for Jesus.
There are many of us in the Christian community who never make the headlines. We simply take these (and other) teachings seriously, doing our best to live them out day by day. So my question to Mr. Graham and others in the far-right evangelical fold is, who's right - Donald Trump or Jesus?
Dennis Dieball
Libertyville