Apostate Joshua Harris claims that support of Trump has damaged the credibility of the Church and the Gospel message and that a leader like Trump is an "indictment" against Christians and is part of God's judgment against them. [1]
Joshua Harris had previously made headlines when he and his wife had departed from the faith; [2, 3] Joshua's reasons for his departure from Christianity are not exactly clear. During the 2015-16 presidential primaries, it needs to be made known that Donald Trump was not the first choice among many evangelical Christians. A great many of them actually rallied behind Ted Cruz.
But when Trump won that primary, evangelicals knew that even a man like Trump would be less wicked and the least damaging to our nation than the baby killing, LGBT behavior promoting, economy wrecking, gun-grabbing, treasonous, anti-Christ Hillary Clinton.
Evangelicals did not necessarily buy into Trump's claims to the faith---many still do not---although at the same time in spite of our skepticism, many of us would like to believe that our President has undergone some genuine changes towards becoming a genuine follower of Christ over the course of time.
One thing for sure, is that Trump has never displayed the hostility towards Christianity that the anti-Christ Democrats have displayed.
Backing Trump was the smartest thing the electorate ever did whereas electing and allowing Obama to be elected to the presidency for both terms was among the stupidest things the electorate has ever done.
The leaders that rule over us are but a reflection of what our society has become. Wicked rulers can only come to power by a wicked people, whereas godly and principled rulers come to power where the fear of God is still prevalent and people desire principled leadership.
We will admit that at the time, Trump was not the most favorable of all candidates but we knew that the alternative was far worse than any shortcomings of Trump or anything else he would ever do. In that election we decided in faith to honor God with the choice in leadership that would please Him best, even if the most God-honoring choices possessed flaws in character.
And God has been well-pleased with our choice in leadership as our President has done far more that is right in the sight of our Lord in terms of his policies than we could ever have expected:
1. He has nominated justices who have, in most cases, upheld the religious freedoms and free-speech rights of Christians and though he has taken a neutral stance on LGBT matters, he has at least shown regard for the religious freedoms and free speech rights of those opposed to and refuse to affirm LGBT behavior.
2. His policies have been far more consistently pro-life than we ever thought.
3. He has shown far more regard for the God's chosen nation of Israel than we had expected and for that, we can expect our nation to be all the more blessed. (Gen. 12:3)
4. Furthermore, our President has been an inspiration and an example of such unapologetic steadfastness, determination, and unwavering courage that I wish the Church as a whole would adopt.
If we would have the godly and principled leadership that we claim to desire and to be ruled over by men and women of upright character, than we first have to be a God-fearing, principled, and morally upright people. It cannot happen any other way. There will be times when we will be presented with candidates who may not be the most favorable or ideal choice and in such cases, the best thing we can do is side with the least bad option, because if we do not side with the lesser of two evils, the worst of the two evils will always prevail and for that, we will be held accountable before God for not doing all that could be done to restrain and prevent the worst of two evils when we had the means to do so.
As for what has been damaging to the Church, we need not look any further than the following:
1. Complacency.
2. Laziness
3. Apathy
4. Cowardice
5. Seeking the favor of men above the favor of God.
6. Pursuing the things of the world more than the things of Heaven.
7. Neglecting the study and teaching of the Word of God in its full counsel.
8. Lack of accountability for the conduct of members and the things said by them. Instead we try to make excuses for sin and bad behavior and justify those who act contrary to the dictates of the faith
9. Tolerance and acceptance of false doctrines.
10. Division over things inconsequential and lack of unity over the essential tenets of our faith.
11. Seeking unity at the expense of truth.
12. Imitating the world when we should be setting ourselves apart from the world.
13. Neglect of apologetics.
14. Enabling sin and wickedness.
15. Underestimating the power of our adversary who is Satan, making ourselves unprepared for his various attacks and manipulative deceptions and lies.
If we would repair the damage and restore credibility and relevance of the Church, we need to do the following:
1. Be diligent in the study of scripture, striving to become as knowledgeable as we can that we might become more grounded in our faith, know what our duties are to our Lord as His followers, what things are pleasing in His sight and what is not pleasing in His sight that we might do that which is pleasing to Him and avoid the things that displease Him, and that we might also know what we must be prepared to face and what sacrifices may be required of us in order to attain the highest honors that we can before our God. (2 Tim. 2:15)
2. Renew an undying zeal for our Lord and maintain high morale within the ranks so that apathy may not creep in.
3. Establish and maintain a faith steadfast that produces unwavering courage in the face of opposition and persecution, no matter how fierce or intense and retain within us a resolve to remain unapologetic in our faith and devotion to Christ.
4. Commit ourselves to seeking only the favor of God, even if it means suffering the displeasure of men (Acts 5:29) and set our sights, not on the temporal things of this life but upon the eternal things of the next. (Mt. 6:19-21)
5. Dedicate ourselves to the obedience to those things instructed to us by the scriptures given to us by inspiration of God. (2 Tim. 3:16)
6. Devote ourselves to restoring faith and confidence in the authority of scripture that there be left no excuse for unbelief and be prepared to give an answer for the faith in us (1 Pet. 3:15) and to earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3)
7. Measure all things against the scriptures to determine whether or not they are of God. (Acts 17:11)
and verify all things (1 Thess. 5:21, 1 Jn. 4:1) instead of blindly buying into every claim, doctrine, and trend.
8. Unify under all essential doctrines, (Eph. 4:5) but in order to be unified under the essential doctrines, we have to learn and be sure of what those essential doctrines are, and as for those things non-essential and of which scripture does not specifically address, agree to disagree, but we are never to seek unity at the cost of truth, and we must to resolve to align ourselves only with those who are spiritually and doctrinally like-minded with us, and avoid ties that could lead us away from following Christ and lead us into even the appearance of being involved in and endorsing the things that are contrary to our faith (2 Cor. 6:14-17)
9. We are not to be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2) but we are to show ourselves set apart from the sin and dark things rampant in it.
10. We are not to be enablers of sin and evil in any way, shape or form.
11. Be vigilant in preserving sound doctrine within our ranks and holding accountable members for their conduct and for any teachings contrary to the doctrines of our faith they bring in, (Mt. 18:15-17) and if necessary, disavow ourselves of the unrepentant among us (Mt. 18:17, Titus 3:10) yet always remain open to their restoration should they decide to repent of the false doctrines they attempted to bring into our midst and of the sin in which they once lived and harbored. (2 Cor. 2:5-11)
12. Though the adversary who opposes and fights against us is destined for defeat, we must take care not to underestimate him nor should we be ignorant of his strategies and devices (2 Cor. 2:11) lest we find ourselves ill prepared for his attacks.
End Notes:
1. Aris Folley, "Ex Evangelical pastor says supporting Trump has been 'damaging' to church,"
The Hill, November 4, 2019
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/468844-ex-evangelical-pastor-joshua-harris-says-supporting-trump-has-been-damaging
2. D.H Manheim, "Prominent Purity Movement Leader Joshua Harris And His Wife Renounce Their Faith And Hillsong Worship Leader Marty Sampson Said He Was Losing His Faith, But They Are Not Alone,"
Contender's Edge, September 24, 2019
https://contendersedge.blogspot.com/2019/09/prominent-purity-movement-leader-joshua.html
3. D.H. Manheim, "Two Inner Voices: One We Must Ignore. To The Other We Must Listen,"
Contender's Edge, September 25, 2019
https://contendersedge.blogspot.com/2019/09/two-inner-voices-one-we-must-ignore-to.html
Scripture references:
1. Genesis 12:3
2. 2 Tim. 2:15
3. Acts 5:29
4. Matthew 6:19-21
5. 2 Tim. 3:16
6. 1 Peter 3:15
7. Jude 3
8. Acts 17:11
9. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
10. 1 John 4:1
11. Ephesians 4:5
12. 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
13. Romans 12:2
14. Matthew 18:17
15. Titus 3:10
16. 2 Corinthians 2:5-11
17. 2 Corinthians 2:11
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