What to make of the results of a recent Fox News poll which asked, “Is Donald J. Trump President of the United States because God wanted him to be?” Unsurprisingly, only 25% of all respondents answered in the affirmative. 62% of those polled thought that there was absolutely no way that God would ever want America to have a “President Trump.” However, when Evangelicals in the poll responded to that same question, 55% said they believed God wanted Donald Trump to be elected leader of the free world. I thought the number would be higher, given that most Evangelicals affirm God’s sovereignty and control of all things, not just when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29), but also when leaders (and countries) rise and fall God (Romans 13).
A few weeks ago, President Trump’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said as much, raising the ire of non-Evangelicals and secularists everywhere when she had the temerity to share on CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) what most Evangelical Christians like her believe when it comes to Trump’s election as President:
“I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think that he wanted Don ald Trump to become president and that’s why he’s there. And I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about.” (“Sarah Sanders tells Christian Broadcasting Network: God wanted Trump to be president”)
At The Washington Post and other newspapers and media outlets of record, Huckabee Sanders’ proclamation of mainstream Evangelical thinking is itself shocking and bewildering. That is entirely unsurprising when any purported “news” organization fails to hire conservative Evangelicals or Evangelicals in general and when apparently no reporters or editors have any real-world family, friends, or even acquaintances who are Evangelical Christians. So much for calls for diversity. When the views and opinions of one of the largest segments of the population are marginalized or silenced, the ensuing analysis will not only be biased but also clueless.
How clueless? So clueless as to suggest “God wanting Donald Trump to be President” is the same as God’s endorsement (hearty approval) of Trump AS President:
“More than half of white evangelical Protestants — 55 percent — said that God endorsed Trump.” (Nearly half of Republicans think God wanted Trump to be president)
Not hardly. However, when we are so consumed with politics, then all of our beliefs — even our religious ones — start to be filtered through a political lens. Can one believe that God wanted Donald Trump to be President without believing that He endorses or heartily approves all that Trump does? Before you answer that question, think about what you would say if we were talking about Barack Obama’s Presidency or (heaven keep forbidding) another Clinton in the White House.
For Evangelicals (particularly of the conservative variety), there is no contradiction in affirming a belief that God wants a particular person elected to the Presidency — Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump — while simultatneously believing that God doesn’t necessarily endorse all that the President actually does or says. I’m pretty sure God didn’t approve (or bless) President Obama’s praise for Planned Parenthood a few years back. Come to think of it, the Lord wasn’t a big fan of Ahab or Jezebel, either.
Just a few short years ago, I would never have imagined that Donald Trump would be elected the 45th President of the United States of America. I did not believe that he had the character, temperament, or leadership style to be President. I wrote about it at length as far back as 2011. (here, here, here, and here) One might even say that I was (past tense) a “never-Trumper” before that became popular. Much has changed in the last two years since President Trump’s election.
Looking back, I ask myself, “What was I thinking?” Apparently not what God was thinking. So, what to make of the results of this poll and how to reconcile my past opinion of Donald J. Trump with my present outlook on President Donald J. Trump? Simply this: God is God and we are not. The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah put it this way:
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” (Isaiah 55:8)
What do you think? Did God want Donald Trump to become President? Why or why not? In the end, does it really matter what any of us think?
I believe authority is given by God every president or governor mayor ever elected official drivers had a hand in them being brought to power