Today, I posted a video to my YouTube Channel imploring Christians to stand in opposition to Trump even if you choose to vote for him as the “lesser of two evils.”
Here is the full transcript of my video.
Good Morning Church!
In today’s video, I’m calling on Christians to give up on Donald Trump.
If that’s going to make you mad, turn it off right now.
If that’s going to make you cheer, double-check your motives.
If you are willing to seriously consider whether God is pleased by you voting for Trump, I invite you to stay and hear me out.
The Church in America is at a major crossroads.
It is a racial crossroads. An economic crossroads. A cultural crossroads. And it has become a political crossroads.
COVID – AHMAUD ARBERY – GEORGE FLOYD
But preparing for Sunday in 2 Peter 2… I was overcome by the character traits of the false teacher
- v.1 Secrecy • Do you know anyone who hides damaging information? They just might be a false teacher.
- v.1 Denying Jesus • Do you know anyone who uses Christian language without any Christian substance? They just might be a false teacher.
- v.2 Shameful Ways • Do you know anyone who has engaged in shameful behavior and is leading others? They just might be…
- v.3 Greed • Do you know anyone who indulges in the accumulation of wealth through any means? …
- v.3 Exploiting • Do you know anyone who takes advantage of others for his own benefit? …
- v.3 Stories they Made Up • Do you know anyone who tends to have his own version of the truth? …
- v.10 Despising Authority • Do you know anyone who is unwilling to let any authority have say over him? …
- v.10 Bold and Arrogant • Do you know anyone who has no filter and is supremely confident? …
- v.12 Blaspheme in Matters they don’t understand • Do you know someone who pretends to be an authority on everything? …
- v.13 Carousing in Daylight • Do you know anyone who flaunts in public his own adulterous exploits? …
- v.14 Adultery • Do you know anyone who is a repeated adulterer? …
- v.15 The Way of Balaam • Do you know anyone who will say anything so long as it benefits them? …
- v.17 Springs without Water • Do you know anyone who makes grand promises that turn up empty? …
- v.18 Boastful • Do you know anyone who talks about how great he is? …
- v.18 Enticing • Do you know anyone who appeals to individual human desires and entices immature believers? …
- v.19 Promising Freedom • Do you know anyone who promises people freedom while himself living in depravity? …
- v.22 Dog returns to vomit • Do you know anyone who will not learn from previous mistakes? …
I didn’t mention names. You might have thought I was talking about Pelosi, or Trump, or McConnell, or CNN, or FOX, or another politician, public figure, or media outlet… Well, one reason I didn’t mention names is that I was talking about perhaps all of them.
Signs of false teaching have risen up in all of the politicians and the media around us, and we have done so much finger-pointing and blaming that we have come to accept the false teachers who are on our side because they oppose the false teachers on the other side.
But following a false teacher because they are saying what you like to hear is the definition of following a false teacher.
You can’t trust them, and since they are saying what you like to hear, you can’t trust YOURSELF either.
I was probably going to leave that topic alone, until I saw this photo on the news yesterday.
PHOTO OF TRUMP HOLDING A BIBLE
And I realized that I could no longer remain “ambiguous” about this topic.
So Good Morning Church, as in Wake Up. President Trump is a false teacher, and I beg you to end your allegiance to him.
Listen, I have heard many Christians give Donald Trump a pass because they voted for a president and not a pastor. But then, those same Christians have been unwilling to speak up loudly against all the things he has said or done to denigrate the name of Christ.
Can he be a false teacher if he isn’t claiming to be a Christian teacher?
Well, I’ll just read one verse…
(18) For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. (19) They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” — 2 Peter 2:18-19 NIV
Does this passage sound like Trump? Does he boast? Does he appeal to your desires? Does he entice people? Does he promise freedom? Is he himself a depraved individual? Does this sound like Trump? If so, you must conclude that he is leading people into slavery. And his enticement of Christians is that much more insidious.
And if you still don’t believe me that he is a false teacher, consider this:
PHOTO OF TRUMP HOLDING A BIBLE
This man holding a Bible is secretive.
He has paid people off to keep his personal life secret and is going to court to prevent the country from seeing his tax records.
This man holding a Bible is denying Jesus.
Because he is holding this Bible right after declaring that he will send out the military to help governors “quell” the violent protests.
(A President may have the right to use military force at times, but to do so while holding a Bible is to completely deny what Jesus stood for.)
Allow me to make this point just a bit more clearly:
(15) On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, (16) and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. (17) And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ ” — Mark 11:15-17 NIV
EXPLANATION OF THE TRUE MEANING OF THIS PASSAGE AS AN ACT OF JESUS’ OPPOSITION TO RACISM
This is Jesus deploying violence because the forces of the Jewish majority had been displaying racism against the Gentiles.
Again, Jesus was violently protesting the racism of his day.
So, I’ll say it again: This man holding a Bible is denying Jesus.
This man, holding a Bible, has indulged in shameful behaviors.
Access Hollywood Tape, and his own Twitter Feed!
This man, holding a Bible, has lived a life of greed and exploitation.
He is donating his Presidential salary, but his fraudulent school and Trump Foundation along with his practices as an employer continue to bear this out.
Further, he fires people as soon as he is done with them even if that means the firing comes a day before their pension is secured.
This man, holding a Bible, is addicted to false stories and his own version of the truth.
This man, holding a Bible, despises authority unless he wields it.
He rejects the notion that Congress or the Courts have any authority over him.
This man, holding a Bible, is bold, arrogant and boastful.
NOT A SOUL can deny that.
This man, holding a Bible, is a blasphemer in matters he doesn’t understand.
Listen to his speech during and after the 2020 National Prayer Breakfast.
This man, holding a Bible, is an adulterer.
This man, holding a Bible, promises greater freedom…
… while also declaring an unwillingness to consider the freedoms of George Floyd or any other oppressed people in our country.
This man, holding a Bible, is a purveyor of the Way of Balaam…
… because he will SAY ANYTHING as long as it is advantageous to him.
“But 2 Peter 2 doesn’t apply to him!”
But, wait, I hear you say. So what if he meets all 27 characteristics of a false teacher. If he hasn’t claimed to be a religious teacher, then Peter’s passage doesn’t apply to him!
And I counter back, but he’s standing in front of a church, holding a BIBLE as if he is a Christian leader.
His appeal to Bible believing Christians is part of his central claim to the Presidency, and if you want to defend his policies at least have the Christian courage to decry his abominable and oppressive personality.
If you think Conservative policies are the way to go, and if you think the only way to get them is to vote in this election for Trump. Then go ahead and do so, but please, SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE MAN and those who ENABLE his abusive, dangerous, and blasphemous behavior.
Some Christian Defenses of Trump
Now, some Christians I know will defend Trump with one or more of the following statements:
1. But Trump has appointed Pro-Life justices.
Listen, that’s great from a certain perspective. I want to live in a country where abortions never happen, and so it makes sense to me that abortion should be generally illegal.
However, making abortion illegal does not make us a pro-life society.
- We are still a country that uses the death penalty.
- We are still a country that will not provide universal health care or day care.
- We are still a country that makes adoptions expensive and difficult.
- We are still a country that treats refugees as illegal aliens.
- We are still a country that treats black people as threats.
- We are still a country that blames homeless people for their homelessness.
Are conservative policies moving us toward a pro-LIFE society that sees an end to any of these things?
And is Donald Trump doing anything to move us toward a pro-LIFE society other than trying to overturn Roe v Wade?
2. But Trump is improving the economy.
There was a time, when I could have believed that. The past three years SEEMED to be economically strong for America. However, the wealth gap, the national debt, the scourge of homelessness, and the incidence of medical bankruptcies have been skyrocketing through all that time.
Additionally, the 40 million who are currently unemployed prove that our great economy was an illusory bubble. It was an economy of corporations not individuals. Once the lockdowns happened, the corporations ensured their own survival by laying off millions.
And, anyway, since when did Christians start using the stock market to determine if a society is just?
3. But Trump supports my freedoms.
Hey, promising freedom. That sounds exactly like something Peter said in his second letter.
Usually when people mention this, they are talking either about religion, guns, taxes, or required public health measures like mandatory vaccines or wearing masks.
“My body, my choice” say the protesters in Michigan forgetting that the same slogan has been used by pro-choice advocates for decades.
Okay so now, I’m really going to make some people mad. Because speaking as a conservative myself, I have come to the painful realization that the conservative / Trump notion of freedom is terribly, illogically inconsistent:
a. You can’t be pro-life and against mandatory vaccines (or against any other public health measure).
Pro-life says the government should regulate the medical establishment to ensure the life of every child.
And mandatory vaccines have been demonstrated conclusively to reduce infant mortality.
Therefore, if you believe the health of every child is precious, you will be against abortion, and you will be in favor of mandatory vaccines.
b. You can’t be pro-life and against gun regulations.
Pro-life says the government has a vested interest in controlling the means of ending a life.
Well, if that’s so, the government has a vested interest in controlling ALL the means of ending a life.
People say, “Guns don’t kill people.”
The truth says, “People holding guns kill people all the time.”
Can I say, Ahmaud Arbery? How would he have been treated if he had been running down the street of that white neighborhood with a gun strapped to his waist? Giving Ahmaud a gun wouldn’t have solved anything, but taking the gun away from that white man would have kept Ahmad alive.
If you claim to be pro-life, you must also be for limiting access to weapons.
c. You can’t be pro-life and against sensible taxation that provides health, housing, and welfare to people.
Pro-life says the government should spend extra money to enforce new laws against abortion and thereby allow the population to increase especially among the poor.
If you believe the health of every child is precious, you will also support government interventions that ensure that child’s HEALTH and WELLBEING even if it costs you more money in the process.
So pro-life Christians who talk about personal freedoms in these ways are not being consistent with their own beliefs.
And icing on this cake, since when did “my personal freedom” become a Christian value?
And now, religion. The main reason I have heard people recently declare that Trump is a great man. They say…
4. But Trump supports religious freedom!
Does Trump support religious freedom? Let’s take a closer look.
- In the midst of a dangerous pandemic, Trump just told Christians they should go back to church… because hey, Christianity can’t exist unless it’s happening with lots of people singing and talking in small buildings with poor ventilation for over an hour at a time… and because hey, if more Christians die, that’s not a problem right? That’s religious freedom right?
- Trump’s first act as President was to outlaw travel to the US from predominately Muslim countries even if the traveler was a US citizen. That’s not supporting religious freedom. Nor is that supporting national security. That’s supporting Christian bigotry.
- Trump is threatening to attack social media companies, has already issued attacks on peaceful protesters, and demonizes anyone who ever says anything against him. And wouldn’t you know that the First Amendment to our Constitution, the one that ensures the right of religious freedom says this:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Granted, this is directed to Congress and not the President, but it is the President’s sworn job to uphold the Constitution which means to recognize these rights.
Freedom of religion is connected to these others:
- Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and…
- Freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances — that is, protest
These words were written by men who participated in or endorsed the Boston Tea Party!
Good Morning Church. It’s time to wake up.
Trump and all who enable him are false teachers for while they pretend to support the Christian agenda, they are actually appealing to the lustful desires of Christians who are willing to dispense with moral integrity for the sake of earthly power.
Again, I read the words of 2 Peter.
(18) For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. (19) They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” — 2 Peter 2:18-19 NIV
No matter what good you think Trump has done for this country, I declare that he has enticed you by appealing to your lustful desires.
He appealed to your desire for influence and exploited your pride by offering anti-abortion rhetoric.
And I fell for it! Even though our narrow-minded emphasis on anti-abortion policies is actually naive, unsympathetic, and illogical when considered in combination with other conservative policies.
He appealed to your desire for security and exploited your fears by offering pro-Christian rhetoric even though he cares nothing about real religious freedom or freedom of speech or any Christian values at all.
He appealed to your greed and exploited your bigotry by enacting policies that disproportionately helped the predominately white educated class to the detriment of the poor, the immigrant, the refugee, and people of color.
And he takes photo ops with a Bible he doesn’t read in front of a church he doesn’t attend after gassing a crowd of people he doesn’t love.
Since I recorded this video, the official record is that tear gas wasn’t used on that crowd. Video footage shows that some type of gas was used, so if it wasn’t tear gas, perhaps it was only smoke bombs that were thrown. Nonetheless, in the video footage, the people present obviously fled when the canisters started smoking indicating that they at least thought it was tear gas.
Conclusion
I don’t care if he makes America “great.”
The America he’s making is not the country I want, but more than that, the man he is fails to qualify as a man I should follow.
Trump and his enablers are false teachers.
I implore you to stop enabling them.