Why are so many “evangelicals” in support of Trump? It is disturbing me but not surprising. I believe the Trump bandwagon is a mirror of
another more long time bandwagon in our American culture – evangelicalism. In the same way people have been attracted to
the empty rhetoric and wishful thinking of the Trump campaign, many have for
years been attracted to an American, prosperous version of Christianity, a gospel
full of empty and false promises that Jesus never made. The promises of the “health and wealth”
gospel are obvious to all except those within it with extreme selective
hearing, but there is another, more seductive gospel bandwagon that even far
more people have joined. It is the
gospel of good works, a faith not in Jesus but in one’s own ability to be a
good person worthy of God’s kingdom.
Juan, the young man in this video, began his answer to my question about
eternity by saying “I’m a believer in Christ” – which by most estimations would
put him in the “evangelical” category.
But then he went on to say he believes God will judge him by how he
lives his life with no further mention of Jesus. He is a friendly, good guy by human standards
but by God’s holy standards he is a sinner in need of forgiveness just like the
rest of us. I can’t judge the heart. But
based on his comments Juan is a false convert – someone who believes he is
saved but is not. He has faith, but it
is faith in himself rather than Jesus.
He calls his sins “mistakes”, trivializing his own sin and God’s
holiness, believing his good efforts can erase his guilt and earn God’s favor. Juan has missed the true Gospel of God’s
grace and our need for forgiveness and replaced it with a false gospel based on
works. He’s on the good works bandwagon,
and people who are on it call themselves “evangelical” even though they are
not, and see no problem supporting Trump even though he is not. They have selective, wishful hearing in
religion, and in politics too.
No comments:
Post a Comment