I’ve put a lot of thought into why Donald Trump has managed to capture such a strong hold on the Evangelical community. And I think I might have finally figured it out.
It’s no secret that the two people today’s Evangelicals love above all others are Jesus Christ and Donald Trump, so I would like to begin by examining the most salient aspects of their individual stories. Perhaps a pattern will emerge; if nothing else it would at least be helpful to understand what it is about these two leaders that commands such adoration and respect from the Evangelical community.
Today we will go over the most influential and beloved of the two. His coming was foretold by those who understood the signs and the times, despite the mockery and derision they would endure for suggesting a savior was on the way. Although not much about his early life is known with certainty, the last few years of his life continue to shape the world to this day. When he arrived on the scene his people had been living under an oppressive regime that refused to recognize the sovereignty of their nation for longer than anyone could remember. Their oppressors permitted them to practice their own bizarre religion, worship in their own way, preserve their heritage, art, and culture and practice their curious sacred rituals, but would not relinquish hegemony or formally recognize them as an independent nation within their borders.
His people had long sought a messiah that would deliver them from this regime, and never gave up hope that such a man would eventually arrive. When he did, he was regarded as suspect – nothing like what they had expected. Some thought he was a lunatic. Others kept a sense of guarded optimism. Some immediately pledged their lives to him and followed him everywhere.
He made no secret that his message would be so radical that those who heard it would probably think he was insane, and for the most part he was right, which firmly validated his authenticity to his followers. He was unambiguous about his position – when asked why he was so cavalier about violating norms that had existed within his society for generations, he asserted firmly that they did not apply to him, which further affirmed in the minds of his followers who this man truly was – a savior sent from God himself, singularly able to deliver his people from the grips of tyranny. His apparent violation of sacred laws which had been passed down generations earlier was, to them, irrelevant. He was not subject to them, and in fact would soon replace them with a new covenant. That was his mission and his purpose. That’s why he was sent in the first place.
As time went by and he gained notoriety beyond what anyone had anticipated, he began to speak more openly about his contempt for the ruling class, particularly those he perceived as hypocrites within the socio-political elite. He was often seen spending time around prostitutes and criminals. As his voice grew in reach and volume, the targets of his vitriol began to grow alarmed and started to regard him as something of a threat to the social order and stability they had spent generations cultivating. The things he was saying seemed to defy all reason – as though he were entirely detached from reality. More and more they grew alarmed at his claims to be acting on divine providence, his professed moral authority, and his insistence that no matter what they thought, he was ultimately in charge. He promised incredible rewards to all who would serve him and put all who would not on notice that when the day of judgment finally came, they would be cast aside, vanquished to a permanent fate of unspeakable horror. When questioned about the things he would say, he consistently offered answers that would leave the questioner baffled and confused, to the delight of his followers.
He was finally embraced by his people in spectacular fashion – they cheered his arrival and showered him with praise, eagerly awaiting their emancipation. They adored their savior.
But the party would not last long. They quickly realized that he would not deliver them in the way they had all hoped, and one after the other they turned on him until he became so unpopular they decided to get rid of him in the one way they knew how to – a way that was decisive, final, and legal. When the day of reckoning came, his most loyal followers began to put up a fight, physically assaulting those they regarded as accomplices to the injustice, but he quickly told them to stand down and accepted his fate.
Even in the face of his growing unpopularity, his people were given one last chance to choose between him and another man – one would be allowed to return and the other would be eliminated. When his people overwhelmingly chose the other man, his fate was sealed. Still, he assured his followers that he would return soon, and encouraged them to stay faithful. When he did come back, he told them, it would be very different. Of this, they could be certain.
His disciples were devastated when he was taken from them, but they did as they were told. They stayed faithful. They preached his message. They defended his honor. They bore his symbology. They held him up as the martyr of all martyrs. And they expected him to return soon, as he had promised.
As we all know, he didn’t. He’s gone, and he isn’t coming back. Still, there are many who believe that he is still firmly in control and always has been. In fact, he hasn’t really gone anywhere, and although he might not have come back in the way they expected or within the time frame they anticipated, they sleep comfortably knowing everything that happens is part of his plan, and that when he finally does come back it will be to vanquish his enemies with absolute finality, establishing himself as the one true sovereign, restoring it to the perfect state of its creation. The evil will perish, the faithful will be rewarded, and things will be set right in his kingdom, which will endure forever.
His worshippers don’t agree on everything. They tend to hold divergent views on the details – some see him as a God, others as a man, others as both. Some don’t even regard themselves as religious – they simply recognize that they are imperfect and in need of salvation – that they are incapable of achieving perfection on their own and need to be guided by a master who decides what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil. But as a rule they agree that he represented absolute perfection, and that what he said is above any effort to scrutinize. He told them that the only way to paradise was to believe every word he said, and that you are even more blessed if you believe without seeing. They believe he will be back, and that every promise he made will be fulfilled soon. Very soon.
Okay … I’m out of time for now. Thanks for reading. Next week, we will talk about the other guy, Jesus of Nazareth.
The Mischievous Unknown 