Christianity Will Have Power -- Whose Power?
By Colleen Donahue
The Concern of Christians in America
“Christianity will have Power” is an article recently published in the New York Times by Elizabeth Dias. She was quoting President Trump when he went to Sioux Center Iowa to speak with Evangelical Christians about getting the power they would need to advance “God’s agenda”.
Mr. Trump’s full quote was; “Christianity will have power. If I am there (in the White House), you’re going to have plenty of power. You don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very very well. Remember that.”
For many of us watching and listening we were left wondering how Christians who love God and live by the Bible have voted for the most amoral president, the country has ever had. To help us understand this Ms. Dias takes us to the home of Rob and Cheryl Driesen where they discuss their concerns over lunch.
Rob and Cheryl express what many Christians feel. They want to be able to teach their children the values of the Bible and yet they are seeing their freedom to do that eroding. They want America to stay a Christian nation for their children and they see Mr. Trump as the key to keeping that in place.
Two Powers
All human governments work the same way – with a top-down power that seeks to control behavior through its laws and military might. But I believe it must pain our dear Father that His children think the only way to keep His moral ways in our country is to vote for government power to force them on everyone. God doesn’t force his will on us -- why should we do so on others?
The true Kingdom of God that Jesus came to establish is “not from this world” (John 18:36) and so it operates differently from the governments of this world. Christ’s kingdom operates by power from within, changing us one person at a time. Our calling first and foremost, is to let Christ’s Spirit flow through our lives to produce fruit for someone who needs it.
Two Red Flags
If this is our calling, how do we make sense of so many American Christians grasping at President Trump’s promise that “Christianity will have power” and we won’t need anyone else but him? This is the first red flag. We may be sincere in wanting to maintain Biblical morals in our nation. but we are deceived if we think it will come through political power. God has clearly told us it won’t when He said, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” (Zechariah 4:6)
A second red flag is the character of the person trying to impose laws. The Christians in Sioux Center Iowa were in agreement that Mr. Trump was not a man of integrity but only someone with political power to stand up for their Christian values.
Two Thoughts Before an Election
Two thoughts can be freeing for us as we come to another election. First, neither of our political parties have the moral high ground in upholding God’s standards, because both use “top-down power” to enforce their agendas. And second, God can work quite well without government interference. This frees us as citizens to study the character of our candidates to determine who might do the most good for the most people -- regardless of party.
As we approach this election in America, let’s remember our true calling as Christians is to let the power of Christ flow through us to change our society from within. God’s main means of change is you and I. That’s because “greater is HE that is in YOU than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4).
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