Yesterday American voters sent a shockwave around the world by electing Donald Trump to be President of the United States.
The election follows the longest and nastiest political campaign in recent U.S. history. Accusations flew as the candidates accused each other of reprehensible acts and, sadly, both were mostly telling the truth. Many voters held their noses and voted for one to stop the other.
Christians faced a further dilemma as they found both candidates lacking in integrity and Christian values. Some felt that Trump was like Persian King Cyrus, an unbeliever who freed the Israelite captives in Babylon. Others could not get comfortable voting for either candidate. However, many leaders urged Christians to look beyond the flawed candidates to their platforms, believing that one party was pro-Christian and the other was anti-Christian. In the end over 80% of Evangelicals voted for the Republican platform and Donald Trump.
Indeed, Trump’s election should produce a lessening of persecution of Christians in the U.S. The promised repeal of Obamacare should end government attempts to force Christians to pay for medical procedures like abortion which are opposed on religious grounds. Similarly, we can hope for some relief from government overreach on issues such as gay marriage. We can also expect that the new administration will suspend efforts to force little girls to shower with sexually confused boys. Finally, Trump has proposed to remove the IRS’s political muzzle from Churches and allow Christian input in the public square.
God has given us a reprieve, but much more needs to be done. All of the issues which have shaken the electorate –economic opportunity, immigration, law and order, public corporation and foreign policy – remain to be resolved in a Christian manner. Our social problems – single motherhood, fatherlessness, violence, immortality, and greed – are all spiritual problems which must be handled by the Church, not the government. We need political reform, but we need a revival much more.
We believe that God is sending us a revival based on the unity of Christians as Jesus prayed in John 17. (See our Blog of 3/30/16 “Blood Moon Revival Gains Momentum”)The Church is being called to come together as a witness for Jesus (See our Blog of 11/2/16 “Transcending Politics”). Let us pray for unity in Christ and a revival which will heal our land.
God has not given up on America, and He is not finished with America. He is just getting started