Why the distrust, the disconnect, the animosity among neighbors? Should Christians help unify America? Why the divide?

Democracy is like a tug of war. Sometimes the country pulls to the left. Other times, its citizens yank the rope to the right. The nation loses its democratic luster when it tugs either to the far right or far left. Why insist, “it’s either my way or the highway?” Does one side know it all? It’s Okay to propose. It is NOT okay to impose.

               “We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools.”

                —Martin Luther King, Jr.

                “6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus.

                Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please!

                 Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.

                You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

                —1 Timothy 4:9-10 (The Message Translation)

During his Farewell Address at the airport in Krakow, Poland, Saint Pope John Paul II prefaced his talk in ‘The Challenge of Today’s World … Faithful to One’s Roots,‘ with:

                “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrew 13:8).

To the people of Poland, John Paul II in 1997 imparted words that comfort America today:

Fidelity [faithfulness] to [your Judaic-Christian] roots does not mean a mechanical copying of the past patterns.

                Fidelity to roots is always creative, ready to descend into the depths, open to new challenges, alert to the signs of the times.

                It expresses itself in a concern for the development of our native culture, in which the Christian element has been present since the beginning.

                Fidelity to roots means above all the ability to create an organic synthesis of perennial values, confirmed so often in history, and the challenge of today’s world, faith, and culture, the Gospel, and life.

In January 2016, Donald J. Trump gave a campaign speech at a small Christian college in Sioux Center, Iowa:

                “I will tell you, Christianity is under tremendous siege, whether we want to talk about it, or we don’t want to talk about it.

                Christianity will have power.

                If I’m there [in the Oval Office], you’re going to have plenty of power. You don’t need anybody else.

Franklin Graham, a fierce Evangelical supporter of President Trump, wrote last year that this age is:

              “A battle for the soul of the nation. The original moral and spiritual framework,’ which has held our nation together for 243 years, is now unraveling.”

“Trump’s supporters are staunchly loyal. The keynote is: what is complex turns out to be very simple. And what’s not simple is just [dismissed as] a lie“, reports Dutch journalist Bas Heijne in ‘Trump Can Lose. But the Discomfort [Distrust, Disconnect, Animosity] Remains

Heijne continues:  

“You don’t have to sit in an arena full of frenzied Trump fans to feel the power of that promise. It has been the persistent motif of populism in recent years. ‘The people’ are taking back control. What is complex turns out to be very simple. 

And what’s not simple is just a lie – or worse, a conspiracy. That’s the root note.                

                Climate change caused by humans is a hoax.                

                Racism does not exist.                

                Immigration is a deliberate undermining of one’s own culture.                

                Historical heroes are on a pedestal because they are heroes.                

                Corona is the flu.               

                A vaccine is a weapon that wants to enslave free spirits.                

                ‘Gender ideology’ denies the natural order. 

The same chorus over and over: Anything that requires awakening, a new way of seeing, or a different way of living is folly and a waste of money, and an outright attack, or a conspiracy from above – you don’t have to change your life.  

It’s good the way it is, or rather the way it used to be. Everything that seems to make you dependent, which requires organization and cooperation across your borders, is made suspect as a deliberate undermining of your manageable world. 

‘And we must return to that world,’ is Trump’s Doctrine.  

Heijne responds: 

Our culture will never be ‘homogeneous’ again. In a multidimensional society, diversity will be the norm. In a globalized world, mutual dependence is also a necessity. Humanity cannot disclaim and renounce and escape [the rich and colorful tapestry] of human diversity. 

It is what it is. You can regret it.

You can criticize it, report wrongdoing, denounce derailments, become angry about the conveyed arrogant message. You cannot undo it.  And ‘that’ is precisely what Trump has promised.”  

Is God sovereign or President Trump?  

Whether we agree or disagree, we are brothers and sisters, members of the Body of Christ. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. God still sits at the head of the table. By helping to divide the nation, Christians have alienated themselves from others. A local pastor tells me, “I can handle their rebuke. They denounced Jesus and crucified our Lord.” I remind him that the religious right, the Party of the Pharisees, nailed Jesus to the cross.  

Many Christians resemble mindless sheep following other mindless sheep. We are on our Road to Damascus. Like Saint Paul, God will blind us. In our blindness, we will see His radiance, God’s infinite truth, God’s endless love, God’s unconditional grace.

How can America’s Christians, especially Evangelicals, disentangle themselves from the conundrum, smelling like a rose, making God look good? With God!

Today is our Damascus moment.

Read more: ‘The Challenge of Today’s World … Faithful to One’s Roots.’

With Every Good Wish to You, I am,

 

Sincerely,

Building the Bridge Foundation, The Hague

 

Abraham A. van Kempen

Senior Editor

 

*‘Christian Zionism … Enraptured Around a Golden Cal” (2nd Edition)

www.surrenderIsraeltoGod.com

www.buildingthebridge.eu

e-book version  $  3.33

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A theo-geopolitical eye-opener expounded with conviction, common sense, and compassion, with 500+ references, ‘Christian Zionism … Enraptured Around a Golden Calf’ pits the Holy Trinity of Zionism – One Tribe, One Land, One God – against the Holy Trinity of Christianity – ALL people, ALL nations, indeed, glorifying the one ‘I Am’ with many names.

Be sure you order the 2nd Edition, published in 2019.