On December 19, 2024, Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, published an article titled Preparing for the Coming King (No, I Don’t Mean Trump) in which he discussed the belief by Trump Christian voters that their election victory was proof of Trump’s anointing by God.  The article was of great interest to me because I shared Taylor’s concern about that belief.  Since I found his treatment of the matter very thoughtful, this post is primarily a commentary on his article.

As they did after Trump won in 2016, many evangelical leaders declared that Trump’s latest victory was an act of God that vindicated their fight against an evil world.  To those like myself who do not see Trump as the embodiment of goodness, that is obviously a shocking thing to hear.  Taylor, at the beginning of his article, provided a summary of typical comments from evangelical leaders:

“But there was another theme that ran through many of the post-election celebratory statements from Christian leaders that I find much more problematic: the belief that Trump has been anointed by God to return to the White House. This line of thought was echoed by Trump himself on election night: ‘Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and restore America to greatness.’ Franklin Graham posted on X, ‘Millions and millions of people were praying, and I believe God heard their prayers.’ Eric Metaxas, author of a controversial biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, posted, ‘God knew. Praise Jesus. It is an outrageous gift from God.’ As early as last year, TV evangelist Hank Kunneman claimed, ‘There’s something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it’s called the anointing.’ Another celebrity evangelist, Lance Wallnau, told his followers on election night that Trump’s victory gave them a mandate to enact ‘a reformation on America’ that is ‘just starting.’ Dutch Sheets, who led a series of prayer rallies to keep Trump in office in the months after his 2020 defeat, celebrated his victory, saying it would help trigger a ‘Third Great Awakening’ and that ‘Trump is a necessary part of this reformation.’ Christian singer Sean Feucht told his Facebook followers, ‘God was exalted! America was saved!’”

To those of us who know that Jesus stands for love and inclusion of everybody, forgave those who crucified him because they did not know what they were doing, and did not say a single word calling for revenge when he gave his disciples his Great Commission after his resurrection, it is painful to see his name associated with a man who stands for the opposite.  The comments made by his supporters show their belief that they are in a war between good and evil.  But if they are in a war against me because my worldview is opposed to theirs, I do not have a choice about it.  I have never advocated for anything that would harm them.  I advocate for human dignity for all, a fundamental Christian value.  But their goals and statements indicate that they wish harm on people who are not like them.  I do not see how that could possibly be endorsed by Jesus.

But let’s go back to the topic at hand, which is the meaning of the November election.  In response to the above comments by evangelical leaders, Taylor gives a warning:

“You might be asking yourself whether these aren’t just the typical things Christians often say when something they’ve fervently prayed for comes to pass — and there’s certainly some truth to that. But I want to draw a careful distinction between saying that God can use an earthly event like an election to accomplish God’s purposes in the world and the claim that God — not the majority of American citizens who voted in the election this past November — chose Trump to become president. I detect too much of the latter in the statements I shared above.

Claiming that any elected official is ‘chosen’ or ‘anointed’ by God is bad for both our theology and democracy. God has blessed every human being with free will, which includes the ability to make mistakes. Claiming that God, not voters, chose Trump removes human agency from the more than 150 million people who exercised their right to vote in this election. As President Abraham Lincoln reportedly said during the Civil War, ‘My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is whether we are on God’s side, for God is always right.’ Lincoln’s quote points to the dangers of believing that God is on our side, whether that’s our preferred political party or candidate’s side. In theological terms, claiming that someone is chosen or that God is on their side easily slips into a form of idolatry. When we believe that a president has been chosen by God, we are also much more liable to give that person our complete and utter loyalty, leading us to ignore or downplay when their words or actions contradict our core Christian values.”

Taylor is right! Christians should focus on making sure, to the best of their abilities, that they are on Jesus’ side.  But that means they must know Jesus in the first place.  In that respect, the disappointment expressed by Russell Moore about his fellow evangelicals comes to mind:  many of them are not aware of Jesus’ most basic teachings because their focus is elsewhere.  And today, they even compare Trump to Jesus in contrast with the situation in 2016 when their leaders were saying they were merely ignoring Trump’s character flaws because they needed him in the White House to achieve their political goals.

As a warning against putting too much trust in human leaders, Taylor uses the example of the Israelites who, under the prophet Samuel, insisted on having a human king even though God warned them about the abuses of human rights to be expected under such a leader (1 Samuel 8).  They ended up with Saul who is seen as a failed king in the Bible.  Taylor adds:

“The clear lesson here is to both ‘be careful what you wish for’ and be vigilant in challenging leaders who abuse their authority. Here in the U.S., elections give us the power to choose our own leaders, and through our system of checks and balances and the freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution, we can peacefully resolve our disputes and prevent the abuse and misuse of power. Claiming that a president is ordained or chosen by God conflates human will with divine will.”

The last sentence in the above statement raises an issue that is debated throughout the biblical narrative.  In the Old Testament, the dominant perspective is that God, who is sovereign and almighty, controls everything that happens in his creation, whether it is good or evil.  That is the kind of theology that leads people, even today, to conclude that they have been vindicated by God if their favorite candidate wins an election.  Unfortunately, they typically will not be willing to draw a similar conclusion about their adversaries if they happen to lose.  I do not remember statements from evangelicals saying that Biden’s victory in 2020 was an act of God.  Instead, they embraced lies about election fraud and even supported an insurrection.

One problem with this theology is that it makes no room for human free will.  If God has, indeed, granted humans free agency, then one must assume that he chooses not to control every event even though he has the power to do so.  Therefore, it makes more sense to assume that he will only interfere with the course of events occasionally to make corrections and steer his creation towards the goals he has for it.  That is, as far as I can tell, the dominant perspective in the New Testament.  Accordingly, humans own the choices they make.

Taylor then points to the danger associated with choosing the wrong leader in the United States, a country that has, until now, taken pride in its democratic system of government.  One reason that has been given by Trump voters for their support is the need to restore law and order both on immigration matters and matters of crime. Taylor writes:

“Yet the desire for a king can often be a seductive one, particularly when we associate kings with security and order. I’m particularly concerned that many Christians seem drawn to a strongman who promises to restore America’s greatness and impose their particular brand of Christianity on others — even if that requires bending or breaking the rules of our democratic system. This is often rooted in an ‘ends justify the means’ mentality, where promises of security and prosperity often obscure how potential authoritarian leaders enrich themselves and maintain power through oppression and violence. While our system of democracy is far from perfect, I still believe it’s the best system that enables us to advance the common good and restrain evil.”

On the above, I’m afraid the majority of Americans today are not with Taylor.  They demonstrated with their vote that democracy is not as important to them as he assumes it to be.  I’m also afraid an appeal to the common good means nothing to a majority of Americans today: of the two presidential candidates, there is no doubt in my mind that it is Kamala Harris who showed concern for the common good.  As for the importance of restraining evil, what do we make of the fact that America chose a man who has been found guilty of a multiplicity of crimes?  In fact, in my view, even the notion that Trump voters had the economic health of the country in mind is brought into question by a simple fact: Why did the number of Google searches on tariffs suddenly peak right after the election?  Didn’t it make more sense to understand the potential effect of tariffs before the election?  The obvious conclusion is that their minds were made up and the issues did not really matter.

But again, let’s go back to Taylor’s thought process and pretend that democracy, the common good, and restraining evil still matter.  Since he is writing to Christians, he goes on to contrast the Christian expectation of the true king to earthly (non-Christian) expectations of a king.  He quotes from Isaiah 9 where the coming of the Messianic king is announced:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.”

He then explains:

“Isaiah’s prophecy may sound like the answer to the Israelites’ earlier prayers — and indeed, many thought that the promised Messiah would be an earthly ruler who would restore the Israelites to power and even vanquish their enemies. But in Advent, we remember God was up to something altogether different: a baby who quickly becomes a refugee in Egypt to escape Herod’s order of infanticide and later, in his inaugural sermon at the beginning of his short public ministry, makes it clear that he has come to ‘preach good news to the poor, lend sight to the blind, and to set the captives free’ (Luke 4). When Isaiah proclaims that ‘the government will be on his shoulders,’ he is making a crucial distinction between our heavenly king who reigns forever and the transitory, earthly powers who come and go.

In other words, we should never conflate the temporary power of a president with the enduring reign of our heavenly king. As we quickly approach the upcoming inauguration, it is important to remember and take to heart that kings, presidents, or other elected officials are never above God; therefore, we must seek to hold these leaders accountable when they go astray from biblical values and priorities aligned with God’s call to justice and righteousness. Sometimes that means casting our vote for candidates who we think will best reflect God’s priorities and values. And sometimes that means influencing, and if necessary, resisting them when they act as unjust kings rather than as instruments of justice, peace, and the common good.”

It is important to understand that when the biblical prophets talk about justice, they do not have law and order in mind.  They understand justice as fairness in the sense that all humans are created in God’s image and are entitled to some portion of the resources God has made available.  That is why calls for justice are usually made against the rich and powerful who take advantage of the poor and dispossessed.

True Christians do not seek power at any cost.  They are expected to set their eyes on Christ as the only godly example to follow, an example of love of neighbor and self-sacrifice.  Love of neighbor translates into the pursuit of justice, peace and the common good, even if they do not get everything they want for themselves.  Accordingly, they should vote for leaders who truly care for the common good instead of leaders who want to acquire power for retribution against their enemies, advancement of their own interests and perpetuation of in-group/out-group inequalities.  Why? Because the Bible tells us that is what following Christ means.  To those who call themselves followers of Christ, it is not a matter of opinion.