I’m all for defending our president when he’s the subject of unjust attacks. And as a follower of Jesus, I voted for him, despite my misgivings. I’m also very happy to point out the many good things he has already done as president. But I will not sacrifice my ethics and demean my faith to defend his wrongful words. To do that is to lose all credibility before a watching world.
Plenty of Christians and non-Christians had a hard time understanding how so many of us evangelicals could vote for a candidate who seemed to be so thoroughly un-evangelical. But when we explained that we were voting against Hillary, that Supreme Court appointees were important to us, and that Trump seemed to care about religious liberties, many of them understood our vote. They see we’re not whitewashing him or denying his faults. Some dissenters can even respect our choice.
But when we find it necessary to defend his every word, we discredit ourselves and tarnish our witness. What prompted me to pen this article was the recent series of Trump tweets regarding MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. The president wrote:
“I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..”
“…to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!”
Really now, for the most powerful elected official on the planet to call liberal newscasters “Psycho Joe” and “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” is indefensible. (Let’s not even discuss the “bleeding” reference and where that leads.) And to defend him – I mean for us to defend him as Christian conservatives – is even less defensible.
We can be loyal to the president and still be ashamed of such language. We can support him and still say, “Mr. President, you demean yourself with such behavior, and you’ll never get the respect you desire if you sink so low.” In fact, that’s what real loyalty and support looks like.
But when we find it necessary to stand up for him, as if he’s the weak little victim being attacked by these terrible giants, we also demean ourselves. And what if it was your son or daughter or spouse or parent that the president was attacking with such language? How would you feel? When he does this, he ultimately hurts himself.
At least two ministers defended Trump on my Twitter account, with one also comparing Trump’s words to those of Jesus and Paul. You know things are really bad when ministers of the gospel compare Trump’s words to those of Jesus.
One Christian woman was indignant with me: “You’ve gone too far! You Sir, are not God Almighty and do not speak for Him!”
I’ve gone too far by saying we ought not defend the president’s childlike words? I’ve gone too far in suggesting that the president would do well to read what Proverbs says about the conduct of kings? I’ve gone too far in saying that we, as followers of Jesus, should find these tweets embarrassing?
I wonder what these Christians would be saying if Hillary Clinton were our president and she was the one ridiculing conservative newscasters in such crass terms? The mud he throws will only splatter back. And the best way to push back against his critics is to push forward with the agenda they hate. But for us to defend his every tweet is to make ourselves into stooges more than supporters, helping no one in the end.
So, if you’re a Christian conservative, put the shoe on the other foot, and ask yourself how you’d be feeling had President Obama gone after, say, Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham like this. Would you be defending him?