Donald Trump occupies a special place in this depressing scenario. In a time marked by the loss of civility, Mr. Trump sinks to lows that would surely have doomed any previous presidential candidate during my lifetime. Even more depressing, large numbers of Trump supporters proudly claim to be Christians while voicing that support.
I was bemoaning such things as I looked at today's gospel passage. It didn't do much to cheer me up, but it did strike a jarring chord. Jesus has just made the second prediction of his impending death. Once again, the disciples do not understand but are afraid to seek clarification. They also seem to have more pressing matters on their minds. When Jesus questions them about what they had discussed as they traveled we read, "But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. (Jesus) sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.'"
The term "servant leader" is popular in church circles, though it's not always clear exactly what it means. But surely Jesus' call to be "last of all and servant of all" cannot possibly speak of the self-aggrandizing narcissism of Donald Trump. In fact, very little that Trump says or does sounds remotely compatible with the teachings of Jesus.
As I've struggled to understand how people can speak of their Christian faith and support for Donald Trump in the same breath without brain circuits shorting out over the total incompatibility, I've read a number of articles and op-ed pieces attempting to explain such support. Many have provided some insight, but this editorial from The Christian Century really struck a nerve with me. It noted Trump's support from those claiming the label "evangelical" even as a large number of evangelical leaders have denounced Trump.
The editorial then drew from a poll done by the Barna Group, a evangelical, Christian research firm, which "found that those whose beliefs align closely with evangelical Christian teachings have a lower view of Trump than do Americans generally. Where Trump does better is among more nominally religious people, those who identify themselves as evangelical—or, like Trump himself, as mainline Christian—but lack deep formation in faith."
I know nothing of the reliability of Barna's polling, but their findings make a lot of sense to me. People who, for whatever reason, apply the label "Christian" to themselves without ever being profoundly shaped by Christ's call to costly discipleship, simply don't realize the incompatibility of Trump's presidential campaign and Christian faith. But this explanation is no cure for my depression. That's because this nominal belief that lacks "deep formation in faith" is very much the product of congregations and denominations like the ones I grew up in and have served.
Jesus may have said, "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." He may have gone on and on about bearing fruit and being known because of our "love for one another." But in practice, we have made faith about belief, affiliation, and occasional attendance. Check off the Jesus box and get on the heavenly guest list.
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Not too long into my first pastorate, one of the elders on the congregation's governing council suggested that it was time to do a review of the church rolls. I don't recall what motivated this, but I suspect is was largely administrative, a desire to insure our rolls were fairly accurate (and that we weren't paying the denomination's per member assessment for folks who were no longer around). In the discussion that followed, another elder offered a rule of thumb for the project that I've heard many times since. "If they've attended once in the last year or sent us a check, they are members in good standing."
I don't know that such a rule ever existed, but it's easy to understand why people would think it did. While the churches I grew up in and have served offered encouragement and a variety of ways for deep formation as Christian disciples, this formation was typically seen as optional. We have said, by actions if not actual words, "We'd love for you to become disciples, but become members and give a little money and that will be fine."
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In Matthew's gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples a final time following the resurrection, words sometimes called "The Great Commission." He tells them - and by extension, the Church - "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
Everything I have commanded you... As "Christian" support for Donald Trump makes clear, we've got a lot of work to do.
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