Evangelical History

Trump Victory: The Beginning of Revival?

I recently got a mass e-mail from Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, discussing what he calls “the most critical election of our lifetime.” In his appeal, Graham does not mention Donald Trump, but the clear inference is that faithful evangelicals must vote for Trump, and for Republican candidates down the ballot.

Graham’s manner of talking about the 2016 election perfectly illustrates the problems of the old-style Religious Right, and why so many faithful evangelicals will not be voting for Mr. Trump, in spite of the pleading of Graham, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell Jr., and others.

For Graham, everything hinges upon the Supreme Court. The justices will be deciding cases on “LGBT rights, religious liberty, the rights of the unborn, and other crucial issues,” he notes. As I have written before, this type of convoluted case for Trump includes a lot of “ifs”: if Trump actually nominates justices friendly to life, religious liberty, and other issues of concern to Christians; if they can get confirmed; if these justices actually turn out to be consistent conservatives, and so on. Evangelicals should support someone with Trump’s manifest moral deficiencies, the argument goes, because he might nominate justices who turn out to be good.

That’s a lot to ask, given Trump’s record of misogyny, race-baiting, boasting about sexual assault and adultery, and his lack of basic knowledge about all kinds of political matters. (For the record, I do not advocate voting for Clinton, either, but we evangelicals are not being asked to vote for her.)

The main problem with this appeal, however, is how Graham juxtaposes revival, evangelism, and the victory of Republicans:

I hope you will encourage your friends and family members to head to the polls on Nov. 8. We know the outcome is in God’s sovereign hand, but we must be sure to do our part and be Gospel salt and light…let’s pray together that our nation will turn back to God and that He will heal our land.

Graham closes with the “life verse” of the Religious Right, 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

“Gospel salt and light” here presumably means Christians voting Republican, regardless of who that Republican might be. And the nation “turning back to God” presumably begins with the victory of Donald J. Trump.

Graham is, of course, too careful to state these connections outright, but the juxtaposition is clear. This is a troubling mix of evangelical-sounding rhetoric, American civil religion, and the mandate of electing Republicans.

What I find so perplexing about Graham is that his ministry Samaritan’s Purse, which sent this e-mail, does so much good with regard to disaster relief, and with Operation Christmas Child, which my family and church participate in. In those ministries, Graham and Samaritan’s Purse proclaim the gospel to the “least of these” and serve their spiritual and physical needs. That’s highly commendable, and looks much more like biblical “salt and light” than casting a vote for Donald Trump.

I understand that many white evangelicals will vote for Trump, some with enthusiasm, some as a “lesser of two evils” choice. But if election 2016 teaches us anything, I hope we will realize that electoral success of any kind will not bring revival. “Evangelical” leaders need to stop suggesting it will.

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