The Biblical Case Against Donald Trump

A Letter to My Fellow Evangelicals

My fellow Evangelicals,

If you need Evangelical credentials, I have them. I am the son of an Evangelical pastor. I attended an Evangelical bible college, an Evangelical university, and an Evangelical seminary. I was ordained in an Evangelical denomination and have served on the pastoral staff of three Evangelical churches. I am a faculty member of an Evangelical seminary. I write as someone deeply formed by the tradition. Because of, not in spite of, this formation, I write to my fellow Evangelicals to make an Evangelical case against Donald Trump.

Many of you know that Donald Trump is not a man that exhibits even the most basic of Christian virtues. Since our shared values are rooted in the Bible, I’d like to carry out a scriptural experiment. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul gives two lists. The first is the characteristics of those who live “by the flesh” (a shorthand for our baser instincts): “sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Gal. 5:9-21). The second is the fruits of those who live by the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Now, here’s the question: as you look at these two lists, which better describes the character of Donald Trump?

If you honestly believe that Donald Trump exhibits the fruits of the Spirit, this letter is not for you. Nothing I can say will sway you if the endless stories of infidelities and immoralities haven’t already. I am writing to those who know that Donald Trump is not a man of upright character, but who might believe that what he can accomplish politically is worth the trade off—that the worthy ends justify the unworthy means. For my pro-life friends, it is often argued that Trump’s pro-life judicial picks make up for his many basic character flaws. While I disagree with the premise, I understand the logic. In the end, the goal they desire is achieved, even if by an unsavory actor. However, my counterargument is simple: as people who believe that the Word of God is our highest authority, the Bible’s overarching narrative insists that the way we do something is as important as the result, the means matter just as much as the end.

Two biblical stories demonstrate this truth. In the first from the book of Numbers, the Hebrew people are reaching the end of their forty-year sojourn through the wilderness when they run out of water. Moses and his brother Aaron bring the laments of the people before God, and God in turn gives Moses very specific instructions: “Take [your] staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to the rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water” (Num. 20:8, NIV). He is to speak to the rock, trusting God to provide the water.

Instead, Moses gathers the people, snarls his displeasure at them (“Listen, you rebels!”), and strikes the rock twice in anger. Water did indeed flow from the rock, but God was displeased, going so far as to refuse Moses’ future entry into the Promised Land. How is this fair? The people were dying of thirst, and Moses obtained water for them! What more worthy end could be achieved? Who cares how it was accomplished? God, apparently. God not only cared about the result—slaking the people’s thirst—but how that result was obtained. God wanted Moses to speak in trust; Moses struck in disbelief, and what was done in distrust and anger was done unworthily, no matter the outcome. The means matter just as much as the end.

In the second story from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus finds himself on his own sojourn through the wilderness. During a forty-day fast, the devil appears to Jesus and tries to tempt him away from his mission. The devil first attempts to play on Jesus’ physical hunger, goading him to use his power to turn stone into bread. Jesus refuses to take the bait. The devil then suggests that Christ prove his divinity by throwing himself off a cliff and commanding his angels to catch him. Jesus again rejects the devil’s overtures. Saving the most difficult for last, the devil finally takes him up a high mountain peak overlooking all the kingdoms of the world and promises, “all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9).

Here is the real temptation because it contains a worthy end. Wouldn’t the rule of Jesus over all the kingdoms be good news? Don’t we want the Prince of Peace to end war and violence? the Great Physician to heal our broken and divided nations? the Messiah to save all who are held in physical or spiritual captivity by the powers that be? All Jesus would have to do to claim political supremacy and enact his just and righteous agenda is bow down to the devil. Maybe he could even do it half-heartedly, just plug his nose and cross his fingers as he lowers his head ever so slightly, convincing himself that he was doing it for the greater good. But Jesus again rejects the devil’s advances out of hand, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Matt. 4:10). Christ reaffirms that how we do something matters just as much as what we accomplish, and as the rest of the Gospels demonstrate, Christ’s reign will be realized not by lording over people but serving them, not by grasping power but by freely giving it up. The means matter just as much as the end.

Politics are inherently messy, and there is never a perfect candidate, especially if you are a person committed to the counter-cultural way of Jesus. Yet, if Evangelicals wish to maintain any credibility—especially as a movement that has long preached the importance of virtues like integrity, humility, and fidelity—we must not strike in distrust and anger in hopes of fulfilling our political designs. We must refuse to bow down to a candidate who has demonstrated a complete disregard for the most basic of Christian values time and time again—even if he promises the kingdoms of the world in return. We must trust that Christian ends can only be achieved by the humble and loving means of Christ—our Way. The work, witness, and words of Donald Trump have clearly demonstrated he is not of this way, and he is therefore unworthy of our vote. For if we trade our Christian witness for political power we may very well gain the world, but we will have lost our soul.