Most will agree that President Trump is not a shining model of so-called “Christian” values and morality. Even his most ardent supporters concede this, But many self-identified Christians undergird their allegiance to the president by comparing him to a historical character noted in the Bible – Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. (6th century B.C.E.) Cyrus overtook the Babylonian Empire, which had destroyed Jerusalem and taken many people into exile. By edict, Cyrus allowed Jewish people to return to their homeland and to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Church people rightly note that Cyrus is an example of God’s capability to use people outside of the faith to accomplish God’s purposes and to benefit people of faith. (“This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of…” – Isaiah 45:1.) No argument here.
The question becomes exactly what is God using Donald Trump to accomplish for God’s purposes and God’s people. Here, as far as I can tell, the answers among his supporters vary:
- To restore the United States as a “Christian” nation. (We never were nor were we intended to be a Christian-exclusive nation. See the first amendment to the United States Constitution.)
- To retract Roe vs. Wade and to protect unborn life. (Massive hypocrocy here, as programs which protect born children have been rolled back.)
- To align with Israel, in accordance with specific interpretations of Israel’s role in the end times. (The present nation of Israel is a secular state, not a faith-based state. Many within Judaism to not recognize it as a restored Israel in the biblical sense.)
- To make sure only “Christians” are put in positions of power. (Cliche as this is, you cannot legislate faith.)
- To protect Christian values. (Which conveniently do not seem to include justice for the poor and marginalized.)
- To facilitate a spiritual awakening. (If this is happening, it’s very “in-house.” Few things could be more off-putting to unreached people than the way organized Christianity looks in North America right now.)
Beyond all this, the comparison between Donald Trump and Cyrus the Great collapses completely. Cyrus was used for two specific tasks: to get the Jewish exiles home and to get the temple rebuilt. He was not chosen to LEAD the people of Judah. Cyrus was nothing more than a car or a plane is to you and me; a way to get from one place to another. President Trump was chosen to lead. There’s a difference.
Cyrus was in no way put up as a model of character and leadership. Right or wrong, I believe character does or should matter in the presidency. (It’s still stunning to me that character mattered with Bill Clinton’s moral breach and deception, but Donald Trump somehow gets a pass on character, moral decency, and truthfulness.)
Yes, God can and does use unqualified people. As the old saying goes, “God doesn’t call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” But those God calls are transformed. King David, Simon Peter, Zacchaeus, Saul of Tarsus, and so many other were different because of being called and deployed by God, I’m sorry, but I just don’t see that with our president.
In the end, all of us, from President Trump to nobodies like me will have to answer the the greatest of mandates and opportunities – to love God and to love others as God loves us. No sidestep, whether being a “Cyrus” or not, will excuse us of that.
I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.
Leave a Reply