This shouldn’t happen at church
And yet, it just did
Yesterday, millions of Christians around the country and world participated in their yearly commemoration and celebration of the birth of Jesus - an event that happened just over 2,000 years ago. Most Christian denominations observe the entire season of “Advent,” which amounts to a weeks-long focus of expectant waiting for the coming of Jesus. In a world full of distraction, bodies of believers use their collective services to draw the hearts and minds of the faithful into a singular focus on the glorious incarnation of God in Christ.
At least one megachurch service, however, went a different route. First Baptist Church in Dallas, the one led by Pastor Robert Jeffress, built their services around an earthly “king,” as it were. Former President Donald Trump attended the service and was invited to step into the pulpit to deliver a “Christmas message.” His message, unsurprisingly, did not focus on Jesus or Christianity. It focused entirely on politics – something that far too many American believers, left and right, have turned into an idol.
If you feel that perhaps I am mischaracterizing it, I’d invite you to watch it below:
I want to be very clear about something. I think it is wonderful that former President Donald Trump was in church. That’s where I want him to be. That’s where I want every politician and lawmaker in the country to be. In June of 2019, Trump surprised the congregation at McLean Bible Church in Virginia by showing up to their service. The minister, David Platt, brought the president to the stage and prayed for him.
Perfect.
First, that is direct obedience to 1 Timothy 2:1-2. As believers, we are to pray for our leaders and all those in authority. Second, Platt didn’t turn the service over to him, or yield the microphone to the proclamation of anything other than the Gospel of Christ. Third, McLean Bible Church didn’t transform their service that is always designed to glorify God into a political rally designed to glorify a man or movement.
That is what provoked my aversion towards what happened at First Baptist Dallas. It was terrible discipleship of believers who do attend, and it compounded a pervasive confusion about what Christianity is amongst unbelievers who don’t. And, I would hasten to add, it sends a terrible message to Trump himself about who we Christians are and what we truly believe.
Suppose Dr. Dobson was right five years ago when he proclaimed Trump a “baby Christian.” Based on what occurred yesterday at First Baptist Dallas, what do think the former president’s answer would be if he was asked, “What is it that makes Christians rise to their feet in adoration, shout and chant praises to the skies, applaud and raise hands, and pledge their allegiance with hearts overflowing with gratitude?” Would he be more likely to say, “the unmerited grace of the One true King of eternity,” or “MAGA politics?”
This isn’t about any personal disdain for Trump. Christian or not, he was there to do what he does, and he did it. No one can be, or should be surprised by that, which is exactly why this event should have never been organized, planned, or carried out. This is about the abject failure of Christian discernment, and some would argue blasphemous behavior of a professing body of believers. And embarrassingly, because of the size of the church and the stature of the invited guest, it all played out on a national stage.
Bible teacher Ray Ortlund expressed the seriousness of the offense:
Conservative Christian columnist Rod Dreher echoed those concerns:
This same principle is true, obviously, no matter who the pulpit politician is. You might recall President Biden “preaching” at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 2019. Or you might remember just prior to the Virginia gubernatorial election a couple months ago, Vice President Kamala Harris sent out a partisan video endorsement to over 300 “black churches” in Old Dominion, urging parishioners to vote for Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Notice, this isn’t about a minister shepherding his flock by the application of Scripture to society. This is about exchanging a desire to build the eternal Kingdom of God for a desire to build a political kingdom of man.
Christian churches must be on guard against such a spirit of worldliness, rebuking it where it manifests, and discipling those in their bodies who bear its imprint. For instance, the same day I’m reading about the MAGA rally at First Baptist Dallas, I see that Senator Joe Manchin announced his opposition to President Biden’s trillion-dollar spending bill known as “Build Back Better.” Before I can even really process what happened, I see this depressing tweet from a professing believer:
Besides the awkward admission she makes that she was scrolling her Twitter feed during church, this actually demonstrates the seriousness of the problem. Here is a woman who ostensibly has been taught, and who supposedly accepts, that Christ has redeemed her soul from the pit (Job 33:28), rescued her, and gave her an inheritance in heaven beyond her wildest imagination. But her joy and desire to celebrate all that is dampened or diminished by a spending bill in Congress? Good grief.
It would be easy to ask rhetorically, “What happened to us?!” But the answer is obvious. Idolatry. This is what idolatry does. It convinces us that power is the ultimate reward, and it can be achieved through our service to (fill in the idol here).
Re-electing Donald Trump will “save” us and secure our future, OR
Passing the Build Back Better legislation will “save” us and secure our future
Too many of believers come to trust those lies, and willfully serve the gods of this world with more diligence and faithfulness, with more exuberance and excitement, with more devotion and allegiance than we do the one true God of heaven and earth.
One thing alone with save us. His name is Jesus. And the weekly gatherings of His church should have no room in our service schedules, our hearts, or our minds, to praise anyone or anything but Him.
ICYMI
Here’s that sermon I preached that I was talking about earlier…
And if you’re interested, here are a couple things I wrote recently as well:
When I’m in church, I’m there to try to be close to God. It’s as if He is bending down to my level and saying, “Hello, my beloved one. Tell me all about what is on your mind.” Just as I stick my daughter’s finger paintings on my refrigerator, I hope that the tiny gifts of my prayers and singing will please Him. When I’m really looking upon the face of God, I can hardly tear myself away. To have that cast aside and be told, “Meh. Check THIS guy out! He’s really great!” would really destroy any good feelings I had for that church.
Sadly, many of the comments under the tweet of condemnation by Ray Ortlund were along the lines of, “well, it’s not your church, so it’s none of your business what they do.” It is our big-C Church, however, so it is our business. First Baptist Church of Dallas embarrassed themselves and all of us yesterday. I say this as a two-time Trump voter who still has a Trumpy-hair punisher sticker on my truck: He should have rented out the nearest big auditorium and held a rally in the afternoon after services were all done.
That’s not to say that there is never a time that things political might be discussed in church. Issues of life, marriage, children, sexuality, and religious liberty are certainly of interest to the church body and should be discussed within the greater context of biblical Christianity. But it’s not appropriate to interrupt worship for a totally secular political message. They might as well sell advertising spots to the highest bidders and run commercials on the church jumbotron screens.
Spot on, Peter - we are imagers of God need to be about building His kingdom and not buidling worldly empires regardless of their individual leanings. Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.