If I Were Trump’s Pastor, This Is What I Would Encourage Him To Do

President Donald Trump is going through a very difficult time right now. His poll numbers are underwater on the economy, on health care, on tariffs, on the Epstein files, on immigration, on the war in Ukraine, on strikes on Venezuelan boats, etc. The Susie Wiles interviews with Vanity Fair reveal a Cabinet in chaos. Although I vigorously disagree with many of his policies, I must remember that Trump is a human being made in God’s image. He needs help because his mental and emotional state show wear and tear. President Trump went on a tirade in his tweet regarding Rob and Michele Reiner’s murder. Here it is for you to evaluate for yourself.

“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.” His post concluded, “May Rob and Michele rest in peace!“

Each president, in turn, needs to be the “Consoler-in-Chief” to bring the nation together after a tragedy. His tweet did not succeed. Instead of leading us into a national lament, Trump’s tirade became self-aggrandizing and praising of himself with phrases like “the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.”

Almost universally, U.S. politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, appropriately criticized the president for his lack of normal human empathy. Trump claims to be a Christian, but he doesn’t seem to know much about Jesus nor his basic message of forgiveness. Trump has repeatedly claimed he has never confessed his sins to God nor asked for forgiveness from God. Trump is a deeply flawed person. So am I. Trump needs healing of his soul…and his entire being. We all do.

The president has a White House Faith Office led by Rev. Paula White. The staff in that office, in addition to their public duties, should provide the president with the best pastoral recommendations for his personal life. If I were pastor to the president, I would urge the following:

Mr. President, you need a deep, genuine conversion. The good news message is the same for all. Repent of your evil ways and believe in the Lord for the forgiveness of your sins. Be as honest as you can with God. Although you can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, you can fool the Lord none of the time. The Good Book says, “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Become truthful. Make a list of your biggest mistakes, acknowledge them and turn away from them. Become reconciled with God.
Mr. President, my second exhortation is based on the first. “If you are presenting an offering to the Lord and you remember that someone has something against you, go and become reconciled with that person.” To the degree that it depends on you, reconcile yourself with the people in your life. Confess your sins to those you have offended. This includes your family and friends, but also your rivals and opponents.
Mr. President, ask key people to speak truth into your heart. We all have blind spots. I do…you do. We don’t see our flaws as others see them. You are surrounded by “yes” men and women who tell you what you want to hear but not what you need to hear. Therefore, ask key people to tell you the truth. I think Melania might be a good person to start with. Perhaps Ivanka. It would take great maturity on your part but invite Marjorie Taylor Greene or Mike Pence to point out your flaws to your face.

P.S. Mr. President, I listened to your speech to the nation last night. We all know your motivation was to shore up your sinking presidency. Like most politicians, you cherry pick the data. You highlight data that is favorable (ex. gasoline prices), but you ignore (ex. health care premium increases) or outright lie about the negative facts (ex. grocery price increases or that tariffs are taxes).

I hope and pray that you humbly learn to walk in the truth and experience substantial healing.

Christianity in the White House: We Need Less Spirit of Constantine and More Spirit of Jesus

On Good Friday of last week, the New York Times published an article “Christianity in the White House” written by their columnist Ruth Graham. She narrates the growing presence and influence of Christian leaders, especially evangelicals, in the White House. Her article is primarily descriptive. In this post, I first summarize the article. Then I describe some historical examples that were similar. Finally I raise questions about whether this influence is more positive or negative.

Summary of the Facts

Over two decades ago, then President George W. Bush established the White House Faith Office. During these first one hundred days of his second administration, President Trump has expanded the prominence of this Faith Office. It is now located in the White House West Wing (albeit in the basement). It is led by Trump’s spiritual adviser, Paula White-Cain and by Jennifer Korn. Their main stated purpose is to reduce hostility against Christianity and other faiths, by creating an American version of “a Church-state alliance. They point to the fact that prayers in the White House do not need to be generic, but can now be prayed in “the name of Jesus”. Nevertheless, their goals go way beyond “religious topics”. These include issues of gender and sexuality. They take pride in Trump’s executive orders that claim there are only “two sexes,” male and female.

The Faith Office has sponsored multiple briefings and listening sessions for Christian leaders. They deal with foreign relationships, trade and tariffs, education, etc. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez affirms that these sessions give Christian leaders unprecedented access to Trump’s staff.

Now we turn to the teaching of Jesus regarding secular rulers.

Jesus and “Secular Governments”

Jesus was quite aware that human governments exercise a special temptation for his followers. Many people are attracted to power. “Then the apostles began to squabble among themselves. They were arguing about which of them would be the greatest. Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant.’” (Luke 22:24-26)

Some observations:

Those who follow Jesus must use great discernment to distinguish between “true goodness” from the more common “fake goodness” of many rulers who claim they are doing good for their subjects…but are not.
By exposing the hypocrisy of kings and other rulers, Jesus expects his followers to rise above the idolatrous loyalty and fawning so typical of governments, because disciples of Jesus are called to serve a higher authority: the true and living God.

Historical Examples of Church/State Alliances

Throughout history there have been numerous examples of an alliance or “marriage” between secular rulers and religious leaders or causes that are perceived as “useful” for those rulers. The classic example is the “Holy” Roman Empire. Early in the fourth century A.D. there was a power vacuum in the Empire. four Roman generals began fighting and vying for the position of emperor. At that time, Christians and churches were expanding rapidly throughout the empire in spite of being frequently being persecuted. Although they were almost universally pacifistic and refused to take up the sword, their moral support could be useful to the generals. According to tradition, General Constantine had a vision in the night in which he saw a cross in the sky together with the words “with this cross you will conquer”. Although this vision is widely regarded today as mythical, Constantine defeated his rivals and became emperor. He changed the Church’s status from “illegal” to “tolerated”. A few decades later, Christianity became the official religion in the empire. Although there were some positive results of this alliance such as the creation of “sacred music” and Christian art, there were other devastating consequences. Freedom of religion was eliminated as the people of the empire were forced to accept Christianity or at least to go through the motions. Many followers of Jesus abandoned their Biblically based pacifism. They became Roman soldiers and did not heed the Biblical warning that “those who live by the sword will die by the sword”. The tragic truth is that the empire distorted Christianity more than the church positively influenced the Empire. The fall of the Roman Empire was largely due to its own inner corruption rather than as a result of foreign attacks. This corruption seeped into the church as well. Powerful clerical posts were sold to the highest bidder. Luther was correct in denouncing these moral failures of the papacy.

Two more recent examples merit some mention. During the 15^th and 16^th centuries, weak Popes made deals with monarchs in Spain. The Spanish Inquisition emerged. This permitted the monarchs to punish Jews in their lands and to wage war against the Moors with “God’s blessing”. Later, they and their Portuguese counterparts waged savage wars upon the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. This was truly a continent-wide holocaust executed in the name of the God of the Conquistadores. Valiant voices of protests emerged, like Bartolome de las Casas.

In the twentieth century, Hitler was enabled to carry out his horrific attempt to make Germany great again by the acquiescence of the state church. Millions of Jews, Polish, gypsies and thousands of others made in God’s image “disappeared” and were massacred, all in the name of God and his chosen Aryan race. (God’s blessing appeared on the belt buckles of the German soldiers.) Here again people (like Bonhoeffer) arose to protest against this idolatrous alliance.

Concerns About Our Contemporary Situation in the United States

In light of lessons learned from history, I have questions about the presence and “access” of some Christian leaders in the White House.

It is well known that President Trump boasts about his transactional relationships (“I give you something, you give me something”.) These religious leaders gave Trump political support during the elections of 2016, 2020, and 2024, and partially due to their support, 80% of white evangelicals voted for Trump. What did they get in return? Invitations to go to the White House and to offer up prayers in the name of Jesus do not come close to “do justice and to walk humbly with your God”.
Paula White claimed she had received messages from God (prophecies) that Trump would win the 2020 election. Trump did not win that election. This makes her a false prophet. This is quite serious, as sincere Christians might believe, and act upon, her false prophecy.
Franklin Graham heads up the international Christian ministry, Samaritan’s Purse. His father was the famous evangelist, Billy Graham. Franklin was an outspoken supporter of Trump since 2015. In the Musk/Trump gutting of USAID a few months ago, Samaritan’s Purse received an exemption, and as a result, continued to receive millions of dollars. It seems to me like a transaction based on favoritism. Was it?
Trump has a difficult relationship with the truth. He frequently wanders far from it. Christian leaders in the White House could perform a valuable ministry to him if they had the courage to confront his lies. A very big lie has to do with the war in Ukraine. We all know that Putin started the war by invading Ukraine. But now, in his “peace talks”, the Trump administration claims Putin to be a “great man” and that it was Ukraine that started the war. Paula White and Franklin Graham, have you confronted Trump about this lie?

Jesus told his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13).

Good News from the Global South: The Journal of Latin American Theology

Good News! The Journal of Latin American Theology: Christian Reflections from the Latino South has just published its newest issue (19.2). Why is this good news? Two decades ago, I helped to start this journal with the purpose of making available to English reading audiences some of the best Christian reflections coming out of Latin America. The journal does not focus on esoteric religious oddities. It brings to bear the teaching of Jesus to concrete issues that affect people around our world. If it contributes to genuine communication between and among the Global South and North, it is good news. If it helps to shed the light of truth on troublesome issues, it is good news. If it applies the practice and teaching of Jesus to today’s most difficult challenges, it is good news indeed.

Here are the article titles in this most recent issue:

Christian Faith and Climate Change
The Centrality of the Cross for Socioenvironmental Justice
The End of the World and New Creation: Approaches to and from John’s Revelation
Protestantism, Public Influence and Theological Education: Perspectives from the Political Ethics of the Kingdom of God
Christian Higher Education and an Evangélico Sense of Shame: A Case Study from Brazilian Politics
Protestant Presence in the Public Sphere: A Case Study of Brazil
Three book reviews, a film review, and two poignant examples of theopoetry

Readers who would like to access these articles can do so through the ATLA Religion Database published by the American Theological Library Association. The journal can also be purchased through the Wipf and Stock Publishers website: www:wipfandstock.com

Enjoy and be challenged by your reading!

God Help Us When Trump Talks Religion

Yesterday, at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump ventured into the area of religion. This is not his strong suit. In fact, although he received many votes from evangelicals, he knows very little about the Christian message. The basic gospel message is that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus Christ to offer new life to people through the forgiveness of their sins. People need to repent (=turn from their sins) and confess their mistakes, and believe in Jesus. They are called to love God with their whole heart and to love their neighbors as themselves.

Trump himself has repeatedly admitted that he can’t remember ever asking God for forgiveness. Trump does not regret this partially because he says he doesn’t “have much to apologize for”. By his own words, he doesn’t know God’s forgiveness.

At the prayer breakfast the president quoted a verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). This is one of my favorite verses. In fact, I taught on this passage in an adult education class at my church this past Sunday. It is no secret that Trump wants to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. But quoting Scripture does not necessarily equate to following Scripture. Some of his harshest critics quoted the Hebrew Scriptures to Jesus. It is quite clear that it is more important to do God’s will than to merely quote a Biblical verse. Those who are true peacemakers are those who work to reduce hunger, poverty, and homelessness.

^“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (I John 3:16-18)

It is painful to acknowledge that according to this passage, our president does not have the love of God in him. Not only does Trump show no pity (love) for those in need, he has increased their pain. Yesterday, it was announced that Trump (together with Elon Musk) is gutting USAID (reducing its employees from 5,000 to 290!). USAID has funded respected humanitarian organizations such as Meals on Wheels, World Relief, and Catholic Charities. Although it is appropriate for the administration to evaluate these organizations, IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO PAUSE FUNDING WHILE THE EVALUATION IS OCCURRING BECAUSE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE. Homelessness, acute malnutrition, and malaria do not pause just because funds are on pause.

Let’s briefly turn our attention to the war in Gaza. The president’s comments on Gaza are not peacemaking. He has affirmed that we, the United States, will take over Gaza and occupy it, even if this means with U.S. soldiers. This will require expelling two million Palestinians from their homes in Gaza. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. Mr. President, would you want to be expelled from your home?

President Trump, your recent executive orders are not peacemaking. You are waging war against vulnerable people of the human race. The good news is that God still offers you forgiveness. I urge you to repent, change your evil ways, and ask to be forgiven.