It is healthy to confess one’s own sins and the mistakes of one’s elected officials. Did some Republican senators finally get a political conscience?

Last Thursday, rare events happened in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Republicans in both chambers opposed President Trump’s policies and cancelled their voting procedure rather than delivera public rebuke of the president with their congressional votes. After a year and a half of being Trump’s yes’men and yes’women in his second term in the White House, these elected officials finally found the courage to say “No!”. The Hebrew Scriptures might help us understand what happened and how it could be transformed into healing for our nation.

We frequently think of confession as the acknowledgement and repentance of one’s personal sins directly to God or to a representative of God (like a pastor or priest). This usually takes place within a religious context, and I think this can be a good way to begin dealing with our moral mistakes. Confession is much healthier than ignoring our sins or pretending we don’t make moral mistakes.

Nevertheless, it is also healthy to acknowledge and confess the sins of one’s culture and one’s national leaders when they stray from the truth. The Bible highlights examples of believers who expose the sins of their society and their national leaders and call for repentance. Let’s look at the example of Isaiah, a significant prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures. Isaiah had a vision of God, especially God’s holiness. Isaiah became convinced of his own sinfulness. He cried out, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5) God forgave him and then sent him to speak the word of the Lord to Israel.

Sometimes it is not enough to critique one’s own culture. We frequently are so blind or so self-righteous we don’t want to admit our moral failures. We need someone to speak the hard truth into our lives and then lead us to repentance and confession. Nathan’s rebuke of “good” King David is an even clearer example. One evening David saw the beautiful Bathsheba bathing herself. He called for her to come to his palace and he forced her to have sex with him. As a result, she became pregnant. David tried many ways to hide his sin, but was not successful. Finally, he had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed by some soldiers. God sent Nathan to rebuke David. Nathan told him a parable about an evil man. When David recognized the horrible action as evil, Nathan told the King, “You are that evil man!”. (2 Samuel 12) David did repent and confessed his crime. He was forgiven by God and turned his life around.

Something similar happened on Capitol Hill last Thursday. The Senate was to vote on a sweeping immigration funding bill intended to bankroll Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029. The leadership then added two Trump-backed initiatives to the bill: up to $1 billion in Secret Service funding tied to security for his planned East Wing Ballroom, and a $1.8 billion to fund to compensate people who say they were victims of so-called political weaponization by the Biden administration. Because there were no safeguards on this weaponization bill, critics denounced it as Trump’s “slush fund”. What really riled up the Republican senators was the admission that some 1600 insurrectionists who attacked the capitol on January 6, 2021, were charged and convicted by juries of their peers, were later pardoned by Trump, but could be eligible to receive millions of dollars from the slush fund.

Senators who had been staunch allies of Trump in the past broke with him on this issue. Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell fumed, “_So the nation’s top law enforcement official (Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche) is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?” He continued, this funding bill is “utterly stupid, morally wrong – take your pick.”

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who had drawn Trump’s ire, has become a vocal critic of the President, joining together the problem of affordability with the “slushi-ness” of the funding bill. He complained, “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,”

Enough Republican senators expressed their disapproval of the slush fund proposal that voting on the bill had to be withdrawn until after the Memorial Day recess. Republican opposition to the president’s priorities goes way beyond this funding bill. Criticism is mounting against his war with Iran, the East Wing ballroom, his economic mistakes regarding inflation, his cover-up of the Epstein files, etc.

When faced with moral failure, confession and repentance are always healthier than trying to avoid the truth. May Republican and Democrat leaders rise to the occasion!

It is Healthy to Confess One’s Own Sins and the Political Mistakes of One’s Elected Officials. Did some Republican Senators Finally Get a Political Conscience?

When faced with moral failure, confession and repentance are always healthier than trying to avoid the truth. May Republican and Democrat leaders rise to the occasion!

Pope Leo and Secretary Hegseth on Christianity and War: Which One is Closer to Jesus?

In the last several days, the Christian faith has been appealed to as a major motivation for the War with Iran. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth sees the war against Iran as a conflict between Islam and Christianity. In a recent briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth quoted a verse from Psalm 144: “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.” This is in line with his Christian Nationalism, a defective version of Christianity. I believe that this nationalism is a distortion of the gospel message because it conflates the teaching of Jesus with the goals of national or international governments. It is a heresy. It began to permeate Christendom with the “conversion” of Constantine and has reappeared at various times in history (the Crusades,[i] the Spanish Inquisition, the conquest of the Americas, Manifest Destiny, Nazi Germany, and on and on). It is a betrayal of the message that Jesus taught and demonstrated. Jesus taught love for our enemies, not hatred. He told his disciples not to take revenge against their rivals, he told Peter to put away his sword, for those who live by the sword will die by the sword. He taught that “an eye for an eye” should give way to generous love. (Matthew 5:38-42).

Pope Leo XIV waded into the public debate in his Palm Sunday mass: “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” In a special blessing at the end of Mass, Leo said he was praying especially for Christian believers in the Middle East who are “suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict. In many cases, they cannot live fully the rites of these holy days.”

Although I strive to follow Jesus, I am not a Roman Catholic. Nevertheless, I think Leo XIV was right on in what he says about Jesus and war. Jesus never approved of war in the Gospels. Our Lord denounced the “rulers of this world” who committed great evil yet claimed it was good. We are NOT to follow their example. (Luke 22:25-26). Jesus showed his followers a better way. The early church sought to be peacemakers and denounced war as an expression of greed. For the first three centuries, up until the time of Constantine, the church was almost universally pacifistic. They affirmed they would die for their faith, but they would not kill for it.i

Some have tried to harmonize Christianity with war through Just War Theory, a series of criteria that must be met before a war is “justified”. The war against Iran utterly fails to meet these criteria: (1) freedom for the Iranian people could be a “Just Cause” but this goal was quickly abandoned; (2) “Formal Declaration” was not met because Congress never gave the legally required authorization nor did the United Nations; (3) “Civii[an Immunity” was not respected as shown by the bombing of the girls’ school in which over 150 little girls were killed; and (4) “last resort” was not followed as the United States broke off the diplomatic negotiations that Trump himself had labeled as fruitful.

Therefore, during this Holy Week, I invite those who claim the name of Jesus for war to reread the Gospels to see what it means to follow the Prince of Peace.

[i] Decades ago, Wheaton College (a conservative Christian academic institution) eliminated the Crusader as their mascot, rightfully deeming it a bad symbol for Christianity. Campus Crusade for Christ eliminated “Crusade” from their name for the same reason. Secretary Hegseth has two Crusade tattoos on his body.

Donald Trump Urges Republican Senators to Pass His “Save” Bill “for Jesus”. The Biblical Jesus Refuses to Be a Partisan Good Luck Charm.

On Monday, President Donald Trump invoked the name of Jesus Christ in a call for Republican senators to cancel their Easter break and to stay in Washington in order to try to pass his package of new voting restrictions. Speaking at a public safety roundtable in Memphis, Tennessee, Trump said the Republican-led Senate should only concentrate on passing his Save Act and shouldn’t leave the capital until they do so.

“Don’t worry about Easter, or going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus, OK?” Trump said with a chuckle. “Make this one for Jesus, that’s what I tell them. It would be a damn good thing.”

Why did Trump invoke the name of Jesus? He was not the first politician to do so, and certainly won’t be the last, but it does raise the question: Why did he do it?

Perhaps he thought it was a “cute” religious joke: senators could worship Jesus better by passing his “Save” legislation than by attending religious services back home with their families. Perhaps…but most Americans are not laughing.
Perhaps it was a nod to Christians in his MAGA base in which he tries to remind these voters of all the “good” he has done for them.
It is more likely that Trump tried to use a cheap Christian Nationalism tactic, similar to what politicians (both Republicans and Democrats) do when they end their speeches with the words, “May God bless America.” Although the phrase is a prayer, speakers frequently use it to suggest that God is already on “our side”, that we are the “good guys”, that God approves of our fallen and failing plans.

Although the Jesus of the Bible is passionate about humanity and the small things of our lives (like daily bread), Jesus does not approve of everything we do. His list of blessed people includes the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those who are hated and rejected as evil. (Luke 6:20-22). He pronounced woe upon people like me, the rich, the well fed, those who laugh and those who are well respected… (Luke 6:24-26). This makes me uncomfortable…and so it should. Apathy towards needy neighbors is really an offense against God.

Pieces of legislation in Congress should be debated and then either be approved or rejected on their own merits, not by cheap appeals to Jesus. The Jesus that I strive to serve, the Jesus of Scripture, refuses to be a good luck charm of politicians. That is taking his name in vain.

The Senate Version of the Big Beautiful Bill is Even More Immoral and Sinful

Yesterday, after a 27 hour “Vote A Rama”, the U.S. Senate approved Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” by the narrowest of margins. In fact, the vote was 50 senators in favor, and 50 against, with Vice-president Vance casting the tie-breaking vote in favor. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives. It will probably be passed there, because enough House members will “cave” on their move cherished values.

I had hoped that some ethical Republican senators would make the “BBB”, the Big Beautiful Bill, a bit better. They dashed my hopes. They dashed the hopes of our citizens. They made the BBB even worse…they made it more “sinful”. Let me clarify. We are not a theocracy. We are a pluralistic democracy, albeit a very flawed democracy. Nevertheless, we as a nation have established legislation upon principles of social ethics borrowed from many places, including from religions (Judaism, Christianity, and others). When the proposals of the BBB fail to meet the most basic ethical requirements of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, it is sinful. Let’s look at three of the most immoral components of the BBB.

The Senate Version Would Raise the Federal Debt by $3.3 Trillion

Whereas the House version of the BBB would raise the federal debt by $2.4 trillion, the Senate proposal would add at least $3.3 trillion to federal deficits over a decade, according to the most recent analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Let’s call this (spending more money than we bring in) for what it really is: Stealing! Our contemporary generation is stealing from future generations! We all have heard this most basic of the Ten Commandments: “Thou Shalt Not Steal”. Democrats in the White House and in Congress have been guilty of raising the debt as frequently as Republicans, but Trump increased the debt more in his first term than any president in our national history. In the BBB, the Republican senators are enabling Trump 2.0 to do a repeat performance of his thievery.

The Senate Version Would Cause 11.8 Million People to Lose Their Health Insurance

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate version of the legislation would mean 11.8 million Americans will lose their health insurance by 2034 as federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare is reduced by roughly $1.1 trillion over that period. Let me repeat that number: 11.8 million of our neighbors will lose their health insurance! That is just the opposite of the Golden Rule: “Do unto Others as You would have Them Do unto You”. President Trump promised us that there would be no cuts to Medicare or to Medicaid. Given that it was the same Trump who pressured the senators to make these cuts, “we can trust the president to break his promises”.

The Senate Version Would Cause the Poor to Become Poorer and the Rich to Become Richer

The Republican version of the BBB will widen the gap between the poor and the rich. According to the best estimates, the poorest citizens will experience a 2% decline in their economic levels while the richest will increase their wealth by 4%. The BBB is actually taking money away from the poor to give a tax break to the most affluent among us. The bill extends nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts first passed in 2017 and partially pays for them by slashing spending on safety net programs: Medicare, Medicaid, the SNAP food program. Thousands and thousands of our citizens will suffer from unnecessary illnesses and pre-mature death.

The God described in the Scriptures hates any legislation that causes such pain. The God who fed manna to the Israelites in the desert wanted all to have “enough”. That same God later established the law of “gleaning”, so that no one would go hungry. In the Christian Scriptures, Jesus told his followers that apathy toward the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, was, in fact, directed towards himself. In taking up a collection for the starving, persecuted believers in Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul told Gentile Christians that God’s goal was “equality” in which no one had too much while others did not have enough (2 Corinthians 8-9).

The BBB breaks God’s heart. Representatives in the House: please vote it down, while you are still able to do so.

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.

An Exhortation from the Word of God for Donald Trump…, and for Us

“Do not think more highly of yourselves than you should.” So wrote the Apostle Paul (Romans 12:3) around 55 AD to the followers of Jesus in the city of Rome. Although most Christians in the first century were poor and without much social power, this was not universally true. Rome was the capital of the Empire, and the Roman Empire was the most powerful empire of its day. It ruled the world with violence, arrogance and pride. Their citizens generally looked down upon their neighbors and considered others to be inferior human beings. It is tragically true that arrogance is contagious and that some of the Christians in Rome had also been infected with this pride. Therefore, the apostle exhorted them to re-evaluate themselves more carefully, more soberly, and more humbly. It shouldn’t be so difficult to acknowledge this pride, personally or nationally, but it is.

The United States is the richest, most powerful nation the world has ever known. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to equate might with right, or wealth with justice. The Bible frequently points out that wealth and power have been accumulated through violence and oppression (James 2:6). Politicians, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, proclaim that the United States is the best country in the world. This might make us feel good…, but it is not true. Our European ancestors acquired this land stewarded by indigenous nations through warfare and broken treaties. They wickedly enslaved Africans and became rich off of the labor of the slaves. Waves of immigrants came to out country seeking the “American Dream” and a better life for their children. Some saw their dreams come true, but others were grossly mistreated. In the Mexican American war, we acquired half of Mexico’s territory. Abraham Lincoln denounced this war as most unjust. I could go on and on, but this is enough to reveal some of our national faults.

Donald Trump, soon you will be sworn in as our 47^th president. Many will say that you are the most powerful man in the world…and maybe they are right. But do not think more highly of yourself that you should. You also will have to give account to God for your actions. Even presidents must bend the knee before the King of Kings. God does not ask you to enable the rich to become richer. He has other criteria. He told a Jewish king the message “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9). Mr. Trump, I suggest that God will use similar criteria for you.