Nothing is quite as nice as an Easter Sunday sunrise service on a New England small-town beach. One year during my ministry, I was in charge of officiating such a service, and on that morning everything seemed to go perfectly — including the pancake breakfast that followed! Easter in New England usually aligns with warmer weather, longer days, hope and new possibilities. These days, however, it sometimes appears that the sun is setting on the true message of Easter for too many American Christians, as the true church is replaced by a church led by Donald Trump.
Easter is, as you surely know, a celebration of the resurrection of a fallen leader who rises again. I have begun to realize that a terrible thing is happening across this country during this Easter season as false evangelical pastors head to the pulpit to align Trump, of all people, with the role of Jesus Christ. As Jesus was falsely accused, they preach, Trump must be as well. This is of course absurd, yet it is believed or at least espoused by many evangelical leaders.
The prevailing message deliivered by these false teachers is that God has chosen this deeply flawed man to save the American evangelical church from its enemies. According to this distorted gospel, it doesn't matter if Trump preaches an anti-Christian political agenda while spewing hateful messages. The only thing that matters is that Trump, as they claim, is God’s guy. This has resonance for believers in a number of ways: I fully support the creed that God indeed only calls sinners to lead his church, and I am profoundly grateful that God can still use a sinner like myself. But Donald Trump has not called by God to lead the church, although he may have been placed before the church as a test of faith. Far too many wealthy evangelical ministers are happy to follow Trump anywhere he leads, as long as their invitations to the White House, their tax-exempt status and the tax cuts delivered to the one percent keep on coming.
I recently heard Trump’s leading apostle in the evangelical church, Dr. Robert Jeffress, preach about the meaning behind Easter. He told a story from his childhood, saying that he once found a way to enter the Oval Office during a school field trip to the White House. A family friend was a Secret Service agent, he said, which allowed the young Jeffress to gain access to this center of power. The lesson of this sermon was meant to be that we all need Christ's help to gain access to the kingdom of heaven. That's a necessary foundation of the Christian faith, but it also involves the realization that everyone needs grace, mercy, forgiveness and humility. As I perceive it, Pastor Jeffress has traded in those Christian principles for access to the White House, this time as an adult and in a very different context. In that sense, he has turned his back on the message of Christ and turned toward the message of Trump.
Easter is also a lesson in sacrifice. When I played college football I was one of those big guys on the offensive line who smashed into the other big guys so the running back could score. It can be a painful experience, with little or no glory. I apparently suffered several concussions, required shoulder surgery and will suffer from back pain for the rest of my life, but I am still grateful for my time playing football. I learned about sacrifice, teamwork, hard work and the quiet joy a person can feel when you know you have made sacrifices for other people and the greater good. That is a huge missing ingredient in the evangelical church as reshaped by Donald Trump. The church of Trump is entirely about the glory of Trump, the worship of Trump and celebrating the greatness of Trump. In Trump’s church, everyone else is sacrificed so Trump can score.
The Easter message is a message of salvation, first and foremost, but also of condemnation. Hypocrisy should be condemned, especially among those who use religion falsely, such as today's evangelical leadership. Salvation, on the other hand, is offered to everyone else. In 1 Corinthians 5 — "one Corinthians," as Donald Trump would say — scripture plainly teaches that the church should mind its own business and clean up its own house: "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you.” With this in mind, I am calling for the church to expel those leaders who worship at the altar of Trump, as they have tried to expel the true teachings of Christ.
I still love the sunrise service on Easter morning. One of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus (as told in John 21) is set on Easter morning, after his resurrection. From the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw a group of his disciples out fishing from a boat. They had been out all night without catching anything. Jesus called out, telling them to try throwing the nets on the other side of the boat. I am sure these experienced fishermen, not recognizing Jesus at that moment, were frustrated or baffled by such ridiculous advice. But when they did as he told them, their nets were so full of fish they could hardly drag them up again. The American evangelical church has been throwing its nets on the wrong side of the political boat for far too long. Those nets are empty, and the spiritual hole in the church has been filled by self-serving hypocrites eager to pervert the gospel to serve Trump. It is long past time to throw the nets on the other side of the boat, and return to the teachings of Christ. Those who claim to follow Jesus must turn back to the faith of self-sacrifice, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, humility and the hope of an eternal sunrise. That would be a true Easter resurrection.
