Aliens in America: Day 10

Bad Faith 

‘As aliens, live in reverent fear’ (1 Pet 1:17) 

The law of love—written in our hearts—invites us continuously: will I live the truth or lie against it? Thank God for, well, God, who helps us to realize our best intentions amid otherwise poor execution.  

Our mission—to unlock chastity from its belt of misunderstanding—is only effective if we live its truth. Chastity is fire in a clean-enough lamp: luminous and contained, impassioned yet pure, appealing, not seductive. Only Jesus helps us realize what we know to be true. Iridescent truth makes Him known. 

The crucible of Donald Trump? He dodges his sins continuously, deftly refusing to own his, claiming their reality is ‘fake news.’ Yet, more often than not, Trump is the choice of conservative Christians in America! Spirit-filled, Bible-loving activists aren’t on Harris’ trail; they are prophesying for the renegade whose natural law is lying.  

Where are the faithful pro-lifers who are also calling him to account? Hard to find, because as soon as one does, (s)he loses face and place at the Trump table. That man destroys anyone who disagrees with him. Be assured: smiling colleagues of Trump have never challenged him.  

Smart guy Vance? Good luck. He still believes Trump won in ’20. If the faithful cannot challenge that, we have stumbled on a rocky path.   

What does this do to MAGA Christians? In suspending common-sense morality, they lose clarity of judgment. And, like Trump, they risk becoming oppositional in all things.

Yet truth can’t simply become what we make it. Truth must line up with reality—how things really are. Trump didn’t win in 2020. He violated one of the central tenets of our democracy by claiming otherwise, and anyone who agrees violates that rule along with him. The servant isn’t greater than his master. Trump’s Bible (and he markets his own!) demonizes the faithful.  

Christian, I address you directly and stand with you in the tension; for all his faults, Trump stands up for the unborn. I agree and I am grateful. But please, if you are standing with the man, don’t treat him like a demigod. Treat him as the seriously divided sinner he is. If you choose to have him represent you again in the White House, then exercise courage in calling him to account.   

Please nuance Trump in the context of the myriad awful things he has done without repentance of any kind. If you don’t, you become an accomplice to them and run the risk of marring your own conscience.  

As an alien, recommit to living truth. Prioritize integrity of your entire life as a person committed to life. 

‘The unbelief of the human heart is not simply a matter of pride. It is also a reaction to the profanity of faith lived hypocritically.’ Archbishop Chaput 

‘For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people’ (1 Pet. 2:15).    

‘We lift up Donald Trump to you, Lord Jesus, and ask that You would call him to account for his sins, even as You do ours. May our voices in the public square not blur our witness of faith lived well. Grant those Christians who stand near Trump the courage to challenge him, even if they lose place; may any allegiance in this election (a compromise, at best) not tempt us to compromise on what we know to be true as aliens, belonging only to You.’     

‘Jesus, You are the King, and we are first citizens of Your Kingdom. Would you free us for You in this election season, not to hide but to shine? You’ve always asked nothing less from Your elect whom You have made ‘strangers in a strange land’ (Ex. 2:22). Here we are, a people who don’t know what to do but who look and listen to our King.  

“Father of all holiness, 

guide our hearts to You. 

Keep in the light of Your Truth 

all those You have freed from the darkness of unbelief. 

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son.”’ 

Amen 

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