I love him for two reasons. One, he’s been stamped with the same imprint of God’s image that all humans share. And two, he’s beloved and paid for by the God who stamped him. I pray for him regularly that he will tap into that image and discover the love behind it that put it there. I truly want Donald Trump to find out how much God loves him, so he can respond in faith and be transformed by grace!
Now, based on my understanding of the Word of God, I believe that God hates many of the same things that I hate about him. I want to see him with us in the glorified state and get to know him when his politics or mine won’t matter anymore. While there, we’d both be infused with and enveloped in the politics of Jesus.
In the meantime, that is, prior to him tapping into the image or embracing the love, I find his ideas, his words, his policies, his actions foul and despicable nearly across the board. I don’t hate him. As I said, I love the person, but I do hate what he has become or possibly has always been.
Wait, you say. Christians aren’t supposed to hate anything. Here’s some food for thought on that:
- Let those who love the LORD hate evil. Psalm 97:10
- I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. Psalm 101:3
- To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Proverbs 8:13
- Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Solomon listed some particular things God hates:
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)
By my unofficial calculation, Trump is at least six for seven of the list. Not a good average.
I hate most of what he says, how he says it, what he does to and on behalf of the country that I love. I hate the way he treats people whom he considers enemies, the way he gives them derogatory names and denigrates them in public. I hate the way he acts toward people from other countries, especially those populated by black and/or brown people. I hate his lack of concern for the environment, his unhinged way of relating to leaders of other countries, his foul way of treating women.
I could go on. But I’ll say it again. I don’t hate him or anyone else for that matter. But the Bible is clear, being a disciple of Jesus entails loving what he loves and hating what he hates.
I’d be delighted to spend eternity with Donald Trump, that is, the perfected one. But then I’ll be the perfected me and most likely forgetful of all the bad things he did, not to mention all the bad things I did while in this body. I don’t know if we’ll be there together when heaven touches down on earth. I’m pretty sure I’ll be there, not nearly as sure about him, but I still believe in the miracle of new birth. As long as he has breath, there’s time to inhale.
barney wiget 