What Went Wrong January 6, 2021?
Thoughts on White Evangelical Christians’ support of Donald Trump and how Christian pastors and leaders can do better.
The invasion and desecration of the Capitol building, January 6, 2021, was horrifying to watch. I’ve read critiques aplenty, including many who lay blame at the feet of President Trump, who has been inciting this violence with his election fraud lies. The president called his supporters to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” protest, incited the mob with an incendiary speech hours before the invasion, did nothing to stop the invasion as it was happening and after the breach and successful halting of the election certification, blessed them with, “We love you. You’re very special. Go home.” Blame also lies with the members of the House and Senate, who were legally attempting what the mob was illegally attempting to do: stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, an election that was certified by the states’ Secretaries of State, legislatures and dozens of judges and courts who were presented with scant evidence of fraud. It was a nauseating scene for defenders of democracy, even before protestors began to approach the steps of the Capitol.
pictures from video by Sandi Bachom. See the video report on Youtube
I gave a sermon on Epiphany 2021 – Matthew 2 – for Grace Community Church San Francisco, Jan. 10, 2021 in which I stress our need for repentance – confession, sorrow and change. Evangelical Christians must do better.
Many critiques of this invasion, which some call an insurrection, lay blame at the feet of White Evangelical Christians, who overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump for president in 2016 and 2020. White Evangelicals are often described as the most important voting bloc for the Republican Party and have become Donald Trump’s most reliable supporters.
Washington Post columnist and Evangelical Christian, Michael Gerson wrote:
Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr., Robert Jeffress and the others either shut their eyes or shared in Trumpian hatreds. “There has never been anyone,” said Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, “who has defended us and who has fought for us, who we have loved more than Donald J. Trump. No one!”
“We didn’t vote for him to be our pastor or our husband,” explained Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America. “We voted for him to be our bodyguard.” But what if the bodyguard you hired turns out to be a brutish, bigoted, narcissistic, authoritarian thug who wants to burn down any democratic institution he can’t control? Perhaps the moral character of political bodyguards actually matters. Perhaps evangelicals should not be hiring bodyguards in the first place, but rather supporting moral leaders who seek the common good.
Michael Gerson (citation below)
Certainly, the primary blame for the invasion and desecration of the Capitol lies with those who broke in. Blame is also shared by those who directly encouraged them, especially in their speeches hours before the insurrection. The keynote speech was delivered by President Donald Trump, who shouted, “We will never give up; we will never concede, We will stop the steal. We’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’re going to the Capitol…We’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones…the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” Trump’s lawyer told the mob, “We’re going to have trial by combat.” Within two hours, combat ensued leaving five dead, including a Capitol police officer.
Also responsible are the Republican members of the House and Senate who attempted to halt the lawful certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that was taking place when the mobs invaded and halted the process. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and 150 more invited this. And what about pro-Trump Fox News and anti-Trump CNN, both of which rode the Trump Train to ratings success. What about Twitter and Facebook?
But, my concern is about the White Evangelical Christians, who in overwhelmingly large numbers supported, voted for and have defended Trump. Many who gathered for Trump’s “Stop the Steal” attempt-to-steal-the-election protest waved Christian flags, carried signs with Christian slogans like “Jesus Saves” and some erected a large cross. Some pastors have been vocal supporters of Donald Trump, despite the list of seven things God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19), which sounds like an apt description of Trump. Are they not responsible? And what about pastors across the land who remained silent while the president lied, cheated and attempted to steal the 2020 election? Are we not responsible as well?
Notable exceptions to the Evangelical Trump Train were leaders like Michael Gerson, David French, Beth Moore, Russell Moore, Jim Wallis, Rich Stearns and most black pastors, like Jemar Tisby and William Barber. Most of the folks in our churches would probably ask, “Who are these people?” Sadly, these thoughtful thought leaders did not have the influence of the louder voices, like Franklin Graham, Jerry Fallwell Jr, Robert Jeffress and lately, the super-wacko Greg Locke. These leaders not only lent their influence to Trump, but their allegiance to Trump amplified their own influence. Like the Republicans in the House and Senate, they hitched their wagon to the Trump star. They supported Trump and became increasingly like Trump. “Policy over Personality,” they said in the beginning, but over time they found themselves defending Trump’s personality flaws too – the constant barrage of lies, the petty personal attacks, the leadership incompetence, the pride (lack of humility and empathy), his inability to learn and understand, etc.. Slowly but surely they fell in love with and emulated Trump’s personality. They started by saying things like, “isn’t it refreshing that he tells it like it is?” After Trump had bombarded us with thousands of lies, most of which were easily proven false, the saying became, “Isn’t it refreshing that he speaks his mind?” But, many evangelical leaders didn’t stop there. They joined in with Trump’s lies. A recent example is the oft-repeated accusation that the election was stolen from Trump, which many Christian leaders and followers have parroted, without evidence, throughout social media.
I believe this is a time for reflection, prayer and soul-searching to see how we have contributed to the crisis we find our nation in. Repentance calls for us to recognize and confess our moral failures. But repentance, which literally means “turning”, requires that we learn and do better. I don’t want to rush the process of reflection and confession, but I do want to think ahead to the next steps of repentance.
The debacle we witnessed January 6th and all the events leading up to it are a black eye on the people of God in America. Repentance requires that we recognize and confess our sin. Repentance also requires that we learn and do better. I am hopeful and confident that we can serve and lead our country to a better future. Heaven is still to come. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom, which is to come, but starts right now in our hearts, our families, communities and our nation. Let us constantly pray and work:
“May your Kingdom come
May your will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven.”
So, What Now? Read Part 2 – Let’s Do Better
READ MORE:
We Worship with the Magi, Not MAGA Epiphany reminds us that faith is not a prop for political power. Tish Harrison Warren in Christianity Today, January 7, 2021
A Christian Insurrection, Emma Green in The Atlantic, Jan. 8, 2021
Trump’s evangelicals were complicit in the desecration of our democracy, by Michael Gerson, Washington Post, Jan. 7, 2021
The Roman Road From Insurrection. Russell Moore, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
This is not about politics. This is about our country, about the rule of law, and about the sanctity of human life. The President invited mobs to Washington—promising a “wild” time—and told them to march to the Capitol. Despite the fact that there was not one thing that Vice President Pence could have lawfully done, the President called him a coward, and whipped up crowds against him who, many of them, then chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” while constructing gallows on the Capitol grounds. An American flag was thrown down and replaced with a Trump flag, while another insurrectionist paraded a Confederate flag through the Capitol. Police officers were attacked. Congressional leaders hid while the doors buckled from mobs seeking to attack them. People are dead. The Capitol is ransacked. Administration officials are resigning in protest.
If you read nothing else, read this: If you can defend this, you can defend anything. If you can wave this away with “well, what about…” or by changing the subject to a private platform removing an account inciting violence as “Orwellian,” then where, at long last, is your limit?
Russell Moore
Charismatics are at war with each other over failed prophecies of Trump victory, Julia Duin on Religion Unplugged, January 12, 2021
Trump evangelicals must repent after turning blind eye to evil of past 4 years, b
Books and Essays on Christian Engagement in Politics
Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement, by Justin Giboney (Author), Michael Wear (Author), Chris Butler (Author), 2020.
City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, by Michael Gerson, Peter Wehner, 2010.
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