January 20th has finally arrived. Donald Trump is no longer President-elect but now officially the President of the United States and for some this is a joyous ordeal and for others it is a time of sackcloth and ashes. As for me personally, I didn’t watch the inauguration nor am I too terribly affected by who the President is. In reality, President Trump along with President Obama and every single president in our nation’s history, even America itself, will be a tiny footnote in the great scheme of eternity. However, I look at a Trump presidency with hopeful and prayerful anticipation of how he is going to be used by God. Yet my marching orders are the still the same and will always be the same until the end of the age.
If I may speak to the Christian for the moment, just because Donald Trump is now the president doesn’t mean this is a time to sit back on victories well fought and well deserved or on the other hand, sulk around in defeat, adopting a fatalistic attitude. There are still things to do for the believer within a Trump presidency and resting on our laurels is not one of them.
Firstly we need to pray. It says in 1 Timothy 2:1 “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions.” Understand the position that Trump is now in, he has been appointed by God to lead this country. He is, as it says in Romans 13:4 “a servant of God” and even though Trump might think that he is the highest authority in the land, he ultimately will have to answer to God on how he governs. What a fearful thing it is to know that every geo-political arrangement, every law that is signed, every tweet that is written as President will be called into account at the judgement of God. Pray that he governs America well and for the betterment of its citizens.
Pray also for his family. In contrast to his successful business ventures, his marriages and family life have not been the greatest. The Trump family has always been in the spotlight but this is a completely different ball-game. Trump is now President of the United States and every action and decision is going to be under the microscope and by default, his family as well. Already he has been the butt of many sketches on SNL and parodied too many times to mention. Yes Trump may be the typical New Yorker, with skin that is practically impenetrable but what about his wife or his children? The strain of the highest office in the land can have disastrous effects on a family that can manifest itself years after the stay at the White House.
Pray for his conversion to Christ. Now it was reported by some news media that Donald J. Trump is an unabashed evangelical believer. However I (along with many others) am not so sure. In looking at the track record of adultery, greed and self-exaltation one can easily conclude that he has not lived with an eye to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the issue goes beyond just the deeds done by Trump but it is the attitude concerning those deeds where the real problem is. There is neither a spirit of repentance nor does he feel he needs forgiveness for the sins he committed. No brokenness for the sin that crucified Christ? No overflowing joy that those sins committed was forgiven by the blood of the Lamb? Unthinkable for someone who is born-again! As I heard it once said that forgiveness and repentance are the very air Christians breathe and to have someone who professes Christianity not be concerned with those things raises a significant doubt of whether or not they actually have experienced Christ.
Lastly, we need to preach. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves and to others. When we hear about the happenings of the Whitehouse and we begin to get emotional, preaching the gospel of Christ to ourselves will right the focus and “set our minds on the things above” (Col. 3:2). When others around us are so fixated (either positively or negatively) on President Trump, the gospel reminds them that hope in a man is dangerously misplaced and there is only one answer to our greatest problem and need, that is: Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).