Today Reminded me of a Song
What We Miss When We Misbehave
On New Year’s Eve, my parents and I decided to rent Wicked from Amazon. It had just been released on video that day so it cost $20 but we all agreed it was worth it, and that was still cheaper than all three of us going to the theater. When the price comes down, I am going to rent it again and watch it with audio description because there were a few places where I couldn’t quite follow what was going on and it was difficult for Mom to describe. But I got the gist of it, and enjoyed the music, some of which I sang in choir.
For our family who never supported Donald Trump, finding his amorality and narcissism repugnant, this month has felt strange. I love the way one writer I follow described it, like standing on railroad tracks knowing a train is going to hit you, but there’s nothing you can do about it. “I would link to it but I have read so much I cannot remember where I read it.) As I write this, Donald Trump has officially been president for one hour, so I guess the train is here. There is nothing really to say that hasn’t been said already, but I felt compelled to share some thoughts inspired by the opening number of Wicked that I believe will be valuable in putting this day in perspective and confronting Christian Nationalism, a political movement whose leaders are using Donald Trump to advance their agenda.
It is in our human nature to want to leave a legacy, so perhaps the reason the position of President of the United States is so coveted by some, and campaigned for so nastily is because it offers the ultimate opportunity to leave a legacy unlike any other. In a sense, we all leave a legacy. If you are a parent, your legacy takes the form of the children you raise. In addition to passing on your genes, you pass down your values. If you are a teacher, your legacy is the students you inspire, and if you are lucky, former students will write you about how you left a lasting impression on them. If you were involved in your community, your legacy might be your positive attitude or kindness that inspired others. All these are wonderful legacies, but I once heard a sermon about the reality that the youngest baby at your funeral, in one hundred years or less, will also die, and as such, for most of us, our earthly legacies are not lasting. Most of us fade into the vast anonymity of human history. But as President of the United States, your decisions shape the course of U.S. and to some extent world history. Sadly, Satan takes advantage of this human instinct, this lust for power. Jesus, the perfection of humanity confidently resisted Satan’s temptation (Matthew 4:9) but no human government has ever been capable of fully resisting a bargain with the Devil. They don’t literally bow down and worship Satan of course, but they make decisions based on evil motives like holding onto power, or projecting strength via violence toward other countries, or oppression of their own people. We have never had, and never will have a perfect president because America’s earthly interests usually don’t align with Christ’s righteous standards, especially in the foreign policy realm. Every president panders to constituencies for whom it is politically expedient to serve, while overlooking the most marginalized, especially the extremely poor. I must say I am conflicted as to my opinion of Joe Biden. On the one hand, his big ego—which every president has, and perhaps is necessary to even seek a job as high-stakes as President of the United States—got him into trouble. That debate in June, with his declining health on full display, was painful to watch, and he exhibited poor judgment by choosing to run for a second term, and selfishness in waiting so long to drop out that there wasn’t time for a proper Democratic primary. But Donald Trump is only a few years younger than Biden, and while at surface level he seems more vigorous, he has shown significant cognitive decline over the years as well. So perhaps the shame should rest not on Joe Biden, but on our society who prioritizes superficial physical strength and vigor over content of character. Joe Biden may have had a big ego, but “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34) and whenever Joe Biden spoke, he radiated genuine compassion for anyone experiencing hardship, whether it was cancer, financial insecurity, or the loss of a loved one in combat or due to gun violence, this empathy forged through tragedy in his own life. By contrast, whenever Donald Trump opens his mouth, he spews forth cruel rhetoric against immigrants or political opponents, mocks people with disabilities, and helps people experiencing hardship only if it is politically advantageous. And yet evangelicals overwhelmingly chose him again, despite his abandonment of the prolife platform, a sign that he has no true convictions. They still believe his administration can be a tool for “taking America back for God”, despite Jesus’s warning that “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). Much like the Pharisees of Jesus’s day, Christian Nationalists seem to be interested only in legalistic, cultural Christianity, which bears no resemblance to the teachings of Jesus at all. Adding insult to injury has been watching all the charges dropped, despite overwhelming evidence of his corruption, and the sentencing in New York that wasn’t really a sentence at all. Ordinary people spend years in prison for far less serious crimes, and yet Donald Trump gets by with everything.
But I was struck by the optics of Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Jimmy Carter, sadly and ironically, was treated similar to Biden by right-wing evangelicals. Jimmy Carter, another example of a man who was not perfect but lived out his faith, conducting himself with such integrity that he put his modest peanut farm into a blind trust, was scorned by evangelicals for, among other things, holding a summit on family policy that included LGBTQ families. But all hard feelings were left in the past, as even political opponents gave beautiful eulogies testifying to his integrity, his ability to negotiate peace treaties, and his legacy of service to the poor, building houses for Habitat for Humanity and eradicating diseases in third-world countries. Donald Trump attended this funeral because it wouldn’t look good politically if he didn’t, but his presence put the other dignitaries in awkward no-win positions. Depending on the political slant of the media outlet, Barack Obama was praised by some, and criticized by others for talking and laughing with Donald Trump. I couldn’t see the interplay for myself, but I imagine Barack Obama was trying to take the high road, going along with Trump’s banter, probably inappropriate for a funeral, to make the best of an awkward situation. Karen Pence, the wife of Mike Pence, was admired and rebuked, again depending on the slant of the media outlet, for snubbing Trump, which technically, if you take the Bible seriously, might have been wrong, but understandable from a human standpoint. After all, Donald Trump all but encouraged his supporters to hang her husband on January 6, 2021.
Of course, only God is qualified to know the eternal destiny of Donald Trump, and we are all wicked in our own ways and would be condemned if it weren’t for God’s grace and forgiveness through Christ. But as I listened to the coverage of Jimmy Carter’s funeral, and the analysis of the behavior of Barack Obama and Karen Pence, I was reminded of a couple lines from the opening number of the movie Wicked: “A good man scorns the wicked. Through their lives our children learn what we miss when we misbehave.”
Donald Trump may have skirted legal consequences for his actions, but I doubt he is genuinely happy. I have heard derisive laughter from him, in the context of mocking a political opponent, but never the genuine laughter aroused by a silly song, the cute antics of a child or the dog licking your face. In fact, he mocked Kamala Harris for her joyful laugh, viewing it as a sign of weakness. And when you are narcissistic, is it possible to have genuine friends? Big tech CEOs dined with him at Mar-a-Lago and have been involved in his transition, but it is clear they are flattering him because they want favors from him. Republican legislators are loyal to him because they want their party to stay in power. Leaders from other countries flatter him so that he will enact policies favorable to them. But does anyone genuinely enjoy passing an afternoon gulfing or enjoying a meal with him simply for his companionship, expecting nothing in return? Somehow I don’t think so. If I had children, I would love to point out how much joy he is missing out on in the absence of genuine friends, and his inability to laugh, how by being consumed with anger and thoughts of retribution, he is hurting others right now, but ultimately, as he lays on his deathbed, he may come to realize the person hurt most by his behavior was himself. And when he does pass on, I have no doubt the remaining living presidents and first ladies will attend his funeral out of respect, but given how he dehumanized them, will they be able to truly mourn him? And will history remember him kindly, or will he join the pariahs of history for whom any good they may have accomplished was overshadowed by the people they dehumanized? Has he yet contemplated these questions and felt a profound sense of loneliness?
Christian Nationalism is a movement with a spectrum, so it would be unfair to paint all with a broad brush, but I see in the most ardent adherents to the movement an all-consuming anger and hostility similar to that of Donald Trump. They may have genuine friends, but only within their tribe of white evangelicals. They do not welcome immigrants despite the fact that Jesus was a refugee, and they seem to forget that Christ’s blood purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). With these Christian nationalists too, repentance is possible with God if they choose to let go of their pride and come to Christ for forgiveness. In eternal life, we will all learn in one way or another what joy we missed because we misbehaved in this life. But we can choose to start behaving better now. As the chaos and immigration raids commence once again, what if we Christians led the way in making the reputation of Christianity beautiful again by speaking up for the marginalized, the immigrant seeking asylum? What if, one community at a time, we could show the world what joy and flourishing they forfeit by choosing the path of nationalism, defined by hostility and resentment, instead of Christ’s path of inclusion and love?