As the nation emerges from the shadows of the 2024 election, victory can now be proclaimed. This week racism won, misogyny won, xenophobia won, toxic masculinity won, homophobia won, anti-trans won, Islamophobia won and the god of mammon won. This week the white evangelical church won. The problem is that the evangelical church does not follow Jesus of the Bible. It follows white supremacy and white nationalism hidden under the guise of scripture.
One of the biggest losers in this election is the gospel of Jesus as defined through the words of Matthew 25 “as you did to the least of these you also did to me.” The nation rejected the idea of John Winthrop’s City on a Hill. It lost in a way that suggests God is nothing more than an ornament that can be set aside when it is no longer of use.
The nation disregarded behavior that would have disqualified any other candidate for president. The nation made it clear that it will worship a white male no matter how deranged and unqualified he is over a qualified and sane woman. While there was a lot of angst and discussion about what a small sliver of black men would do in regards to voting for a woman they did their part. 54% of Latino men have been given a pass even as they bent the knee before a sexual predator (which should anger Latinas). They will not be criticized for their actual misogyny that black men were being accused for as a possibility. 52% of white women decided that they like their sons looking up to a sexual predator and by their actions told women that no matter their qualifications they are not worthy. This reality will not receive the critique and attention after the fact that black men received even before they voted. Nonetheless they should receive the same critiique that was being heaped upon the black community when it seemed they were not going to support the Harris ticket.
Despite warnings from people who worked closely to the former president the nation disregarded a toxicity that they would chastise their own children for.
There will be a lot of political punditry but no matter how the election is dissected America felt comfortable to elect a convicted felon, twice impeached, convicted sexual predator who tried to overturn an election, to the highest office in the world. Evil has won and is in control. Evil has won in many respects because it is sexier and more attractive than its opposite. There are some who may say this is an example of what Hannah Arendt called the “banality of evil.” In essence she was suggesting.the people do things that may be evil but have no idea that it is indeed evil.
Nonetheless, on Sunday morning, millions of people will be fed the familiar child like refrain “God is in control or God is on the throne” like an opiate whose purpose is to ease the pain. This refrain will be met with irrational acclamations of amen and thank you Jesus.
The reality from a biblical perspective is that when it comes to this world, God is not in control and never has been. God may be on the throne but it is not the throne of this world. That seat has been filled by another. This is not to say that God did not create the world or that Jesus was not crucified, resurrected and ascended to the heavens but that it’s time to become adults about scripture.
It is time for the church to get away from its Sunday school approach to the bible and deal with the real world. The reality is that if ever there was a time for a crisis of faith as Jesus went through, this is it.
The idea that God is in control is antithetical to what is written in the bible. It is what some would call determinism. The problem with saying God is in control is that it raises more issues than it answers. If God is in control it is fair to question how evil seems to win so often and easily. If God is in control it is rational to ask why some prayers have been answered while others have not given the belief that God is not a respecter of persons. It is not enough to say who can know the mind of God. Nonetheless, the bible doesn’t say that no-one is in control but that God isn’t. John 12:31 says “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” Corinthians 4:4 says, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” 1 John 5:19 says “We know that we are held firm by God; it’s only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One.” and 2 Corinthians 11:3 says but I am afraid that just as he was deceived by the serpents cutting, your mind may somehow be letters straight from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
Scripture through the words of Jesus tells us who is in control. Unfortunately this biblical and theological reality has not been dealt with in an in-depth manner. Most churches prefer a don’t worry be happy mode of Christianity. Scripture does provide a way of acting in the world by calling upon us to use the words of God to fight against evil.
In many theologies there is a sense of how and whether God actually works in the world. The idea that God is an active or even a personal God is a belief that is rejected by many theologians and quite frankly not supported by scripture. Whatever goodness is in the world is expected to emanate from humans not the sovereign power of God.
Given the aforementioned scriptures perhaps it’s time for the mainline church to shift its theology about how the presence of God should be defined and interpreted. It is time for mainline denominations to simply cease waxing poetic about scripture out of fear of offending anyone and losing members. Even Pope Francis worthy of the silence of Pope Pius XII in the face of evil had said the American election was about the lesser of two evils thereby nullifying the evil that Trump represented. The reality is that evil is in the world not simply in a spiritual manner but manifested through human activity and it must be called out. The mainline church despite its recognition of the potential evil in its silence, acted like the Pharisees who sided with the Herodians.
Meanwhile the white evangelical church had no compunctions about acting on its belief of dominionism and the Seven Mountains Mandate both of which are false theologies. In many respects their theology is supplanting what the mainline denominations have historically professed. They had no inhibitions about attacking people as white evangelical Donnie Swaggert did in his diatribe against the black church. The evangelical church acted like the church militant while many mainline denominations acted like bystanders waiting to be slaughtered. Too many within the mainline church have opted to engage in life-coach sermons which has served to anesthetize its parishioners against the actions of princes and principalities of this world.
Despite warnings the bible says in 1 Samuel that the people wanted a king. With the ruling of the Supreme Court America may be closer to one than ever before.
It may be too late but who will help America move away from this moment of infamy. When it comes to the black community which is the most churched community in the nation, they will tire of being the canary in the coal mine. In fact it is time to display a righteous anger They along with 79% of the Jewish community will grow weary of trying to save democracy for a nation that is seemingly rejecting it.
Unfortunately, the losing campaign depended upon decency but the nation as a whole has decided that decency is at best a bygone hobby.
Those who say “this too shall pass” should remember this is not a biblical verse even as it will be used as a statement of hope. By time it passes however it may be too late.
Perhaps the words of Jesus are most apropos for this time “ forgive them for they know what they do.”