Last Thursday, Mark Galli, Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, published an uncharacteristically political editorial entitled “Trump Should Be Removed from Office.”
While I have no personal knowledge of Mr. Galli nor what moves his heart, it is relatively obvious where his political opinions lean.
Perhaps he, like other self-proclaimed Christian thought leaders such as John Pavlovitz, has determined contemporary Christian thought requires a makeover more aligned with 21st pan-global moral relativism than with a firm understanding of scriptural principles.
Or perhaps Mr. Galli has gazed into a secret Holy of Holies hidden from the rest of us to discern the very mind of God.
Or just perhaps he simply sees his impending retirement and is looking to establish his bona fides as a “Christian leader who opposes Donald Trump.” The cable media crowd will love him, as was on display over the weekend.
Regardless of Mr. Galli’s motivation, as a thinking and practicing Christian (technically non-Evangelical, although that does seems in conflict with the admonition Jesus himself gave us in Matthew 28) who has spent the better part of three decades reading and absorbing scripture, I know one thing with absolute clarity: Mr. Galli’s theology – whatever it may be – is antithetical to everything God tells us about His will and mind in scripture.
Rather than attempting to address Mr. Galli’s editorial point-by-point (to which, as Dana Perino astutely points out, he is absolutely entitled), I will simply summarize his thesis with his own words in these two quotes:
“That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the creator of the Ten Commandments.”
and this:
“Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.”
Read that last one again: “Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior.”
Clearly, Mr. Galli’s inky Master of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminar used a radically different translation of the Bible than the one you or I read. Consider just a few of the possible differences:
- In Mr. Galli’s translation, Moses would never be chosen by God to assume leadership of the exiled Israelite nation. After all, he did commit murder.
- Mr. Galli’s translation would never have Boaz (husband of Ruth) being born into the Messianic genealogy because his mother Rahab was a prostitute and an adulterer. Definite violation of the “Morals Clause” for any political leader.
- Apparently, the messianic genealogy producing Jesus would have also excluded David – he committed adultery with Bathsheba, resulting in her pregnancy, and then tried covering it up by having her husband murdered. Can’t have that in our purity tests for leadership!
- Mr. Galli’s New Testament translation would likewise be very thin – at least 13 books would be missing because God would never have chosen Paul to take the Gospel to the Gentile world. Not with all the persecution and killing of Christians he supported.
I could list dozens of other examples pointing to the complete lack of understanding Mr. Galli’s editorial displays in the way God works His plan among us – not through morally perfect or superior beings, but through flawed, imperfect, often morally challenged humans raised in specific moments of need to address specific moments of human crisis.
Mr. Galli may take self-satisfaction in claiming Christians cannot “decry abortion while simultaneously supporting President Trump’s immoral behavior,” yet where is he in condemning every single politician who supports a policy which has resulted in the deaths of 50 million unborn children in this county since 1973? (Hint: nowhere).
Mr. Galli’s moral purity test in apparently cast in very narrow terms. In response to his clearly biased ideology aimed at pandering to the politically “woke” views of the Progressive movement, I will yield the page to the voice of One infinitely more enlightened than all the collective wisdom of mankind from the dawn of time until this moment. To quote the Author of creation Himself from the Book of Job:
“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?” (Job 39-40)
Respectfully, Mr. Galli, it might be better if you drifted quietly into retirement vs. claiming to speak for God’s will or for the millions of Evangelicals who support this President not for his moral uprightness, but for the very reason we each raise our hands in praise to the power of salvation. I suspect your attempt at moral superiority will simply embolden those already committed to reversing decades of retreat we’ve seen both in this nation and around the globe of Christian thought and practice.
As you may recall from your Seminary days, Mr. Galli, God uses the imperfect to perfect His plans. Even Donald Trump. And even you, Mr. Galli.
In peace.