What if God doesn't want to make American great again?

kmoney

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...erica-great-again_us_578b037be4b0e7c873504a05

What If God Doesn’t Want To Make America Great Again? - Chris Gilmore

Recently, I received an email stating that if Christians don’t support Donald Trump for president we can “kiss our country goodbye.” It said something to the effect of, “Sure he isn’t all that decent, but if that’s what it takes for our economy to be strong, our borders to be secure, and our nation to be great, then so be it.” It suggested God sent us Trump to preserve our capitalism, our patriotism, and general way of life; that perhaps Trump is God’s tool to save our country.

I’m not going to comment on whether any of that is accurate or not, but the email did get me thinking...

What if God doesn’t want to Make America Great Again? Or maybe, what if God’s definition of great looks a lot different than what many of us are hoping for? What if saving our country (whatever is meant by that) is not really what God has in mind?

I’m not saying that God wants to see America destroyed, but I’m wondering if we make some false assumptions when we think God wants us rich and safe or whatever other things people mean when they say they want America to be great again.

Set aside the fact that many of us will disagree on what actually makes our country great and consider why we think God wants us wealthy, secure and politically free. Jesus was none of the above. Nor were his first disciples or the early church or many Christians around the world today. None of those things are promised to us. None of those things are necessary to live a faithful life.

Have we become so attached to our stuff that we are certain God wants us to keep it? Have we become so accustomed to having a vote that we assume that’s how God orders the world? Are we so desperate for security that we are willing to compromise our most basic values to achieve it? And so opposed to our enemies that we are confident God hates them as much as we do?

....

So inform yourself and vote if you feel so led. But long before and long after your ballot is cast, consider what things you are grasping for, what things motivate and excite you, and what things you assume God wants for you. And then compare them to the life of Jesus.

I imagine we will find we have spent a lot of time and money and energy and yard signs on a greatness that is at best temporary and at worst idolatry. We’ve been invited to something better than anything a politician can offer and we’ve been charged to live in such a way that it doesn’t ultimately matter where we reside or what we possess.
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I enjoyed this article. I think it's appropriate both for the political arena and in the religious arena with prosperity preachers like Osteen.

I've actually seen someone on Facebook wonder if Trump's unexpected and unorthodox rise could be the work of God. I don't know how widespread that belief is. Maybe God does want Trump in power, but maybe it's not in order to make America 'great' again. Too many Christians appear to put their hope in a political party or success instead of the gospel.
 
rocketman

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Interestingly the Bible never speaks to having a choice in our leaders to my knowledge but, it does say they are ordained by God, and to be in subjection unto them.

Rom. 13:1 ¶ Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.

another example from the NT

Titus 3:1 ¶ Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work

I have to agree with the writer here, we are not promised stuff, nor are we to be of this world, God may be judging this nation.
 
rocketman

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I certainly don't pin the hopes of a nation on any one man, if America is going to be "great again" it will have to collectively look to God for that.
 
ClimateSanity

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I think the author of the OP doesn't vote for trump because of his supporters and not trump himself. Trump supporters are black and white thinkers and the author abhors such thinking. Everything in life is a gray issue for him and his soul is most comfortable that way. He doesn't want anything to actually be solved and he detests the idea that a candidate actually thinks he can solve it. I also believe the author is guilty of moral narcissism which he was indoctrinated with by his choices of media and his education.


https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/moral-narcissism-least-great-generation/
 
annabenedetti

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kmoney said:
I enjoyed this article. I think it's appropriate both for the political arena and in the religious arena with prosperity preachers like Osteen.

I've actually seen someone on Facebook wonder if Trump's unexpected and unorthodox rise could be the work of God. I don't know how widespread that belief is. Maybe God does want Trump in power, but maybe it's not in order to make America 'great' again. Too many Christians appear to put their hope in a political party or success instead of the gospel.
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I enjoyed it too. And I've also seen the apocalyptic, TEOTWAWKI thinking regarding Trump, and read more than once the sentiment paraphrased something like this: "Good. Let the world blow apart. Come Lord Jesus!"

I recently read this by Joe Klein, and it fits in rather nicely with your OP:

Donald Trump, the Astute Salesman, Has Captured and Targeted America’s Mood: Nostalgic:
He has done a stunning job of repurposing the past as the future

This has been the golden age of marketing, an essentially fragmentary phenomenon. America was founded on the principle that the things we have in common are more important than the things that divide us. The fundamental principle of marketing is the opposite: you sell to the things that make us different...

...As I moved from primary to primary this year, Trump supporters were likely to tell me two things: he’ll bring back jobs and he talks the way we do.

In other words, he’s done a stunning job of repurposing the past as the future. In the end, though, nostalgia is a sepia-toned refuge for those suffering a sense of diminished capacity–of wars, and manufacturing jobs lost, of father knows best, of racial privilege. It is a nursing home for those more comfortable looking back than looking forward.​
 
Rusha

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patrick jane said:
Trump will lead us into the future for the next 8 years -
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Whoever is elected will be *the leader* for the next four years ... should that be the case, then hopefully everything he tries to pass will be obstructed.
 
Catholic Crusader

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Ktoyou

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The USA became much more in world affair after WWII. What I think they assume is 'great' is the 1950s. It was a highly oppressive, conformist time when mainly people who came to America from Europe had a good deal, unless they were communist sympathizers. As for the population as a whole, we are greater today! We just have lots of resentful people who look to the past for better days.
 
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