Donald Trump told the King Jesus International Ministry in Florida, "I really do believe we have God on our side. I believe that. I believe that, or there would have been no way we could have won, right? People say how do you win, you don’t have the media, you have so many things against you, and we win. So, there has to be something." https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-tells-evangelicals-that-god-is-on-our-side-234723118.html The evidence that God is on the side of Trump and Evangelicals: The fact that he wins against enormous odds.
When I read that statement, it occurred to me how different this perspective is from the one offered by the sixteenth President of the United States. A clergyman commented that he hoped that the Lord was on our side, Lincoln responded that he didn't worry about that. The President went on to say "But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." politifact.com
In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln mused about whose side God might be on in the ongoing Civil War. He said: "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes." https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=38&page=transcript
Interestingly, Trump appears to be more in sync with modern evangelical thought on this subject than Lincoln. Millions of Christians believe that success is a clear indication of God's favor. They reason that God is on the side of the righteous (them) and against the wicked (liberal Democrats).
According to the Bible, however, this line of reasoning is very flawed. The author of Ecclesiastes observed that very often the wicked prosper in this life (see Ecclesiastes 7:15 and 8:14). Christ once told a parable about Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man had prospered in this life and was punished after he died. Likewise, Lazarus had suffered in this life and was rewarded in the next life. In other words, the success of the righteous is not necessarily guaranteed in this life. Christ also finished the parable with an assertion that the wicked would not be persuaded by someone who had been resurrected from the dead - very interesting in this connection!
The truth is that the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Sometimes that's a turd floating on the surface!
Is God on your side? OR Are you on God's side?
When I read that statement, it occurred to me how different this perspective is from the one offered by the sixteenth President of the United States. A clergyman commented that he hoped that the Lord was on our side, Lincoln responded that he didn't worry about that. The President went on to say "But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." politifact.com
In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln mused about whose side God might be on in the ongoing Civil War. He said: "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes." https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=38&page=transcript
Interestingly, Trump appears to be more in sync with modern evangelical thought on this subject than Lincoln. Millions of Christians believe that success is a clear indication of God's favor. They reason that God is on the side of the righteous (them) and against the wicked (liberal Democrats).
According to the Bible, however, this line of reasoning is very flawed. The author of Ecclesiastes observed that very often the wicked prosper in this life (see Ecclesiastes 7:15 and 8:14). Christ once told a parable about Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man had prospered in this life and was punished after he died. Likewise, Lazarus had suffered in this life and was rewarded in the next life. In other words, the success of the righteous is not necessarily guaranteed in this life. Christ also finished the parable with an assertion that the wicked would not be persuaded by someone who had been resurrected from the dead - very interesting in this connection!
The truth is that the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Sometimes that's a turd floating on the surface!
Is God on your side? OR Are you on God's side?
I think of God weaving a tapestry from the threads of human activity. He is producing a picture. A success is because God wants it to be that way. We are just threads in the overall picture. Paul used another metaphor: we are clay. Some are formed into nicely painted vessels and some into more mundane ones, but there is no glory to any of us in God's selection.
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