Talking religion and politics is a tricky thing.
Christians, in particular, often argue their political positions through a theological lens, though maintaining theological accuracy while positing a political agenda is difficult; often, one has to win out over the other.
All this doesn’t mean Christians can’t talk politics. It simply means that if you’re a Christian, your first loyalty is to your God, not to your party. That’s a lesson that Eric Metaxas and Franklin Graham should take to heart.
Both Metaxas, a biographer and radio host, and Graham, Billy Graham’s son and president of the humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, are professed Christians. So when Metaxas interviewed Graham this week, the conversation turned to the relationship between religion and politics. Graham has come under fire for his outspoken support of President Trump, as well as his prosperity-gospel preaching spiritual adviser.
“You have not shrunk from talking politics,” Metaxas says, “and a lot of people have, what I consider, a profoundly unbiblical notion that if you love Jesus, you’re not supposed to talk politics or be political. I don’t find that only wrong but tremendously harmful. So you’ve been a hero to many because you’ve been willing to speak about politics.”
Graham, the hero, responds that it’s “almost a demonic power” that drives those opposed to President Trump.
“I would disagree,” Metaxas says, laughing. “It’s not almost demonic. You and I know at the heart it’s a spiritual battle.”
The two agree: There’s a spiritual battle waged by the people who oppose Mr. Grab ‘Em By The Pussy. But it shouldn’t be a shock to Metaxas that not everyone loves the president. After all, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast during the tenure of Barack Obama, an executive who was little loved by conservatives.
Since 2016, both Graham and Metaxas, the author of the illustrated titles Donald Drains the Swamp and Donald Builds the Wall, have gone full MAGA. The problem with their rhetoric, though, is not that they support Trump. It’s that they do so unequivocally, and they characterize his opponents (and their own detractors) as the hypocrites.
“People seem to devolve to a kind of moralistic Pharisaism, and they say how can you support somebody blah, blah, blah … ” Metaxas complains. “And I think these people don’t even have a biblical view when it comes to that. If somebody doesn’t hold to our theology, that doesn’t mean they can’t be a great pilot, or a great doctor, or a dentist.”
It’s not that “if you love Jesus, you’re not supposed to talk politics,” as Metaxas so mischaracterizes his foes. It’s that if you love Jesus, that’s even more reason for you not to become a partisan shill.
There are plenty of Christians who support Trump for the economic reasons that Graham mentions. That’s no reason to pretend that all of his other actions and comments are commendable. No matter how many tax cuts he passes, his character hasn’t changed.
That’s not to say that Christians cannot support Trump. But leaders such as Graham must not unequivocally embrace him. It would be worthwhile to call out the “demonic forces” on both sides, rather than turning a career as an evangelist into one as a Trump communications guy.
Here, Graham should take a cue from his father. In 2011, Billy Graham told Christianity Today that if he had to do it all again, he wouldn’t have engaged in politics the way he did.
“I also would have steered clear of politics,” Graham said. “I’m grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places; people in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to. But looking back I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn’t do that now.”
You can have religious beliefs and political beliefs, of course. But in the end, you’ll have to pick a side. You cannot serve two masters.
