This seems to be a recurring retort of many Christians. And I’d like to share my answer to this question and why I believe so many people use this as a reason to support The President without challenging his character.
Let’s talk about moral high ground. Moral high ground is a feeling that one has when debating issues, situations, morals, ethics, and politics. This simply means to have a moral advantage over others. For example, when Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), He is talking about finding the moral high ground. He is reminding us that moral high ground is not easily ascended which is why so few actually stand there.
A false summit. When I was in Haiti on a missions trip, we hiked a trail hoping to reach what looked like a mountain peak. But when we got to what we thought was the top we were disappointed to realize what we thought was a summit had been obscuring, from the angle of our starting point of view, yet a higher peak. Sometimes the moral high ground we think we hold is a false summit. How do you know when you are on a false summit in regards to a moral high ground?
A false summit moral high ground always involves justifying behavior that we would otherwise decry. People often lie when they are standing on a false summit moral high ground. Why? Because if a person is being accused of some behavior, action, or statement and the accused believes the accuser has motives that are not honorable, the accused feels they hold the moral high ground. They therefore feel justified to lie in response to the accusation because they believe the motives of the accuser are unfair.
We see this playing out in politics all the time. As a pastor for 20 years I have also seen this in marriages and all manner of relationships. The real moral high ground would be to admit the fault if it is true and then challenge the person’s motives. But alas that path is often far too steep and far too costly. Donald Trump and many other high political leaders continue to stand on a false summit. And when they invite us there, remember Matthew 5-7 and don’t stand there with them.
I explain that because I believe this is why so many kind hearted, God fearing, Jesus loving, church going, Holy Spirit tongues praying Christian friends of mine shout, “Our President is God’s man!” When they look at the liberal political agenda in comparison to the conservative political agenda, they believe they hold the moral high ground. There is no room on true moral high ground for ignoring character that is the antithesis of Jesus. Jesus never made personality, geographic cultural norms, past hurts, or any other aspect of the human experience a justifiable excuse to fall short of the character He exemplified through incarnation. If you intend to find the true moral high ground, then defend the societal morals you fight to uphold WHILE challenging the moral deficits of the leaders who claim to be working on your behalf.
Do I believe Donald Trump is God’s man? Certainly. Every president is God’s man and eventually His woman one day. Every president is subject to providence and the sovereignty of God. But only Donald Trump and his own personal moral choices can decide if he will be Moses or Pharaoh, Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar, Nehemiah or Artaxerxes. To date he has unfortunately been the latter more than the former. Let’s expect our leaders to be more than just an instrument of God’s plan and become an example of God’s heart.