I’ve had to chide myself, often, for succumbing to what many within the evangelical community refer to as an Elijah complex. In the Bible, the prophet Elijah lamented to God that he was alone, the last true prophet, and that all the others had succumbed to an idolatrous loyalty to their government’s leaders—wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
I’ve caught myself presuming I was the only evangelical who had not bowed my knee to white evangelicals’ new messiah, Donald Trump. I knew that was not true, but all the vociferous evangelical clamor about Trump’s greatness, liberals’ wickedness, and stolen elections often left me feeling isolated.
I Was Never Alone
To be sure, even among nationally known evangelical leaders, several, such as Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; bestselling author Max Lucado; author and commentator David French; and scores of others, openly opposed Trump and Trumpism—and typically came under ferocious fire for it. Even so, being among the 19 to 20 percent minority made me feel like a recluse within a constituency to which I’d long felt an intense loyalty.
I’m seeing a few hopeful signs that the new messiah’s manipulative control over the faithful might be loosening, just a bit.
We never-Trumpers are still a minority within white evangelicalism, but I’m seeing a few hopeful signs that the new messiah’s manipulative control over the faithful might be loosening, just a bit. Simultaneously, though, the fierce fealty of the devoted majority of evangelicals is revealing some disturbing signs about the character of far too many white evangelicals. Bottom Line: Trumpism is the newest, deepest schism between white evangelical factions. Among today’s white evangelicals, theological differences pale in comparison to political differences as long as Donald Trump still commands the absolute loyalty of the majority.
And that brings us back to my beginning point: I think that majority is thinning, at least a bit. One early sign of that thinning came on January 7, the day after Trump-loyalists stormed the Capitol in a rage-filled riot, aiming to kill Vice President Pence and Speaker Pelosi. They failed in those attempts, but their rampage did manage to leave five other human beings dead. The day after that riot, Jeremiah Johnson, a self-proclaimed “prophet” apologized for having prophesied—like so many of his peers—that Trump would be re-elected.
I refuse to blame the saints and say, “It didn’t come to pass because they did not pray enough.” Nor will I proclaim, “Donald Trump actually won, so I was right, but now it has been stolen from him. I believe the first statement seeks to alleviate the prophetic messenger from the responsibility of what he prophesied, and the second statement is filled with potential pride and an unwillingness to humble himself and admit he was wrong.”
Almost immediately following Johnson’s public apology, he began receiving hate mail and death threats—from folks who believe themselves to be followers of The Prince of Peace. A few months later, Johnson ended his ministry, stating,
“I believe that this election cycle has revealed how desperately we need reformation in the prophetic movement," Johnson later said in a video posted in early February. "I have serious concerns for the charismatic-prophetic world that if we do not wake up, if we do not humble ourselves, there is greater judgment to come."
Too bad it took an event as monstrous as a death-dealing riot at the nation’s Capitol, staffed largely by folks who call themselves Christians, for Johnson to see the need for “reformation in the prophetic movement.” Too bad it took death threats from the very people he was trying to help to bring much-needed discernment. But a late epiphany is better than no epiphany. For that I was grateful.
Then, today, I saw this headline in The Christian Post: “Newsflash: Trump will not be reinstated to the presidency this year.” The article was written by Michael Brown, a Trump loyalist who has broken ranks and taken a step toward reality. Brown writes,
Unfortunately, as bizarre as it may seem, there are still fervent believers hanging on to the words of these alleged prophets [claiming Trump will soon be reinstated as President]. (Within the last few days, a commenter on my YouTube channel rebuked me, saying, “He [meaning me] rejected the prophets [meaning, those who wrongly predicted that Trump would be inaugurated on January 24] and accused the brethren standing for truth of being idolaters. He believed the lying media on the election. They are his prophets. This is a man not worthy of a platform.”
So, the deceived are still being deceived, false hopes are still being stoked, and the media, especially on the left, continues to feed into the conspiracy theories, ever fearful of the ominous scepter of Trump.
Not surprisingly, Brown had to include a pot shot at “the media on the left,” but at least he’s ready to embrace reality on this one issue—unlike the huge contingent of conservative evangelicals who continue to claim Trump is still the rightful president.
I’m no modern-day Elijah, and neither are any of these many self-proclaimed prophets who cling to their goofy fantasies. To my evangelical friends I say, “Leave the Trump fantasy world and embrace reality. We’ll all be better off, and I’ll have less reason to feel isolated."