Only 1 in 4 Americans see Donald Trump as a man of faith
“A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll sheds light on perceptions of Trump and religion after his widely criticized photo op outside a church.” - Politico
[Mark_Smith]But judge all your political leaders the same way. I don’t know one that passes the “judge by their fruits test.”
I wrote a longer viewpoint above, but I don’t think this poll is a legitimate question, anyway.
1 Cor 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside.
I don’t think that it is truly a legitimate judgment to try to evaluate whether someone has faith outside of a local church.
That’s not to say that the poll question doesn’t have any merit, but any such judgments are suspect.
[Dan Miller]I don’t think that it is truly a legitimate judgment to try to evaluate whether someone has faith outside of a local church.
I agree, it is a local church that bears witness to someone’s conversion. And herein lies the problem. Trump does not attend a church, nor is he a member of any church. Therefore, he is not under the authority of a local church. An individual who does not seek to be a part of a local church and fellowship with that church further is a worrying sign.
With that said, I don’t think most politicians are really Christians anyway.
[Dan Miller]I wrote a longer viewpoint above, but I don’t think this poll is a legitimate question, anyway.
1 Cor 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside.
I don’t think that it is truly a legitimate judgment to try to evaluate whether someone has faith outside of a local church.
That’s not to say that the poll question doesn’t have any merit, but any such judgments are suspect.
Dan,
Why are you telling me this? It is other posters who want to judge Trump… not me.
By the way, I agree that it is a local church’s job to judge its members and attenders. I was going to mention that myself but decided to keep the post tight.
[dgszweda]I agree, it is a local church that bears witness to someone’s conversion. And herein lies the problem. Trump does not attend a church, nor is he a member of any church. Therefore, he is not under the authority of a local church.
And you know Trump does not attend church how? This is part of my point. You only know what you’ve read in the media. You do not know Trump or almost anything about him.
[Dan Miller]I don’t think that it is truly a legitimate judgment to try to evaluate whether someone has faith outside of a local church.
Not clear what you mean by this. If we can’t evaluate someone outside of a local church, then how do we decide who is an unbeliever who needs the gospel?
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
[Mark_Smith] Dan,Why are you telling me this? It is other posters who want to judge Trump… not me.
By the way, I agree that it is a local church’s job to judge its members and attenders. I was going to mention that myself but decided to keep the post tight.
I wasn’t intending that as a correction of your points. I was just reflecting that while engaging in the OP Poll question might be interesting, but we aren’t in a position to do it right.
[WallyMorris]I don’t think that it is truly a legitimate judgment to try to evaluate whether someone has faith outside of a local church.
Not clear what you mean by this. If we can’t evaluate someone outside of a local church, then how do we decide who is an unbeliever who needs the gospel?
We all need the gospel. That might sound trite, but it’s not.
The point of my long post was that there is some evidence IMO that Trump is on some kind of faith journey. Where is he? The comment about either disliking (or even not) asking for forgiveness is probably the thing that would make me question his faith the most.
Not being in a church is not good. But he’s in a tough place to do that as President. What he (we all) need is not just a church, but a church situation that does the “one-anothers.” It would be tough for him to join a small group in a local church. If Trump picked a [likely Mega-] church and showed up every Sunday, I’m don’t think that would be particularly reassuring. No more than if he listens to a service at the White House.
Anyway, bottom line: To me he clearly is at least seeking, and in his clumsy way attempting to place himself on the “side” of God. But he also doesn’t really understand the Gospel if he thinks he can just avoid confession and asking for forgiveness. HOWEVER, I don’t feel a compelling need or ability to answer this question one way or the other.
Discussion