It seems the Stormy Daniels story has put Evangelicals into quite a pickle. On the one hand, they want us to believe that they carry the moral flag, travel the moral high ground, and bear the moral standard. However, they have to do so while trying to defend a molester, pervert, and philanderer. Donald Trump is their messiah, but how do they defend their savior in the midst of yet another scandal—in this case their messiah cheating on his third wife only months after his son was born.
If there’s one things Evangelicals are good at, is mental aerobics, and they’re pulling out all the stops. It’s no surprise where they went—to a certain king who was himself a philanderer, also murderer and all-around soap opera star: David, the second king of Israel and his legendary affair with Bathsheba.
The affair takes place while Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, is fighting in Israel’s/David’s army. When Bathsheba notified David about her pregnancy, David called Uriah home to sleep with his wife, in an effort to coverup the whole affair. But Uriah turned out to be the worst of people—loyal, dedicated to his king. So David had no other option but to arrange for Uriah to be killed in battle.
While any compassionate person would be horrified by this story, Evangelicals find it quaint and amusing. “David was a man after God’s own heart,” they quip, so if he could do all that and still be God’s favorite, then surely Donald Trump can cheat on his third wife with a porn star.
Yet Evangelicals haven’t read the rest of the story (or they don’t care about it). In Second Samuel 12, the very next chapter, David is visited by the prophet Nathan who tells David about two men in the kingdom: one rich, one poor. The rich man had a visitor to his house, and rather than kill one of his own sheep for the evening meal, the rich man stole the pet of the poor man—who was not just a sheep, but part of the family.
After hearing the story, David becomes furious, and demands the rich man be put to death. And that’s when Nathan hit him with the big punch... that man... that rich man... was none other than David.
Nathan says to David:
“You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
~ II Samuel 12:7-10
And it gets worse. God promises calamity on David and his family. As well as public exposure:
“You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.”
II Samuel 12:12
And then David did something that Donald Trump never would: he acknowledged his sin, repented, and sought forgiveness.
But not the Cheetos Messiah. Instead, social media is awash with the old adage: “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”
But is that true? Are they forgiven? Is Donald Trump forgiven?
It turns out, according to the authority of on forgiveness, they’re not. Jesus says there’s a criteria that must be met first, and nobody has bothered to meet that. Instead, they use the term forgiveness as carte blanche to defend one of the most immoral men to hold the highest office in the United States.
Jesus’ biographers recount a particular discourse on this subject, in which Jesus describes what’s necessary for anyone seeking forgiveness from God. It’s about FORGIVING.
One biographer reports:
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
~ Matthew 6:14-16
Even a superficial reading of this statement shows it’s more than simply announcing, ‘I’m forgiven’. Jesus tells his listeners they must first forgive ‘other’s sins against them...’ FIRST. That means people they personally feel wronged them. There are no exceptions either. It’s “others.”
Luke repeats Jesus admonition, but appends it to a comment on judging others:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
~ Luke 6:37
This one is even more multifaceted. “Do not judge… Do not condemn… Forgive…”
As is so often the case with Jesus’ theology, the very thing you’re asking from God is the very thing you need to give to others FIRST. Notice too, that Jesus wasn’t calling for “acceptance”. He isn’t asking Trump and the Evangelicals to “accept” those they don’t like. He’s demanding something far more severe—even problematic. Jesus is saying, flat-out, that Donald Trump, Evangelicals, are NOT forgiven UNTIL they actually forgive the very people they hate—seventy times seven as he told Peter.
In this same discussion, Jesus told his audience:
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
~ Matthew 5:23-24
Pay close attention to the wording here: If your brother or sister has something against YOU. That means, how those you interact with feel about YOU is a big deal in how God is going to handle forgiveness. The onus of forgiveness is on the “Christian,” not the other way around.
So it turns out that the sentiment is wrong. They’re not forgiven... not yet. There are steps they’re going to need to take first, and we’re going to have some say in whether or not it’s completed. Those who seek forgiveness must place themselves in a position where forgiveness can flourish. This “place,” ironically, can only be reached through humility and compassion: issues Jesus so adamantly insisted upon.
The message is hard-core, but the sentiment is simple: You repent, then you forgive others, and THEN God forgives you. So the bumper sticker should probably read, “Christians aren’t perfect, and they’re not forgiven... at least net yet.”