The candidacy of business mogul Donald Trump has been a roller coaster ride not only for his campaign team but also for Christians in America and faith leaders have remained on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to pitching their support for the controversial Republican.
Pastor and blogger Erik Raymond, in his recent piece for the Gospel Coalition suggested that instead of looking at Trump's candidacy from a political standpoint, church leaders should look at what draws people to Trump and gain better insight about the people he is attracting in order to fulfill their own missions more effectively.
"If you observe and listen to the people talking about what they like about Trump they fit into a few categories. They like his straight talk, passion, showmanship, self-confidence, and triumphalism. Obviously some of these are not a problem while others certainly are," he said.
In his blog, Raymond underscores the importance of humility, as opposed to Trump's style of drawing attention to his accomplishmentsllies, noting the Bible's warning on pride leading to disgrace.
The blogger also emphasized the essence of being faithful to God's message regardless of the trends and regardless of the temptation to draw in a huge crowd for the sake of gaining a reputation for themselves.
"Pastors have to be very careful to remember that their job is not to gather crowds and renown for themselves but to make disciples and gather renown for Jesus," he reminded.
Raymond called on pastors as leaders of the flock to remain faithful to their calling to live as servants of Christ.
Rachel Dawson, editor of the BibleStudyTools.com, agrees that there are lessons to learned just by understanding the parallels between Trump's campaign and how pastors preach to the faithful.
"Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, and regardless of who you support and will vote for, we can all learn valuable lessons from Donald Trump's race so far. Pastors, may his actions prompt you to take a look at your own. Seek a godly, Biblical perspective of leadership instead of what is culturally popular or currently modeled.
"While many Americans are acting based on what they want and how they want it, let this be a challenge for us as Christians to act based on what God wants and how He wants it instead," she said.
