What are we to do with the Trump indictment?
Plus, a Center for Christianity and Public Life update
Today I am on my way home from Colorado’s Western Slope, where I’ve been since Wednesday with the Center for Christianity and Public Life. I had never been to Colorado beyond a layover in Denver, and I’m pleased to say the state lives up to the hype. We were treated with the utmost hospitality at The Lodge at Needle Rock. We even took a short excursion to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which was, in a word, majestic.
The Public Life Fellows with CCPL are a diverse group. We are pastors, scholars, and public servants. We are authors, speakers, and community activists. We are white evangelicals and Black Protestants. We are theologically reformed and charismatic. We come from big cities and small towns. What brings us together is a shared commitment to influence politics—at the relational, local, and national levels—for the good of the public.
Part of our time together involved brainstorming and planning our presentations for November’s CCPL conference in Washington DC.1 I plan to write on the importance of pluralism in our increasingly diverse country, and why Christians should be among the most ardent defenders of a pluralist society. It was a joy to hear what my colleagues are planning, and how they will draw on their expertise and experience to contribute to this diverse project.
I’m grateful for Caitlyn for holding down the fort while I’ve been away. I’m looking forward to spending the coming week catching up on home projects, helping her with canning and baking, and spending time with our youngest while our two older kids are at camp. But I’m exceedingly thankful for this time of refreshment and enrichment with CCPL.
Last week Donald Trump was arraigned on more than three dozen federal criminal counts, stemming from his handling—and mishandling—of classified documents after he left the White House. The conservative National Review described the indictment as “damning” for Trump, particularly the evidence that Trump obstructed government efforts to recover the documents.
I had planned to write about the indictment—specifically, what it means for the country and our politics, and how Christians can respond—for this Substack. Ultimately, though, Christianity Today liked the idea, and they published it with the title “Trump’s Indictment Demands a Distinctly Christian Response.”
Here are some highlights:
“If the reaction to Trump’s indictment was swift, it was also unsurprising.
“Research on political polarization has routinely shown that most of us do not react to political developments in a vacuum. Instead, we tend to treat our preferred candidate or party with the utmost charity while casting our opponents in the harshest of lights. We are prone to judge the motives and actions of political elites through the lenses of ideology and partisanship, with truth and objectivity too frequently taking a back seat to whatever framing helps us beat our opponents.
“This approach to politics may be the norm for our society, but that doesn’t mean it should be acceptable. This is especially true for Christians.”
More:
“A distinctly Christian response to this indictment implicates both of our major political parties. For Republicans, it means admitting that even if Trump is preferable to Biden (or any Democratic candidate), he is far from the martyr he so often paints himself to be. And for Democrats, it means refusing to celebrate or revel in the indictment of a former president and instead treating it as the lamentable development it is.”
I conclude with the following:
“The year ahead will likely be a stress test for American political institutions and the guardrails of our representative democracy. The loudest voices among us will be selling scripts of hyperbole, fear, and anger to a population increasingly hungry for this reactionary rhetoric. It will be tempting for Christians to fall in line with the prevailing partisan sentiments.
“Yet we should confidently reject this temptation—choosing instead to approach the political sphere with consistency, discernment, and a humility not of the world, but from the mind of Christ.”
If Christians who are Republicans cannot examine the seriousness of this indictment without reflexively pivoting to the misdeeds of other actors—Hillary Clinton! Hunter Biden!—then they betray their responsibility to be thoughtful and concerned citizens. And if Christians who are Democrats cannot confront the problems with their party on issues central to the orthodox Christian tradition without redirecting to the threat Donald Trump poses to the country, then they, too, betray their responsibility to be thoughtful and concerned citizens.
Does this mean Christians should renounce both political parties and refuse to vote for these parties’ candidates? No. I’m convinced that committed and faithful Christians can identify with and support either of our major parties. But this support must not be unconditional, nor should it lead to inconsistent perceptions about the weaknesses and flaws of candidates and elected officials.
If your first reaction to the Trump indictment is one of defensiveness or celebration, take a step back. Consider the seriousness and gravity of the situation. Let the process play out how it will. Don’t let this indictment be the latest instance of political gamesmanship and one-upmanship. Our situation demands a more thoughtful politics than that. And given the hope we have in Jesus, Christians should be leading the way.
I hope to have more to share about this conference in the weeks ahead — if our discussions this week are any indication, it is primed to be a fabulous meeting.
Brother. So good!