Is Another Trump Era a Threat to the Gospel?

First Things posted a very important piece last week raising the question of whether four more years of Donald Trump in the White House is harmful to the Gospel. It is an important question and the article is a must-read.

To cut to the chase, “Has the work of the Gospel suffered?”

Professor Wood says no. 

He opens his piece claiming “American culture is undergoing a ‘vibe shift’” where we are seeing a new “resurgence of hope among conservatives that politics and culture will increasingly return to reality.” Indeed we are, as documented here.

The professor acknowledges the issues many Christians have had with the president over the years, but notes:  

And yet, over a week into his second term, it is clear that gospel opportunities were not sacrificed on Trump’s altar; evangelical voting patterns did not devastate evangelism. In both politics and culture, there has rarely been a time when more people have been interested in Christianity. 

As a matter of fact, he is right.

The Gospel, and third Person of the Trinity who guides us into all truth, are far more powerful than any election cycle. They will not and cannot be thwarted by the movements of man. They move of their own accord, like a freight train, barreling through human history.

He who fell upon the world at Pentecost is still at work. He has not grown feeble, out of touch, or behind the times. He is the Holy Spirit. He does not need our marketing brilliance. Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord or Lords, does not need better PR.

Christians are called to engage in political activism and social ministry, but neither are the Gospel. 

Wood continues, 

We are entering an evangelistic hot zone, especially among young men who are searching for faith and meaning on YouTube and popular podcasts. This may be the spring before an evangelistic harvest of what I call “reality-respecters.” 

He goes onto highlight a remarkable turn of events that illustrates this fact. 

On January 7, mega-ton gorilla of podcasters Joe Rogan sat down for three and a quarter hours to ask 33 year-old Canadian Christian apologist and Ph.D. student Wesley Huff penetrating questions about the reliability of Scripture, the historicity of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and the logical coherence of the Christian faith. 

Huff was persuasively masterful in explaining the historic truths of Christianity to Joe Rogan and his roughly 50 million followers. The episode went wildly viral with 5.7 million views on YouTube to date, followed by some 40 thousand comments. 

You can catch the entire episode on Spotify or on YouTube here:

You don’t get that much interest in a topic people are supposedly losing interest in because many Christians strongly supported another four years of President Trump in the White House. You just don’t.

Professor Wood explains,

Amidst [sic] the digressionary journey that is a Joe Rogan episode, Huff ably defended the faith and the reliability of the biblical text using classical, left-brain arguments that many had assumed were obsolete in our postmodern age. Huff employs logic with the assumption that reality can be known—that we can have confidence about events in the past. 

He adds, “And Rogan ate it up. Many have already speculated that this will be the most heard presentation of the gospel in world history.”

Wood ties it all together for our present day and political atmosphere.

Huff’s Rogan episode was released on January 7, one day after Donald Trump’s election was certified and just two weeks before the inauguration. The timing is noteworthy. Fears that Trump’s evangelical support would undermine evangelistic efforts, discredit our witness, and offend seekers are not coming to pass. 

Professor Wood concludes “it is clear that things are not necessarily panning out according to the never-Trump jeremiads. Evangelistic opportunities were not sacrificed on the altar of political agendas.” 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is thriving in unexpected, miraculous and life-giving ways. After all, that is its very nature. Nothing we can do will ever change that.

Related articles and resources:

The Church’s Lane is the Whole Cosmos

The Cultural Paradox of Following Jesus Christ

Why Believe in Christianity? Because it is True.

How Big is Your View of the Gospel?

Dear Christian, Have Hope in Jesus Christ Amid Our Cultural Chaos

Appreciating the Full Scope of the Lordship of Christ – and the Gospel Itself

Christianity is Both a Religion and a Relationship

Against the Prosperity Gospel

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