A man connected to God is, among other things, humble, “thinking of others as better than [themselves]” (Philippians 2:3). He does not go out of his way to insult others. When he pledges himself to God’s service, he realizes he is but a small part of God’s plan, working in connection with others to fulfill that plan. Those who care for God care for all others.
President Trump is not that man.
Trump, especially on Twitter, routinely engages in pettiness unbecoming of a president, or any other gentleman. The most recent example came last Friday, when he called Don Lemon the dumbest man on TV and couldn’t resist insulting LeBron James’ intelligence.
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
The interview that supposedly made Lemon look stupid wasn’t all that politically charged. It was mostly about the I Promise school in Akron, Ohio, which LeBron’s family foundation is paying $2 million a year to the local school district to support. And to be fair to Trump, LeBron was the one who brought up Trump in the interview, not Lemon, and not in response to anything Trump specifically said about LeBron. LeBron said sports unite us, and went out of his way to say Trump is dividing us.
But when you’re the president, or anyone else that’s famous, a lot of people say a lot of things about you. You don’t have to respond to every single one, and every disagreement doesn’t need an insult in response.
LeBron joins a long list of people that Trump has said are stupid, including former President Barack Obama; Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Rosie O’Donnell, etc. And it’s not just liberals, but Republicans including Glenn Beck, Karl Rove, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
LeBron James is flawed, Don Lemon is flawed, and Donald Trump is flawed. We all have flaws, yet God loves us anyway.
It may be that Trump’s ego is an electoral advantage. His ego and braggadocio lead to loud, exaggerated pronouncements of his own glory and the supposed ineptitude of his enemies. That leaves some voters with the impression that Trump fights — he fights against the D.C. swamp; he fights against the establishment in his own party; and perhaps most importantly, he fights against their enemies in the culture war (Hollywood, left-wing members of the media, and anyone who doesn’t respect the flag).
Trump was elected as a strongman, but there are ways to be strong without being mean — and tweeting insults isn’t strong, it’s petty — just as there are ways to be strong and diplomatic (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”).
This isn’t to say that Trump isn’t Christian, or even that he’s not a good Christian. He’s asked pastors to pray for him in the Oval Office, he speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast, and he fights for important Christian causes, such as religious liberty.
But his egotistic tweets give the impression that Trump doesn’t often think of his own relationship with God.
Trump is clearly capable of putting others before himself. In June, he stopped his motorcade and got out to thank local firemen. There weren’t TV cameras around, just one cell phone camera that happened to catch the event. It was an act of genuine gratitude that should be emulated more often by everyone.
More of that, and less tweeting, please. As Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
