Imagine the agony in the prophet Nathan’s heart as he looked into the face of King David and declared, “You are the man” — the man guilty of murder, adultery, ingratitude to God and more.
Nathan’s heart must have ached as he recounted his king’s failings and pronounced God’s judgment for David’s sin.
How much easier it must have been for Nathan when he counseled David “whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it for the Lord is with you” concerning building a house for God (2 Sam. 7:3).
How much easier it must have been for the prophet to share God’s message recorded in verse 9: “I have been with you wherever you have gone and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on the earth.”
David’s sin
It is always easier to deliver messages those in power want to hear.
But David had sinned. He had taken another man’s wife as his own and had manipulated the battlefield to have her husband killed. All the good David had accomplished in conquering the Jebusites, the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites and others did not lessen God’s judgment on David’s disobedience.
Now David’s friend and counselor, this prophet of God, stood before the king and called him to accountability. No matter Nathan’s personal pain or jeopardy to himself, Nathan was first of all God’s prophets and committed to sharing God’s message.
Nathan confronted David with his sin and declared God’s punishment for David’s selfish and wayward ways (2 Sam. 12).
The prophet could not “wink” at David’s sin as if it did not exist. He could not excuse it because of all the good the king had done or offer him “a mulligan” — a do over. God’s standards applied to kings just as they did to prophets and all others.
Today the president of the United States has advanced a number of policies that many evangelical Christians welcome. An article in USA Today cited several examples including:
• The appointment of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as well as appointments to the U.S. Court of Appeals and various district court judges.
• Elevating protection of personal religious freedoms.
• Supporting anti-abortion programs in the U.S. and abroad.
• Allowing churches to be eligible for funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild after natural disasters.
• Directing aid to persecuted Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere through faith-based organizations.
• Attempting to make the tax codes more pro-family friendly.
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly argued in the USA Today article that President Donald Trump has done more to advance the conservative Christian agenda than any other president including Ronald Reagan.
‘Sense of humor’ comment
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, commented to USA Today that “God must have a sense of humor. … Because for Donald Trump to have emerged as one of the greatest advocates for the agenda of evangelicals and social conservatives is something very few would have predicted even a few years ago in American politics.”
The “sense of humor” comment may be a reference to President Trump’s apparent lifestyle. The now famous Access Hollywood video found him bragging about behavior most find unacceptable, even criminal. And after recent accusations about extramarital affairs, a number of secular commentators observed that no one is surprised by this kind of action by the president.
More important than what secular commentators are saying is what President Trump is hearing from his Evangelical Advisory Board. This is a group of 25 evangelical leaders from across the United States including eight Southern Baptists. What is this group saying about such behavior?
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a prominent evangelical leader, famously told Politico, “We kind of gave him — ‘All right, you get a mulligan. You get a do-over here’” when asked about the extramarital affairs.
Interestingly it seems that many of the people who defend the president’s alleged actions or deny them outright are evangelical Christian leaders.
Is that the message from the evangelical church to the president, the nation and fellow evangelicals about such actions? Is it deny, defend and, as a last resort, offer a “mulligan”? If so, it is a far different message than years past when evangelicals said “character matters” in public officials and a far different message than is preached to members week after week.
Reed argues the Evangelical Advisory Board gives President Trump a different message. “I’ve been in those meetings. I’ve been on those conference calls. And I know that our views have been shared, honestly and without reservations with the president,” he said.
Confronting and acknowledging
Hopefully these 25 evangelical leaders are sharing messages with President Trump akin to the prophet Nathan’s message to King David — “You are the man.” Only by confronting and acknowledging one’s sin can repentance and forgiveness be found.
In the meantime, the integrity of evangelicals everywhere is being questioned. Publically, evangelicals have offered the president a “mulligan” or have denied accusations most others accept. Unfortunately, most evangelical leaders have said nothing at all.
Where are the members of the Evangelical Advisory Board or other national evangelical leaders who are willing to call out this behavior? Where are the leaders who show that evangelical commitment to biblical standards is more important than access to power?
The Bible teaches we should pray for our leaders, including the president. And I do. Right now, I also am praying for my evangelical Christian family: that we will value faithfulness to biblical standards more than access to power; that our leaders, like the prophet Nathan, will be willing to say, “You are the man,” even to those in seats of power.
These events have called the integrity of evangelicals and our commitment to biblical teachings into question. In a real sense, the world is watching. Will our message be like Nathan’s “you are the man”? Or will the message be about a “mulligan”?
Will the world hear a faithfulness to God or a fawning to power from those of us who call ourselves evangelicals?
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