To say I am disappointed in The Gospel Coalition is an understatement. Some of their recent blog posts directly contradict their purpose statement on their About page –

“We desire to champion the gospel of Jesus Christ with clarity, compassion, courage, and joy-gladly linking hearts with fellow believers across denominational, ethnic, and class lines.”

I’m struggling to find the courage and joy in the below statements from multiple articles posted on their blogs. Here are quotes pulled directly from the Gospel Coalition Blogs regarding the 2016 election –

• “Trump may be an existential threat to the Republic.”
• “Plenty of observers have noted Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric, his megalomania and narcissism, and the literal cult of personality he has built.”
• “…if Trump turns out to be the “extinction-level event” that Sullivan predicts, and you fail to do everything in your power to stop him, then you will join a long line of evangelical leaders who have been on the wrong side of history – and judged harshly for it – at critical moments ranging from slavery to Jim Crow to abortion (in the early days of that debate). Your witness for Christ – our witness – will be diluted because we didn’t do everything we could to prevent this catastrophe. And there won’t be a next election to get it right.”
• “Trump is a threat to the unity of the church.”
• “All of this is to say nothing of Trump’s racism and misogyny.”
• “Your actions to stop Trump should be so clear, so unequivocal, that you guarantee yourself a spot on Trump’s “enemies” list if he were to be elected president. Otherwise, the temptation to accommodate or to reconcile with a President Trump will be too strong for some of you in the aftermath of his election, and the church’s unity will suffer as a result.”
• “Trump will do whatever is best for him, including appointing judges who help him overturn rather than protect the current constitutional order.”
• “A Vote to Check Unpredictable Evil (Trump) with the Predictable (Clinton)”
• “Last night I tuned in to the Democratic primary debate between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders. It’s the first Democratic debate I’ve watched during this election season. After watching a couple of big tent circus acts called the Republican debate, it was refreshing to actually see two accomplished leaders in our country spar over ideas.”

Yes, most of this is taken from Nick Rodriguez, a guest blogger, but not all of it. Mr. Rodriguez goes on tell us we as Christians should vote for Hilary Clinton. Obviously, this is an attempt to leverage the massive platform of TGC to solicit votes for the Former First Lady this November. It is also an attempt to be edgy and different and hip, which too often in our culture contributes to some of the new religious practices we don’t need in the church. TGC isn’t just being open and sharing another political view. They are railing against Donald Trump and have been for months now, and if you don’t believe me, just simply go to their website, use the search tool and type in Donald Trump’s name and hit enter. From there, you can peruse countless articles on the Republican candidate, almost all of which are negative. You can also do the same for Hilary Clinton. Not everything is roses for her, but it’s nothing like how they have slandered Donald Trump. Like I said, just search Donald Trump and read for yourself.

Why does any of this merit a response from me or anyone else you might ask? Aren’t evangelical leaders supposed to take a stand at some level and give us some insight as to how to navigate this fall’s election? There are so many issues and the candidates are probably more unique than we’ve ever experienced in history. We are looking at two of the most iconic figures in our world today, and both of them are too often vilified and hated, yes hated, more than any two politicians I’ve ever seen in my forty-four years. Die hard Republicans want Hilary Clinton to go to jail, while so many Democrats are creaming “The Sky is Falling” around the Donald all of the time. Fear Mongering for votes seems to be the number one strategy by both parties. My biggest issue with TGC is they should have absolutely no part in trashing people, regardless of how they feel about them.

They have compared Donald Trump to Hitler. Check it out for yourself. Just read the posts. They are actually comparing someone to a man who murdered more than six million Jews. This is what is okay apparently at The Gospel Coalition.

I have a question for you. If Donald Trump actually isn’t a Christian, as he says he is, how do you think these statements do as far as bringing him closer to Jesus? Do they reach out with humility and love? On June 21^st Mr. Trump will be meeting with Evangelical Leaders from all over the nation. More than ever he will be exposed to Christians. Will articles like this encourage him or will he find it to be grievous?

More and more now we will begin to see fierce attacks from everyone who is anti-Trump, as billions of dollars will be spent to vilify the man. It will be a no-holds-barred brawl, and Trump, never one to back down from a fight, will come out swinging. His stick will be big, his rhetoric will be bigger, and he will be one tough dude to take down. In all likelihood, he will win the Presidency. Thanks to The Gospel Coalition, Mr. Trump will begin to get the sympathy vote, as Americans will begin to draw the line in what is and isn’t acceptable. He will get smarter handlers, and a very smart and likeable VP. If I were working for Mrs. Clinton, I would tell everyone to shut up and not say a word about him for awhile. Nothing. Silence. Let him dig his own holes, and constantly remind her voters they are too good to be throwing eggs at people. But, the truth is, she isn’t about to do that, is she? She’s going to allow the media and social media mood swings to dictate this election, while the attack dogs are behind the scenes twirling their mustaches and doing their thing. And all of us, including The Gospel Coalition, will be encouraged to lower our standards and join them in the slander.

I’m no political expert by any means, but I’ve been around the block a few times and think I can see how this all will play together in the end. I frankly am not thrilled by choosing between these candidates, and the candidate I really liked, the humble and incredibly intelligent Ben Carson, is long gone. I’m not pining over him, though. It simply was not God’s plan for him to be our leader this fall. With that being said, the point of this post isn’t about the candidates (are you still with me), but it’s about The Gospel Coalition slandering someone. I cry foul. I cry hogwash.

We, the Evangelical Americans, do not need your counsel or comment in how to vote in this upcoming election if it’s going to be like this. You call yourselves The GOSPEL Coalition, and again, from your “About” page “We desire to champion the gospel of Jesus Christ with clarity, compassion, courage, and joy-gladly linking hearts with fellow believers across denominational, ethnic, and class lines.” Those are some powerful words, to say the least. If you’re going to make statements regarding “championing the gospel of Jesus”, then articles slandering ANYONE have zero place on your blog. Don’t make excuses by telling us about all the contributors and bloggers you have and how it’s important for open dialogue within the evangelical community. We aren’t going to drink the Kool Aid there, either. It isn’t right to slander anyone, and I think you know this.

Jesus had a little to say about politics, but he had a lot to say about loving your enemy and doing good to those who hurt you. As a Christian who has been studying the life of Jesus for about forty years, I can rightly attest he was more concerned about honoring his Heavenly Father, salvation through grace, loving our enemies, and preaching the good news, than he was ever interested in getting mired in political debates. Jesus didn’t make this a priority, because Jesus was all about freedom, not pigeon-holing us into one political party. Did you follow me on this? There will be bible reading, Jesus loving Christians who vote for The Donald, and the same can be said for the former First Lady.

So, vote for whoever the Lord leads you to vote for. This isn’t a new concept. No, the sky is not falling. I’m taking a more optimistic approach to both candidates, and will simply pray about it, and make my decision when I feel like I’m ready to make my decision. If you vote for Trump, I think you’re awesome! If you vote for Hilary, I think you’re outstanding. Unlike The Gospel Coalition and the Democratic and Republican Parties, I choose to take an optimistic view into the election this fall, and will prayerfully support whoever is our new President. You and I have no clue what can or will happen over the next several years here in America, but I will state this one undeniable fact. Jesus is still in charge of this world, and the Kings, Queens and Presidents all answer to him. I’ll keep my hope in Jesus. Whatever happens this fall, we will all be just fine.

Comments are always welcome. Here are a few of the posts I was referring to –

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/thabitianyabwile/2016/06/02/evangelical-leaders-tell-us-to-vote-for-clinton/

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/gospeldrivenchurch/2016/06/03/politics-ought-nevertrump-principle/