For Wilshire Baptist Church
What do we really believe about divine intervention, change and second chances? Those are questions I’ve been turning over in my head after watching some of the Republican National Convention this week.
I’m not a political junkie, but I like to catch some convention highlights to hear what the parties are saying about themselves and about each other, as well as hear the interpretations and spins of media analysts. It gives me context and perspective on candidates and agendas when it comes time to vote. That’s important because I’m not a straight-ticket or party-line voter. But current events also have me listening to what’s being said about matters of faith and spiritual practice.
On Tuesday night I heard several speakers say in so many words that former president Trump was saved from an assassin’s bullet by divine intervention because God still has work for him to do. As I listened, I could imagine progressive Christians and politicians wagging their fingers and labeling such talk as “Christian nationalism on full display.” And from the other side, a call to arms for exactly that.
The most intriguing conversation I heard among the news analysts was on PBS, where Rep. Maria Salazar of Florida said other lawmakers she knows who have spoken with Trump say he is a “changed” man; “a new person internally.” She went on to say, “He now understands that the Almighty and the powers from heaven gave him another opportunity.” Pressed for more explanation, she said: “Now he’s more contemplative – let’s use that word, maybe not spiritual, maybe not religious – but he does understand that God spared his life and gave him another opportunity to do good for the country.”
One of the panelists, Jonathan Capehart who contributes to The Washington Post and MSNBC, expressed total doubt that Trump has changed. David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times, said “all souls are redeemable,” but there is a “rigorous process for engaging with those who have been wronged.” His list of steps in that process include confession, penitence, reparations and reconciliation. Brooks, who was raised Jewish but converted to Christianity 10 years ago, offered the Bible’s King David and the Apostle Paul as examples of people who “were not great guys” but did the rigorous work that is required for authentic change.
As of this writing, I haven’t heard Trump speak about this change that some are reporting. By the time this is posted and read by you, he may have said something. Still, I believe actions always speak louder than words, as Brooks suggests, and actions are a process and not a sound bite.
Meanwhile, the conversation provokes me to consider what I truly believe about the intervention of God. Did God really save Trump because he’s not finished with him yet? And what about any of us who have gone through life-threatening situations? Have I been saved from cancer thus far because God still has something for me to do? And what about those we know who haven’t been given another chance? Was God not willing to offer that chance? Or, did God “need another angel in heaven” as is sometimes said about innocent ones who are taken way too soon?
I have no answers to these questions and probably never will. All I have is faith in a God who I believe is in full control. Still, I’m going to be watching for signs of rigorous work – not just from the proverbial “elephant” in the room, but from myself as well.