Something Nice

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

The saying is venerable, to be sure, but not old enough to merit inclusion in holy writ. They’re not the words of a prophet, they’re the words of a rabbit.

Nevertheless, to this generally prudent advice, I would add the following gentle suggestion for my fellow Christians when commenting on politics: If you can’t say something understandable, don’t say anything at all.

The Piper at the Gates of Don

This was John Piper last week on X:

The quote from Deuteronomy was the only part I will presume to understand, though his intended application is lost on me. Perhaps there is some context to be found within his X feed that regular Piper readers would pick up and connect with, but I didn’t. Does John anticipate a surge in Christian Nationalism? Antifa riots? Pushback from radical feminists? Too many Christians gloating? Failure among evangelicals to press the incoming president on the abortion issue? Is he lamenting the apparent lack of enthusiasm among his fellow believers for the first not-quite-black female presidential candidate? Inquiring minds want to know, but will be left speculating.

Mixed Reactions

The three-line post was provocative, so of course it went viral. When do these things not? They pretty much have to for me to come across them at all. Reaction from Christendom was mixed:

“Incredibly disappointing. The two sides were not morally equivalent.” (Megan Basham)

“You gave annual sermons celebrating a serial adulterer [Martin Luther King].” (Stephen Wolfe)

“MASSIVE L TAKE HERE.” (Sean Feucht)

“Shame on these pastors for NOT being Sons of Issachar, but rather modern day Pharisees and Sadducees, not knowing Truth from a lie. Lord deliver us from them.” (Eric Metaxas)

“Piper’s spot on. May our fidelity and love be to Christ our King.” (Joseph Leavell)

Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit mixed. Mostly negative. It’s yet another reason I don’t do social media: I find even the reactions hard to parse and rarely enlightening.

Zipping the Lip

I wrote and said less than usual in this space leading up to the US presidential election for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I work with a group of hard-boiled leftist women propagandized by the media into frothing rage at the very mention of the name Trump, and have acquired the useful habit of zipping my lips at lunch hour, as have millions of Americans who voted for the man, not to mention the six Canadians who would have if they could. Readers here are not generally of that ilk, but Christians can be as binary in their thinking as secularists, and some would surely interpret my unambiguous and comprehensive distaste for Kamala Harris and her clown show as full-throated enthusiasm for Trump 2.0. (Incidentally, lunch at work last Saturday was a lovely discussion about our families. Politics did not come up once. It was glorious.)

Secondly, prior to 11 p.m. last Tuesday, I fully anticipated another 2020. I can only say the results were a pleasant surprise, primarily because four more years of Democrat rule would probably have finished off the Republic for good. As a Canadian, the only way I’ve been directly impacted during the last week is a $5,000 growth spurt in my Locked-In Retirement Account immediately following Election Tuesday. However its individual traders and wonks might vote, Wall Street is evidently not unhappy with the results at present. Hopefully some of the young men about to be drafted to their certain deaths in the Ukraine may benefit from a change of government in the driving force behind that sad mess to which their country has committed itself, though there are too many variables involved to predict how that war may play out.

Tested with Evil

Back to Mr. Piper. Are American Christians really about to be tested with “another evil”? Not in any way that requires a response from them apart from our usual faith, hope and love. At least theoretically, the decision has been made: Donald Trump won the Electoral College, the popular vote, the Presidency, Senate and, as of last Monday, apparently the House as well, demonstrating an across-the-board hunger for policy change in almost all American demographics, including unprecedented Republican support from blacks and Hispanics. The task of the few Christians unhappy with the result will be to get on their knees and pray their way through the next four years.

Most of us should probably join them, even if we don’t agree with their reactions.

Why? I’m not the black pill type, but all manner of things could still go wrong. Despite having an iron clad mandate to govern, Trump is still mildly disliked to virulently detested by 47% of Americans, and many who voted for him did so with reservations. He narrowly avoided assassination at least once, he’s got a sentencing hearing in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records, and federal cases against him in DC and Florida still not completely resolved. The Electoral College still has to confirm his victory next month. If any election result could provoke a “faithless electors” situation in, say, California or Washington, this would be the occasion. It’s a long shot, for sure, but a successful assassination attempt or other disqualifying event prior to the December 17 confirmation would definitely cause chaos, as VP-elect Vance only becomes the automatic replacement after that date.

Sledding Uphill in an Avalanche

Moreover, even with the House and Senate presumably behind him, governing the US in the current environment is likely to be the equivalent of sledding uphill in an avalanche, the toughest four-year run in the history of the nation. The Ukraine situation has changed considerably since Trump vowed to end it in 24 hours, Gaza and Lebanon are disasters, and China and Iran are lurking in the weeds. The Neocon faction is desperate to find another foreign war to turn into a money laundry and, if permitted, will regularly disinform the new president and the media in hope of provoking an overreaction. BRICS is a serious threat to end US hegemony forever. The Deep State is out of control and there have been hints the Democrats would be willing to tank the American economy rather than see Trump credited with turning it around. The President-elect also has hard-core enemies within the Republican caucus and a history of poor selections at critical posts to overcome, the economy is a mess, and the globalists are warming up to introduce their next pandemic.

Is there lots for Christians to pray for? I think so, but I’m not sure Trump’s election will be the average Christian American’s big test of love for the Lord in 2025. There will be plenty else coming down the pipe, be assured.

And I mean, really, would you naysayers and chronic qualifiers rather it had gone the other way?