Many distractions in this life take a person off their true path. Even as I put these words together, I think about everything unrelated to my writing. I am thinking about my career and need to find a job that will take me out of constant underemployment. I find myself looking around the cafe where I write. I look at other people talking, wondering about their lives and why they seem to have figured out something I haven’t.

Sometimes my mind goes back to my history of making bad decisions historically. I think about my bills, kids, ex-partners, family and sometimes just generally feeling sorry for myself. All the while, good work must be done. God’s work must be done. However, the distractions and temptations of this world keep me away from the ministry and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Nathaniel Manderson

As I reflect on the temptations in my own life, I realize that the current evangelical leadership has fallen prey to the temptations offered by Donald Trump. Even more importantly, these temptations are eerily similar to the temptations that the Devil offered to Jesus Christ before Jesus began His ministry.

For those who don’t know this story, according to the Bible, there was a time before Jesus began his ministry when he went into the desert to fast and prepare to do his work. At this point, the Devil came to Jesus to offer the same three temptations that lead everyone off their true path. These are also the same temptations that Trump has offered to the evangelical movement.

The difference is that unlike Jesus, the evangelical movement has chosen to follow Trump as he leads them further away from God and closer to the path drawn by the Devil himself.

The first temptation was an offering of bread to Christ, who would have died of hunger then. Christ’s answer was that man does not live by bread alone.

I admit that having more money and more bread is as much a part of me as anyone else. I want to provide more for my daughters and every time I have to explain to them why I can’t afford this or that, it breaks my heart. And yet, the pursuit of money has the potential to lead me down a path away from my true calling as a teacher and counselor.

Trump has given the evangelical church plenty of bread, cheaper bread, more money, and the opportunity to live like Trump. A few invitations to Mar-a-Lago, a few trips on the Trump plane, continued tax cuts, and an economy that largely benefits already very wealthy evangelical ministers.

In every area of ​​life, when a lot of money becomes the end goal, jobs go bad, art suffers, truth is distorted, and the church is no different.

By the way, evangelical leaders are horrified by this message. They twist themselves in theological knots, teaching and preaching that it is okay to become a millionaire and be a minister. I don’t know if it is or not, but I do know that there was a specific message that the temptation of greed hurts the teachings and ministry of Jesus Christ.

“Trump has given these evangelicals a bag of money and these leaders will do anything to get their hands on it.”

Suddenly, paying living wages to the working class, giving opportunities to America’s disadvantaged, or welcoming foreigners are bad things, and giving tax breaks to billionaires becomes the bedrock of the Christian faith. Trump has given these evangelicals a bag of money and these leaders will do anything to get their hands on it.

The second temptation of the Devil it is protection and safety. Christ’s response was not to put the Lord God to the test.

This is an interesting temptation found in life. The desire for comfort, safety and protection is something that most people think a lot about. In my career, I really wanted job protection, but it was hard when you’re an employee to tell the truth. Diplomacy has never been my forte, and my career has been a struggle for a long time. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it proved to me that sometimes job security becomes more important to people than job integrity. I see this in the evangelical support of Donald Trump.

Trump’s temptation for protection and security is clear. He talks about it all the time. He will protect Christians from the evil forces of the liberal movement. The left is coming for your guns, your ability to be public about your Christian faith, and even your children are at risk of conversation from the great woke mob virus.

Fear not, evangelicals, Trump will protect you.

The problem with this message, besides the fact that it comes from the devil, is that there was never a promise of safety when one followed the teachings of Jesus Christ. The promise is upon followers to serve, love your enemies, heal the sick, serve the poor, and love the captives. This is hard to do when one is at home on the sofa and only interested in the rights of those who agree with him.

“Jesus Christ did not live a safe life, a sheltered life, or a comfortable life.”

Jesus Christ did not live a safe life, a sheltered life, or a comfortable life. Those comforts of protection and safety would have been a false temptation that would have thrown him off course, just as Trump’s safety temptations took evangelical leadership off course.

Satan’s final temptation is the most obvious. The devil gives Christ all the power in the world. All Christ has to do is submit to the Devil’s authority.

I just have to write this section because the truth is louder than anything I can express in words. People usually support politicians based on self-interest. My fight for first generation working class students has been at the heart of whoever I vote for. I’m not looking for power per se, but more opportunities for the population I love. The thought of having more power and influence in this area is naturally a temptation in me, but then again maybe that could distract me from my calling to be at the forefront of this work.

Power corrupts, as it did in the evangelical support of Donald Trump.

Not to understand Robert Jeffress, but no one personifies better than he to fall into this temptation. That man loves the power of the White House and the power that Trump has given him. Pastor Jeffress will create whatever theology is necessary to return Trump to the White House.

I listen to this guy on the radio a lot. He is quite a good speaker. How good it is. In one story he shared, he talked about how he was able to charm himself into the Oval Office while on a school trip as a teenager. Since then, he has done everything he can to return to that office.

“The temptation of power prevents a faithful person from supporting the opportunity of all others whom they claim to help.”

All Pastor Jeffress had to do was submit to Donald Trump’s authority. The temptation of power prevents a person of faith from supporting the opportunity of all others whom they claim to help. Once these ministers have tasted that power, nothing else can satisfy them.

Recently my job was as a hospice chaplain. It is a job that stays with a person at a very deep level. Every day I deal with families trying to say goodbye to a loved one and a person trying to say goodbye to life.

This is not as peaceful a transition as many would think. There is great anxiety, loss of control, anger. What I have found is that for people of faith, successful people, people who have failed, people who have done things right, and people who have done everything wrong, death comes regardless. Their lives up to this stage rarely matter.

The last days are difficult and sad. The comfort of this world left them. Power, security and money are gone. These are all empty pursuits in the end. These activities keep a person from their true path. They affect relationships, careers, art, writing, politics, and faith.

I believe that the teachings of Christ and those of the evangelical church go in opposite directions. The evangelical church is moving closer to the Devil and the temptations of Donald Trump and further away from a man who ministered to the poor, healed the sick, loved his neighbor and taught his followers to do the same.

American evangelicals have stopped obeying Christ, which means they are now obeying the Devil.

Nathaniel Manderson he was educated in a conservative seminary, trained as a pastor, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA, and guided by liberal ideals. Throughout his career, he has been a pastor, career counselor, academic advisor, high school teacher, and advocate for first-generation and low-income students, along with a paper delivery man, construction worker, package handler, and everything in between. could do to take. take care of his family.

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