"You have heard the law that says, "Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. -- Matthew 5: 43-48 (NLT)
They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. That it brings together people who otherwise might not have much in common. Yesterday we saw this play out in Christian circles as Liberty University sold out God in order to avoid correcting Donald Trump. Mr. Trump had been invited to be the speaker at a convocation ceremony, a questionable decision to begin with given some of the inane positions Mr. Trump has taken this election cycle alone. Either way, for a Christian University to have a thrice- wed speaker who has made greed a household name, hosts a reality TV show where he gets to fire people, is neck deep in the gambling scourge in this country and seemingly has little grasp of the facts when it comes to world events strikes me as a particularly compromised choice. Was Larry Flynt unavailable?
That aside, when you dance with the devil you get your feet stepped on and here is what the Donald told the student body at Liberty:
"I always say don't let people take advantage - this goes for a country, too, by the way - don't let people take advantage. Get even. And you know, if nothing else, others will see that and they're going to say, 'You know, I'm going to let Jim Smith or Sarah Malone, I'm going to let them alone because they're tough customers,"
Huh? This is a Christian University right? You can not ask for a more worldly based logic than this quote. This is straight out of Satan's playbook. Someone does something to you -- get even! As the key verses today indicate this is of course the opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus always raised the bar and He said that loving your friends was not enough -- even the Donald might do that! Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you is the opposite of getting even. There is no wiggle room whatsoever"unless you are Liberty University.
Once they decided to get in bed with the Donald, Liberty felt compelled to double down when they were challenged on this specious teaching from the gambling mogul. Trump's representative issued the following statement following some blowback:
"The biased liberal media continues to distort the success of Mr. Trump's speech at Liberty University to more than 10,000 students. Most recently they question his advice to the student body 'to get even' and call the statement anti-Christian. Wrong! I conferred with Johnny Moore at Liberty University and questioned whether Jesus would 'get even.' The answer is 'he would & he did.' Johnny explained that the bible is filled with stories of God getting even with his enemies, Jesus got even with the Pharisees and Christians believe that Jesus even got even with Satan by rising from the dead. God is portrayed as giving grace, but he is also portrayed as one tough character - just as Trump stated."
The Reverend Johnnie Moore is a Vice President at Liberty and advisor to Jerry Falwell himself. It is a shame of course that he apparently does not understand scripture at all. This has nothing to do with the fabricated fairy tales of the liberal media -- it has to do with the Bible. First of all, God did get even with many enemies in the Old Testament but of course we are under the New Covenant and the larger point is that we are not to usurp what belongs to God, such as wrath:
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." -- Romans 12: 19-20 (NIV)
Please note that is not saying to actually heap burning coals on your enemies' head, which would be the equivalent of "getting even." Secondly however in Reverend Moore's statement is the notion that Jesus got even with the Pharisees. Without Scriptural support I am unsure where he feels this occurred. Possibly when the Temple was cleared but that was not "getting even." In fact, since the final act on this earth was the Pharisees successfully having Jesus crucified, where exactly did He "get even." The last allusion given is that Christians believe that Jesus got even with Satan by rising from the dead. While clever on the surface this leaves behind the true nature of the worldly term "getting even." It clearly means an eye for an eye. There is no doubt based upon the key verses how Jesus felt about that. What Reverend Moore has done is stretch some parts of Scripture to fit his pre-formed agenda. The laws of hermeneutics are you always follow the clear scriptural example, which today is found in the teachings of Jesus in the key verses.
The final statement from reverend Moore is simply reprehensible. God is portrayed as giving grace? No, God provides grace, period. Enough grace to save fallen humanity -- not to be used to excuse poor theology. God is portrayed as one tough character? Absolutely but we are talking about Christians, not Christ. Our strength is not found in carnal solutions to worldly problems -- it is found on our knees. Scripture says that we do not fight as this world fights -- we do not "get even." We do not have to because we serve a God who will hold everyone to account for every careless word, including Reverend Moore and Mr. Trump.
Be not fooled beloved. This is what happens when you try and mix with the things of this world. A little leaven poisons the entire batch. I am sure that the invitation for Donald Trump seemed like a shrewd move for Liberty. Stroke the ego of an ego-maniacal billionaire. The end result however when you allow that little leaven is that it starts to infect you. Soon you find the leaven spreads as ridiculous assertions are made in front of 10,000 students, such as Jesus would want them to get even with people and that pre-nuptial agreements are a good thing (yes he said that too). Now that you find yourself lying in bed with the enemy you can either jump up and get out of it, or you can defend it. Liberty chose to defend it. Billionaire on one hand -- God on the other. Kick God to the curb and side with the money. Sad day for politics but a much sadder day for the cause of Christ.
Rev. Anthony
