Nine Christians in the Trump Cabinet?

December 12, 2016  David Murray   21 comments

For many years, we have prayed that God would raise up men and women of God to positions of leadership and influence in our country. However, since the end of the George W. Bush administration, there have been previous few answers to that prayer.

Who would have thought that Donald Trump might be the answer to that prayer? No, not that he is a Christian – there are no signs of that, sadly. But he certainly seems poised to appoint a number of them to his first cabinet and other White House positions – Senate confirmation permitting. Consider the following names who profess to be Christians:

Mike Pence (Vice-president elect): “My Christian faith is at the heart of who I am” and “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”

Reince Preibus (Chief of Staff): “At Grace Church, Reince Priebus known as principled, devout Christian.”

Jeff Sessions (Attorney General): According to an earlier Senate bio, he “has served as a lay leader and as a Sunday school teacher at his family’s church, Ashland Place United Methodist Church, in Mobile. He served as the Chairman of his church’s Administrative Board and has been selected as a delegate to the annual Alabama Methodist Conference.”

Dr. Ben Carson (Housing and Urban Development): Interview with Christianity Today. “I would describe myself first of all as a Christian—Evangelical in the sense that I believe we have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel and show other people why we live the way that we do and hopefully that will affect their lives. I think that’s a very important component of what we do.”

Betsy DeVos (Education): Has “deep ties to the Christian Reformed community” and “heavily influenced by Abraham Kuyper.” She sees education as “one of the ways that God advances his kingdom.”

Rex Tillerson (latest favorite for Secretary of State): According to Wikipedia, he and his wife donated $5,000-$10,000 to the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches in 2012. It was also reported on the radio last week that he is a devout Christian who attends Church weekly and teaches Bible Study.

Scott Pruitt (EPA): According to the Oklahoma Office of Attorney General, the Pruitts are members of the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, where Pruitt serves as deacon.

Mike Pompeo (CIA): Family attends Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where he serves as a deacon and teaches Sunday School to fifth-graders.

Nikki Haley (Ambassador to UN): Christianity Today report her words: “My faith in Christ has a profound impact on my daily life and I look to him for guidance with every decision I make. In an interview, she said: “God has blessed my family in so many ways and my faith in the Lord gives me great strength on a daily basis. Being a Christian is not about words, but about living for Christ every day.”

I don’t know the personal lives of these people and I can’t vouch for their orthodoxy or orthopraxy. In some cases, there do seem to be inconsistencies between their professed faith and their practice. However, when you think about what we’ve had for the past eight years, and the further hounding and persecuting of Christians we’d be facing if Hillary had won, we surely must be thankful that President-elect Trump will have some Christian counsel around him and that prayer will ascend from the Oval Office again.

I can understand why some Christians fear a Trump presidency, but these appointments may offer some hope and reassurance in uncertain and unpredictable times.

No reason to stop praying though. Indeed, plenty reason to pray all the more.

  • http://www.fsmandfsmwo.org Michael Poirier (directorfsm)

    I will be interesting to see if their “Christian” beliefs have a recognizable impact upon their actions.

  • David Timothy Holdsworth

    My deep concern is the myth of a Christian nation built on the myth of redemptive violence (that is notions such as holy preemptive wars, shoot first ask questions after, ‘touch not the Lord’s anointed’ being translated as never question those in power, etc). Bush and Trump are one of the many reasons so many think of Evangelicals/Born Again Christians as hypocritical and unpleasant folks. They have found support from those meant to be lights in this world.

    Martin Luther King once warned the US that he felt as if the Lord was saying:

    “You are too arrogant!
    And if you don’t change your ways
    I will rise up and break the backbone of your power
    and place it in the hands of a nation that don’t
    even know my name”

    The kingdom of God is surely not of this world and as such is non-partisan, does not rely on human governments, nor is ‘a respecter of persons’.

    • Michael Spalione

      preach!

    • Art clark

      Well then, let us hope that these “supposed” Christians (a dubious proposition that any politician could be a Christian) do not do anything untoward such as praying for direction or seeking to influence any decisions based upon true biblical principles. Especially odious is the idea that anything should be done to influence a nation to righteous actions after having such a blasphemous past. Our God would not approve of that kind of activism within a secular government that He has nothing to do with.

      • http://thoughtfortheweek.jimdo.com/ David Timothy Holdsworth

        Christians should influence the system. Don’t get me wrong. If people like Wilberforce hadn’t done so in the UK maybe we would still have legal slavery. And if Elizabeth Fry hadnt sought prison reform maybe we would still hang children. Politicians and activists can of course be Christian and should stand for what is right either way. But the minute they legitimise actions based on them having some sort of premium on truth or being God’s anointed, that is when alarm bells sound. Especially if these actions conflict with Christ’s own words. Bonhoffer in his day challenged the uneasy alliance of flag and bible. Not much has changed in that sense. As Abraham Lincoln once said “Don’t ask God to be on our side, ask that we be on His.”

    • Matthew

      I can’t remember who said it, but the saying is good, “God’s Church is the light on the hill, not America.”

      I’m not about to get into the whole “America was founded as a Christian nation” debate.

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  • MA in MO

    Michael Poirier, I agree with you. Tillerson’s bio has some very anti-Christian segments. Session’s Methodism could be bad since that church has fallen so far away from Biblical principles I don’t think any could recognize a Methodist. I grew up in the Methodist Church and I quilt every Monday at a Methodist church, so please I know what is happening. The sad part is those I quilt with doesn’t think the Methodist hierarchy has any baring on what they do. Hmmm, just another disconnect.

    • http://david.scacc.org Mt Rev Dr David Lim

      I was born into the Methodist tradition;
      and studied in a Methodist Public School in England. Lived in Methodist hostel. I have been to
      Methodist, Wesleyan, and Calvinistic Methodist and Anglican churches. Methodist church is Liberal and Methodist
      Theology is Arminian and unsound. Evangelicalism is the ancestor of Liberalism,
      having sinful and dark parts in its Theology and practice. Trump has his evil roots and parts in
      Evangelicalism.

      I would say in terms of choice Trump chose
      it that way, to be with Evangelicals and Evangelical tradition instead of
      seeking God and going the Charismatic way.

      Trump chose to cut links off with me so as
      not to have direct communication with me.

      He is as good as he can be. And I forgive him as having human weaknesses,
      being human.

      There is only so much a man can do.

    • http://david.scacc.org Mt Rev Dr David Lim

      More is not always more. More can be a moron. It is good if one is good Christian and have
      a large team of good Christians to work with.
      However, good Christians are hard to come by. It is also hard to be a good Christian so as
      to choose good Christians to work with.
      It is also hard to be a good leader so as to choose good leaders and
      workers that are good Christians to work with.
      America is big and resourceful. That does not mean America has enough
      good Christians and all the good Christians.
      This America First idea is like a double edge sword that can cut both
      ways. It is a tragedy not able to go
      abroad and get help from Christians all over the World.

      Having Roman Catholic and Liberal and
      Evangelical to work with as if Ecumenicalism is good is taking a lot of poison.

      Taking a lot of poison is way to get very
      sick if not absolute suicide.

      -=-

      A evil thing is done recently by the Trump
      regime to take Chinese Diao Yu Island from China. This also open up reason for
      China to war against America and attack the country in the future.

      A very early evil America committed against
      China was invading China with 7 countries in the Qing Dynasty.

      A large list of evils America has
      committed, and I tried to steer Trump to bank a spiritual corner that he could
      start his rule in godliness. And Trump did not hook up with me and did not
      listen.

      He fitted rightfully to be the 7th

      head of the 7 head beast in Revelation.

      And Americans, Christian Americans, do good
      not to be prideful to consider their country a good Christian Nation. We all
      live by the Grace of God. Thank God for
      saving us all.

      Pray for Trump Team and help Trump to live
      Godly, and do as much good as possible in his limited time, term, before the
      reappearance of Obama again(the 8th king; the beast after the first
      from the sea). For this is what
      Christians can do.

  • Martin Lutero Bezerra.

    I myself have been horrified by the lack of consideration for Christianity this Government has exerted and how the growing omission and conformity that has been taken our people more and more. I prayed and millions of Christians prayed too that God send one man to be our leader and free our Nation of total disaster. Thanks God, Mr. “President elect Trump” seems to be this Man, God Bless him, his team, and our beloved USA!.

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  • onthemove2018

    Dr. King was prophetic when he spoke that the Lord would rise up and break the backbone of America’s power. The Lord has raised up the Russian President Vladimir Putin for this purpose. America is not a Christian nation as many Christians that live here believe, there is no scriptural support for this myth. The Supreme Court along with President Obama in June 2015 placed the nail in America’s coffin. We are now awaiting the prophecy of the destruction of the city of Damascus in Isaiah chapter 17:1 to be fulfilled.
    The prophet of the Apocalypse saw this destruction almost 3 thousand years ago in Revelation chapter 18:9-24.

  • Matthew

    First, Dr. Carson, while a man of great principles, cannot be considered Christian in the orthodox sense. Seventh Day Adventism is a cult, plain and simple. It ranks with Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

    Second, DeVos calls herself reformed, and certainly claims that heritage, but doesn’t she attend Mars Hill Bible Church in MI? I’m sure no small part of Bell’s heresy was taught there (perhaps he wasn’t completely off his rocker yet) and even now it leans more, I don’t know that liberal is the right word, post-modern would be the right word. It leans heavily on the narratives that NT Wright espouses, and if I am to believe correctly, still teaches universal redemption (ala Love Wins).

    If I am wrong on DeVos, please call me on it. I don’t want to spread bad information.

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  • Brandon Wilhite

    All of the Christiphobic comments this post attracted are sadly predictable.

    • http://thoughtfortheweek.jimdo.com/ David Timothy Holdsworth

      What comments are Christophobic? I certainly hope I didn’t come across as such. I should say Christ is my Lord God and Redeemer. I just worry that His name is used to justify all kinds of bad behaviour by wicked people.

      • BW

        It’s been 5 months now and frankly I see nothing here (now) that is bothersome. I actually wonder if the comments I was referring to were probably removed.

        • http://thoughtfortheweek.jimdo.com/ David Timothy Holdsworth

          None of mine have been removed. Perhaps you are referring to someone else’s post? Not sure. Anyway, by gones.

          • BW

            My thought as well…either way, peace.

  • http://thoughtfortheweek.jimdo.com/ David Timothy Holdsworth

    Whatever people say here is the truth from a wise man: “For true evangelical faith is of such nature that it cannot lie dormant, but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love . . . it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it returns good for evil; it serves those that harm it; it prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes. . . it binds up that which is wounded; it heals that which is diseased and it saves that which is sound; it has become all things to all people. The persecution, suffering, and anguish which befall it for the sake of the truth of the Lord is to it a glorious joy and consolation.” – Menno Simons (the Mennonites are named after him)

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  • http://thoughtfortheweek.jimdo.com/ David Timothy Holdsworth

    “For true evangelical faith is of such nature that it cannot lie dormant, but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love . . . it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it returns good for evil; it serves those that harm it; it prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes. . . it binds up that which is wounded; it heals that which is diseased and it saves that which is sound; it has become all things to all people. The persecution, suffering, and anguish which befall it for the sake of the truth of the Lord is to it a glorious joy and consolation.” – Menno Simons

  • Jaime Richards

    Trump wanted the presidency, the christian right wanted power over this country, and got him elected. It’s no surprise that he appointed those in the christian right, though your list is just a fraction, they are his boss if he want’s to remain in power. He needs their cover and their agenda is more important than Trump’s character, so they will cover for him to further their own draconian agenda. And they will not hesitate to lie to their own flock, to get the power they seek, nor do they care that Trump routinely lies to the same.

    Now the country is stuck with the most self absorbed, socially uninformed Christians on the planet, the most authoritarian and the most hypocritical and mean spirited. And who laughably see themselves as victims of the very people they demonized for centuries.

    Sadly these Christians are followers, they aren’t seekers of knowledge, they follow what they have been told for centuries and now use it to gain ultimate power and influence over everyone, and I do mean every one, including each other. The have waited a long time for this opportunity and no amount of insanity from this president will deter them.

    Their leaders are those that seek to create more followers who dare not question authority especially the authority of the church. Now we will see the ugly side of Christianity that most Americans have never seen in their lifetimes. We will pay dearly for having dismissed them as kooky and harmless.

    I’m old and have seen only a fraction of the manipulation of the church having grown up in a fundamentalist household, but it was enough to make me question. I am grateful that I won’t live to see the consequences of an arrogant administration run by fanatical fundamentalists. Though I feel for those that will experience it.

    Praying won’t get us out of this mess, Christians waking up to what other Christians do in the name of Christianity, just might, if we aren’t too late considering the fundamentalists we have allowed to slip into power all over this country in just a few short decades.

  • Sh’lama

    People who can believe the Bible’s reliable history and the word of a god can believe anything.