Our friend Jerry, over at Grumpy’s Grumblings, has a new post. I’ve included a link at the end to continue reading at his site. Thanks Jerry!
I’ve had to chide myself, often, for succumbing to what many within the evangelical community refer to as an Elijah complex. In the Bible, the prophet Elijah lamented to God that he was alone, the last true prophet, and that all the others had succumbed to an idolatrous loyalty to their government’s leaders—wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
I’ve caught myself presuming I was the only evangelical who had not bowed my knee to white evangelicals’ new messiah, Donald Trump. I knew that was not true, but all the vociferous evangelical clamor about Trump’s greatness, liberals’ wickedness, and stolen elections often left me feeling isolated.
I Was Never Alone
To be sure, even among nationally known evangelical leaders, several, such as Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; bestselling author Max Lucado; author and commentator David French; and scores of others, openly opposed Trump and Trumpism—and typically came under ferocious fire for it. Even so, being among the 19 to 20 percent minority made me feel like a recluse within a constituency to which I’d long felt an intense loyalty.
I’m seeing a few hopeful signs that the new messiah’s manipulative control over the faithful might be loosening, just a bit.
We never-Trumpers are still a minority within white evangelicalism, but I’m seeing a few hopeful signs that the new messiah’s manipulative control over the faithful might be loosening, just a bit. Simultaneously, though, the fierce fealty of the devoted majority of evangelicals is revealing some disturbing signs about the character of far too many white evangelicals. Bottom Line: Trumpism is the newest, deepest schism between white evangelical factions. Among today’s white evangelicals, theological differences pale in comparison to political differences as long as Donald Trump still commands the absolute loyalty of the majority.
And that brings us back to my beginning point: I think that majority is thinning, at least a bit. One early sign of that thinning came on January 7, the day after Trump-loyalists stormed the Capitol in a rage-filled riot, aiming to kill Vice President Pence and Speaker Pelosi. They failed in those attempts, but their rampage did manage to leave five other human beings dead. The day after that riot, Jeremiah Johnson, a self-proclaimed “prophet” apologized for having prophesied—like so many of his peers—that Trump would be re-elected.
I refuse to blame the saints and say, “It didn’t come to pass because they did not pray enough.” Nor will I proclaim, “Donald Trump actually won, so I was right, but now it has been stolen from him. I believe the first statement seeks to alleviate the prophetic messenger from the responsibility of what he prophesied, and the second statement is filled with potential pride and an unwillingness to humble himself and admit he was wrong.”
To continue reading, please click here: Grumpy’s Grumblings
On The Fence Voters 
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