In this four-week season of Advent, Christians from many traditions anticipate the arrival of Jesus, reflecting upon the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love. Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival” of an anticipated king. This anticipated arrival of a king has profound meaning for our past, present, and future, as it points to Jesus’ birth over 2,000 years ago, our new life now in Jesus, and the promise of Jesus’ eventual return. The baby Jesus, who arrives in a lowly barn rather than a palace, is destined not for an earthly throne but a heavenly one. By conquering death, sin, and injustice through his ultimate sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, Jesus subverts a Roman symbol of brutality and oppression, transforming it into our symbol of promised salvation and liberation. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of this heavenly king — and yet still so many Christians mistakenly seek and even idolize an earthly one, including in the context of elections.
After the results of the U.S. election became clear last month, there was no shortage of celebrations of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory from leaders on the Religious Right. While I don’t share their optimism about what a second Trump presidency will mean for our country (though I continue to pray for the incoming administration and Congress), I can remember what it’s like when the candidate you supported went on to win the presidency; I felt some of that intense hope myself when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008.
But there was another theme that ran through many of the post-election celebratory statements from Christian leaders that I find much more problematic: the belief that Trump has been anointed by God to return to the White House. This line of thought was echoed by Trump himself on election night: “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and restore America to greatness.” Franklin Graham posted on X, “Millions and millions of people were praying, and I believe God heard their prayers.” Eric Metaxas, author of a controversial biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, posted, “God knew. Praise Jesus. It is an outrageous gift from God.” As early as last year, TV evangelist Hank Kunneman claimed, “There’s something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it’s called the anointing.” Another celebrity evangelist, Lance Wallnau, told his followers on election night that Trump’s victory gave them a mandate to enact “a reformation on America” that is “just starting.” Dutch Sheets, who led a series of prayer rallies to keep Trump in office in the months after his 2020 defeat, celebrated his victory, saying it would help trigger a “Third Great Awakening” and that “Trump is a necessary part of this reformation.” Christian singer Sean Feucht told his Facebook followers, “God was exalted! America was saved!”
You might be asking yourself whether these aren’t just the typical things Christians often say when something they’ve fervently prayed for comes to pass — and there’s certainly some truth to that. But I want to draw a careful distinction between saying that God can use an earthly event like an election to accomplish God’s purposes in the world and the claim that God — not the majority of American citizens who voted in the election this past November — chose Trump to become president. I detect too much of the latter in the statements I shared above.
Claiming that any elected official is “chosen” or “anointed” by God is bad for both our theology and democracy. God has blessed every human being with free will, which includes the ability to make mistakes. Claiming that God, not voters, chose Trump removes human agency from the more than 150 million people who exercised their right to vote in this election. As President Abraham Lincoln reportedly said during the Civil War, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is whether we are on God’s side, for God is always right.” Lincoln’s quote points to the dangers of believing that God is on our side, whether that’s our preferred political party or candidate’s side. In theological terms, claiming that someone is chosen or that God is on their side easily slips into a form of idolatry. When we believe that a president has been chosen by God, we are also much more liable to give that person our complete and utter loyalty, leading us to ignore or downplay when their words or actions contradict our core Christian values.
Scripture offers many cautionary lessons about the danger of putting our faith in a king rather than God, including 1 Samuel 8, when the Israelites ask God to give them a king. Through the prophet Samuel, God warns them that a king will claim all manner of things as his own — their sons, their daughters, their servants, the best of their fields and vineyards and so on — until “you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day” (verses 17-18). Even after Samuel offers this sobering forewarning to the Israelites, they insist on a king. God relents and tells Samuel to give them one — and that’s how they end up with King Saul. In this pivotal transition in Israel’s leadership from the judges to kings, Samuel makes clear that kingship poses both great promise and great peril, depending on whether the king is obedient to God (15:22-24) and committed to serving as an instrument of God’s righteousness and justice (12:14-15).
The clear lesson here is to both “be careful what you wish for” and be vigilant in challenging leaders who abuse their authority. Here in the U.S., elections give us the power to choose our own leaders, and through our system of checks and balances and the freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution, we can peacefully resolve our disputes and prevent the abuse and misuse of power. Claiming that a president is ordained or chosen by God conflates human will with divine will.
Yet the desire for a king can often be a seductive one, particularly when we associate kings with security and order. I’m particularly concerned that many Christians seem drawn to a strongman who promises to restore America’s greatness and impose their particular brand of Christianity on others — even if that requires bending or breaking the rules of our democratic system. This is often rooted in an “ends justify the means” mentality, where promises of security and prosperity often obscure how potential authoritarian leaders enrich themselves and maintain power through oppression and violence. While our system of democracy is far from perfect, I still believe it’s the best system that enables us to advance the common good and restrain evil.
Building on this cautionary example of kings in Samuel, in this season of Advent, Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming king offers us a timeless and profound reminder of how God intervenes in the world:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
Isaiah’s prophecy may sound like the answer to the Israelites’ earlier prayers — and indeed, many thought that the promised Messiah would be an earthly ruler who would restore the Israelites to power and even vanquish their enemies. But in Advent, we remember God was up to something altogether different: a baby who quickly becomes a refugee in Egypt to escape Herod’s order of infanticide and later, in his inaugural sermon at the beginning of his short public ministry, makes it clear that he has come to “preach good news to the poor, lend sight to the blind, and to set the captives free” (Luke 4). When Isaiah proclaims that “the government will be on his shoulders,” he is making a crucial distinction between our heavenly king who reigns forever and the transitory, earthly powers who come and go.
In other words, we should never conflate the temporary power of a president with the enduring reign of our heavenly king. As we quickly approach the upcoming inauguration, it is important to remember and take to heart that kings, presidents, or other elected officials are never above God; therefore, we must seek to hold these leaders accountable when they go astray from biblical values and priorities aligned with God’s call to justice and righteousness. Sometimes that means casting our vote for candidates who we think will best reflect God’s priorities and values. And sometimes that means influencing, and if necessary, resisting them when they act as unjust kings rather than as instruments of justice, peace, and the common good.
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor is president of Sojourners and author of A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community. Follow him on X @revadamtaylor.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!
