Jesus Christ trumps your politics

Donald Trump has begun his second term as American President. 

There are some things we know - he’s removing birthright citizenship for the children of migrants born in the US, he’s pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change and he’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

But there is much we don’t know. The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg even reports rumours of a secret “mini-cabinet” of the Prime Minister and a few of his trusted allies who are meeting to plan for scenarios that a Trump Presidency could trigger. They are, she writes, trying to “prepare for what it can’t yet know”.

Some Christians will be delighted at Trump’s second inauguration. He’s been called “the most vocally pro-life president in US history” and is a staunch supporter of Israel.  

Others will be distraught and despondent, worried about what this presidency means for migrants and the poorest in US society and for standards of integrity amongst our leaders.

Whichever camp you fall into, whether you support Trump or oppose him, there’s one thing you must not do. 

Psalm 146:3 is very clear: “Do not put your hope in princes.”

We can level this biblical rebuke at supporters of Donald Trump. But the challenge is not confined to them. 

Do not put your trust in princes

There was a series of progressive politicians in Western nations, perhaps beginning with Obama in 2008, or maybe even Tony Blair in 1997, who were the bright hopes of left-of-centre politics. Others included Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and Sanna Marin in Finland. They were young, liberal, and good communicators of a fresh vision. That famous red and blue Obama poster – with that simple one word slogan: Hope, encapsulated a sense of expectation, of a fresh new era, tangibly better and more just than what went before.

Millions of people pinned their hopes on those fresh-faced progressive leaders. But all of them have gone now, most fizzling out disappointingly with promises unfulfilled – seen most recently when Justin Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister of Canada two weeks ago.

Psalm 146 continues: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

Whether the inauguration of Donald Trump has you crowing in jubilation, crying tears of dismay or just downright confused… the reality is this: Donald Trump will not last, just as Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau or indeed President Assad did not last.

There is one king who will last, and that is the one in whom you should place your hope and your trust.

This feels like it could be an especially fruitful moment for us to urge people to put their hope in Jesus whose rule will outlast every earthly ruler and every ideology. Whether a brash strong man promising to stick it to the woke brigade, or the next bright-eyed young liberal leader here to bring equality and justice…the plans of both will ultimately “come to nothing” says the Psalmist.

For those who do not yet believe in Jesus, maybe this is the time when their hearts might be turned to the only one in whom we can have confident hope and who will not let us down.

And for those of us who are Christians, maybe we need to hear this rebuke: Jesus Christ trumps your politics.