The Watchman's Diary

Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:6-7 (CJB)

How do we know that someone has truly repented and now live a life united with Messiah Yeshua with a devotion to advancing the Kingdom of God? After Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in November 2016, I watched as prominent Christians and other ministry leaders walk slowly to the line of declaring him a Christian. The slow walk became a sprint as more and more people began echoing that declaration. He was declared to be prominent biblical characters like Cyrus, and Jehu. He was called God’s anointed, and the Chosen One—a title he boldly embraced in a news conference on the White House Lawn.

That Donald Trump is a born-again Christian is not my main focus here—though maybe in small part. What I know of him is only what I’ve seen him do, say, or write on television and his social media posts. We find in scripture that “If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it! (Matthew 3:8). Donald Trump, and his children, have a large following on social media and other mediums. Imagine if his messages pointed people to God? Imagine if every so often he would tweet out a scripture, a prayer, a blessing, or something giving glory to God?

What impact would he have on the Kingdom if his words and actions pointed his followers to God more than to himself or other people? What if he tweeted a well-known scripture like “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed (John 3:16), or “The way that we have come to know love is through his having laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16)?

What if instead of glorifying himself as did Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4 27(30)) Donald Trump humbled himself before God as did Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:12)? He was surrounded by Christian leaders throughout his presidency and received many prayers, some of which were televised. How receptive was he to their advice and did it translate in his words and actions? Did he follow in the ways of King David to seek the Lord with all his heart or behave more like King Saul in rejecting the will of God? How would his life and witness impact the world if he showed reverence for the word of God instead of acting like Ahab who sought to expand his own territory by force (1 Kings 21)?

I​’m sure there are people who continue to hold to the belief that Donald Trump is a born-again Christian. It has not been my observation that he has produced fruit that will prove it. Yet, it may not be too late; not as long as he has breath and a sound mind. This is true for all of us! Regardless of where we are in our walk with the Lord, we have an opportunity to be faithful witnesses, pointing people to God through Yeshua. 

C​elebrity conversions are often accompanied by a flurry of news and an opportunity to share the Gospel with a large audience, at least until many of their followers abandon them. Justin Bieber and Kanye West are recent examples of this. If they continue to grow in faith and obedience to God, they will make significant contributions to the Great Commission. If God can use unrepentant people for good, how much more those of us who humble ourselves before Him and continue to walk in His ways?

So then, are we to say, “Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace”? Heaven forbid! How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it? Don’t you know that those of us who have been immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life (Romans 6:1-4, CJB).