During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump was not the candidate of choice for many of the Republican politicians. There were numerous members of the Senate and the House of Representatives that spoke out against Trump and the things he said or did.
The criticisms became more muted when he gained the nomination, but it was still there. Republicans were not afraid to speak against candidate Trump.
When Trump won the race and became our president-elect, people were still unsure of what and how things would work out with Trump. There were many, from both sides of the aisle, who expected Trump to begin to act “presidential.” They thought the weight of the office would come upon the president-elect and he’d start to grow into the office.
Then came the inauguration, and the tweet storm took hold. That which had been a major point of communication from candidate Trump was now a major form of getting the word out from President Trump.
Early in the Trump administration, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed with a presidential initiative, and the speaker addressed it before the microphones. Immediately, the twitters began attacking McConnell. The speaker began to hear not just from the president via tweet, but from his constituents who were deeply committed to the president.
McConnell backed down, and he has never again raised a serious challenge to anything Trump. He acts like a man afraid to stir the pot lest he incur the president’s wrath.
McConnell is not alone. The other Republicans who once spoke out against Trump have either left office or found ways to not speak out against the president.
Which raises the question: What are they afraid of? The simple answer is they’re afraid of their immediate political future. The Republican masses strongly support President Trump, and they are not afraid to let other Republican politicians know it. Criticize the president and risk a primary challenge from someone who will not question the president.
As I look at the Republican Party under President Donald Trump, I am reminded of the old Brothers Grimm story about the emperor’s clothing. No one is willing to say the obvious, even the truth, lest they be perceived as being less noble than others in the empire.
And this raises the question again: What are we afraid of?
Fear is a Strong Emotion
There can be no doubt that fear is a powerful emotion. It motivates us to take actions to preserve ourselves, our positions and our prestige. When we feel threatened, we feel scared. And when we feel scared, we either fight or flee. It’s ingrained into our nature.
While I’ve written on fear before (see “What Are We Afraid Of?” from August 21, 2017), it seems appropriate that we approach it from a different point.
As Jesus was sending out His disciples to preach the Gospel, He gave them this advice. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This verse comes in the midst of several warnings about what the disciples should expect for preaching the Gospel. He wanted them to be “like sheep among wolves” and “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves” (v. 16). He told them not to worry about what they would say, because the Spirit would speak through them (cf. vs. 19-20).
The point of Jesus’ words is that speaking truth in a world that does not appreciate truth will result in opposition, sometimes strong in its nature and its reaction. But Jesus told them to be strong in their faith and in their message.
When God selected Joshua to succeed Moses, God told Joshua repeatedly not to be afraid. Within the space of four short verses, God tells Joshua to be “strong and courageous” or words to that effect four times (cf. Joshua 1:6-9). God knew that Joshua’s task was going to be a daunting one—he was to lead in the conquest of the Promised Land.
One of the ways God let Joshua know he had nothing to fear was that God would be with him. “As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). He repeated the promise in v. 9: “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” He also told Joshua to take God’s word to heart; he was told to memorize and obey the word of God. If he stayed true to God and His Word, Joshua would not fail.
Later on, God called Jeremiah to be a prophet. Jeremiah was a young man when God called him, and Jeremiah raised that concern (cf. Jeremiah 1:6). God’s response was, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you” (v.8).
God did tell Jeremiah, “Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them” (v. 17). That sounds rather harsh, but God wanted to get the point across that fear of those with whom we will speak cannot rule our lives. If we do, it will only be amplified. God went on to tell Jeremiah, “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you” (vs. 18-19).
Jeremiah was being called to speak God’s word to the nation of Judah. Judah had been tried and found wanting by God. It wasn’t a question of would Judah fall in judgment, but it was a question only of when. And Jeremiah was sent to tell them destruction was coming, that it was inevitable, and the best thing Judah could do was yield to God’s judgment.
Such a message could not and would not be popular. No one wants to be told their nation is about to be conquered, and yet it was given to Jeremiah to say exactly that. The powers that be would fight him every step of the way, and yet God said he had nothing to fear. God’s presence and God’s message would prevail, and Jeremiah would stand strong.
Don’t Be Afraid to Speak the Truth
The point of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples and God’s instructions to Joshua and Jeremiah is this: Trust in the Lord overrides anything else we might fear. There was no need to deny the emotion and that the emotion was real, but God’s message is: Faith overcomes feelings. Faith is stronger than fear. Keep true to God; trust that He is with us and that He has fortified us and strengthened us, and walk in that faith.
It’s not easy. Jeremiah hated his ministry sometimes, but he remained faithful to God’s calling and to God. A look at the lives of the apostles reveals that each of them suffered a great deal because of their faith, most of them being martyred. Yet they stayed true to God’s calling and to God.
We live in a world where truth is under constant attack. If we hear something we don’t like, we dismiss it as “fake news” or lies. The term “alternate facts” has been raised and entered our lexicons. The idea is that we can alter the facts to suit our way of thinking.
A failure to rely on truth is a danger to our nation and to ourselves. We cannot be afraid to speak truth, and the truth that most believers recognize is the Word of God. If we will be willing to objectively view the actions and words of our elected officials under the light of Scripture, we will begin to see the truth and we can speak that truth openly and confidently.
It won’t be easy. It will be opposed, sometimes strongly. Still, when we turn to the truth and turn away from fear, then we can know that God is with us and will continue to speak through us.
Conclusion
I realize as I write this that the idea of speak truth is very subjective right now. There may be those reading this that are thinking I need to practice what I preach.
But here’s my point. If you and I will honestly and completely seek God’s leadership, not reading into Scripture that what we want to see, but letting it speak openly and honestly to us, then we will know the truth. And once we know that truth, we will have a duty to speak it with love and mercy and grace.
So, turn to God. And don’t be afraid. Tweets can’t hurt us; refusing to speak because we’re afraid can.
© 2019 Glynn Beaty