Truth is for sale. As directives and orders and policy statements continue to rain down on the country – and indeed across the ocean to Europe and beyond — the thread that emerges is that truth is a commodity that gets bought, sold and traded in the marketplace. Facts are irrelevant. Power is that which matters. Power, if it is backed by money – AND the prospect of garnering more money, is a formidable force, especially if it is combined by bluster and blatant lying.
Thousands of federal employees have been bought off with the promise of some severance pay as they are being fired. If truth is being sold, that promise may end up being empty. Millions of people across the world are at serious medical risk because much needed aid and medicine has been cut off, with the fabricated truth that money will be saved and that the those who distribute the aid and medicine have been committing fraud and are part of a criminal enterprise. Legislators at the federal level – and some at the state level, are being bought off with a menu of threats should they challenge a directive, policy or order.
Truth is for sale. And many people are buying. Some buy out of fear of what happens if they don’t. As Vito Corleone famously said in the well-remembered movie classic, The Godfather, “I’ll make an offer he can’t refuse”. Fear is an incredible motivator. And many more are buying out of devotion. President Trump has repeatedly said that God has spared him for the purpose of saving America. Millions believe that he is the anointed one of God – and their faith encourages (if not requires) them to go wherever Donald Trump wants them to go. In order to fulfill Biblical prophecy.
I don’t buy it. So many of us don’t.
What is so ironic about the current turmoil is that so much of it seems to hinge on how people perceive and embrace Jesus. For some, they see Jesus as the one who reigns. He is the King whose power and authority should rule over all. In this view, Jesus has handed that reign and rule down to his followers, and they are challenged to maintain it. President Trump is regarded as the chosen one to usher in a Christian realm. A Christian dominance.
For me, and so many others like me, I look to Jesus as someone who couldn’t be bought. At the beginning of his ministry, the devil tries to buy him off by giving him the power to be relevant (turn stones into bread), spectacular (throw yourself down from the temple and not get hurt), and powerful (I will give you the kingdoms of the world if you fall down and worship me) (Matthew 4:3-10) Each time Jesus said no. He wouldn’t be bought.
Three years later, Jesus had made quite a name for himself. He preached to thousands, he healed the sick, he performed miracles – all up north in the rural region of Galilee. He could have stayed there, building his following, offering his wisdom – and not being a threat to the Roman occupiers. He could have bought his safety. But he didn’t. He went back to Jerusalem, where his words and actions were received as a serious threat, and he was brought up on all sorts of false charges, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death. From which – and all Christians subscribe to this, he came back to life again. How he came back– and what his Resurrection means, has been the subject of endless disputes among Christians over the centuries.
For millions of Christians in America, they want to follow Donald Trump as the agent for broadening Christianity’s reach and power. For me, I want to follow Jesus to Jerusalem. And offer resistance – prayerfully, intentionally – and with a commitment to non-violence. I am going to start by fasting once a week – as a spiritual discipline and as a witness to Jesus’ resistance. I anticipate that fasting will help me resist being bought by certainty, easy answers, and the temptation to be reactive. Years ago I worked some with Ernesto Cortes, a leader in the Industrial Areas Foundation, which organizes people to claim their power on issues their communities particularly care about. He won a MacArthur Genius Award for his exceptional community organizing work, and for his important book, Cold Anger, which argued that that anger needs to be cooled down and unreactive if it is going to be effective. My intention is that fasting with help connect me with my soul and direct my anger.
I will be talking to other faith leaders who are pondering and praying about how best to respond to the turmoil that Trump’s presidency has unleashed, particularly as it relates to this growing chasm between Christian faith communities. And I will continue to pursue conversations with Christian leaders whose perception and embrace of Jesus is very much at odds with mine. I want to listen – and learn from them. I want to hear – and try to understand — a very different Christian perspective: what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Should America be a Christian nation? What does it mean to be unified in Christ? Might we, as Christians, work together? I don’t know. But I will try.
