Searching and misunderstanding

 

I was very sorry to hear that some people I know have joined a new American cult. It seems to have around 50,000 followers in the United States and they appear to be fundamentalist Christians who support President Trump. Sadly, as far as I am concerned, this is not unusual in itself, but this group goes further. They see Trump as God’s chosen leader, deriving this mainly from the book of Revelation.

Revelation is a challenging book, written when Christians were hunted and killed by the Roman empire and when many Christians believed that the return of Christ was imminent. It has glorious language about the ultimate triumph of God and his people, the glorious songs of heaven, the hope of the end of pain and mortality. There is also a lot of apocalyptic imagery which relates back to the book of Daniel and other writings, and which we cannot decipher with any certainty. And that is the problem, that people down the centuries have claimed to know just what it means, especially incorrectly predicting the end of the world.

The cult leaders, whoever they are, have taken Revelation as referring to Donald Trump. The various passages relate to his supposed achievements and he is predicted as the One who will bring peace and stability of all mankind. The historical Jesus is hardly mentioned in their book, which is not surprising – although they clearly know their way around the Scriptures.

The book which I examined is very clever, it is designed to encourage Christian-type people to support Trump as a leader chosen by God and sees evil in many other prominent people such as Bill Gates. But even more worryingly it suggests that followers cut themselves off from communication with much of the outside world as well as preparing for a future violent confrontation. To say that it is saddening in respect to people I once knew, as they are being severely misled, is one thing – to abuse the Bible and through it to lead others to regard Donald Trump as a quasi-divine saviour figure is something else, something deeply disturbing.

 

Heavenly Father, amid the communications revolution there are so many ideas given publicity and which may seem compelling. Help us to perceive what is good and true, what serves your purposes of love and hope. Be with people who are confused by the many conflicting voices in our world, and forgive those who are twisting the Christian faith for political ends. Grant wisdom to the people of the United States as they experience the cut and thrust of electioneering, and lead all our nations into the ways of justice and peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen