C. Peter Wagner: I Like Donald Trump
Although I’ve never done this before, I am ready to come clean on this year’s politics. In my entire life I’ve never witnessed such an interesting presidential campaign. I favor Donald Trump for our next president. Yes, I’m an evangelical Christian and I was encouraged to see that in the South Carolina primary, Trump took the evangelical vote. So I’m not the only one.
We are dealing with the office of the president of the USA. OK, what about the USA? I have logged 85 years as a citizen of the USA, and I have never been so discouraged about our nation. We are in dire straights. I believe that much of America’s malady has been caused over the years by the establishment politics of both parties in Washington, D.C. How do we get out of this quagmire? We elect another establishment politician who will deliver business as usual? Or by trying someone whose life has been business before politics, who finances his own campaign, and who is beholden to no one in Washington? That would be Donald Trump.
Some say that Trump is not an evangelical Christian, so how could an evangelical like me vote for him? I wish he didn’t have a history of multiple marriages. I wish he knew the Bible better. I wish he would go to church more regularly. I wish he would tone down his profanity. But none of those qualities would make or break a president who could make or break our country. Many evangelicals voted for Sunday school teacher Jimmy Carter because of his spirituality only to end up with a disaster. God is not limited to using Christians to accomplish His purposes. We need only to recall Cyrus, the idolatrous king of Persia, whom God used to help get His people back to Jerusalem.
Let me point out that influence is related to spirituality in the Religion Mountain, but this is not true in any of the other six mountains that are the molders of culture. The chief producer of influence in the six non-Religion mountains is not spirituality but success. The most successful people are the most influential. Success? In the Business Mountain and the Media Mountain Trump has accumulated $8-10 billion. He knows how to influence. I want to vote for a commander-in-chief, not a bishop-in-chief.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that Trump has the qualities necessary to “make America great once again,” as he would say. Voting for him is a calculated risk, but at this junction of history it is a risk well-taken. Nothing will change if we vote for the status quo. Let’s step out. Let’s put someone different in the White House.
