Trump, Evangelicals, and Wealth

One thing you cannot escape is Trump in the news daily. The former president finds himself swamped in criminal charges. Even with all of his legal problems, people love and support him, especially Evangelicals. How can this be? Christianity teaches against sin which includes lying, corruption, mistreatment of your fellowman, adultry, and many more actions Trump has been accused of doing. Yet, the religious community continue to support him and seemingly even encourage his antics. Trump's potential to be elected president once again has many people on edge and scratching their head wondering who would want a "criminal" (illegedly) for a president?

While I was attending Seminary, we quickly glossed over a parable which seemed to imply it is okay to use your wealth in a way to gain favor from people even if its unethically done. WHAT? I couldn't believe what I was reading and all the professor could say was, "This is seen as a controversial passage scholars have been unable to agree on its true meaning." But what was clear was this one sentence, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:1b-9)." 

Scholars cannot agree exactly what was taking place in the parable. Was the manager decreasing the amounts the master's debtors owed their master gaining favor from the debtors so they would welcome him when he no longer had a job? Does the parable teach to use your position in life to gain personal favor from people even though the way you do it is wrong? Time to look at the parable in the Bible.

In Luke’s Gospel, many of Jesus’s parables are grouped together. In chapter 15, we find the “lost” parables, where Jesus talks about misplaced coins, lost sheep, and wayward sons. In chapter 16, Luke puts two parables together: the Parable of the Shrewd Manager and the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man.

The parable of the shrewd manager reads like this:

“There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg- I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

“‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

“The master (Jesus) commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:1b-9).

There it is. The manager was cheating his boss out of money to gain favor from people he soon would be on the same level with as far as economics were concerned. The parable is specifically talking about using position, authority, and MONEY, to gain favor from people.

Many are confused how and why Evangelicals support and encourage Trump. There is no doubt Donald Trump uses his position, authority, and money to gain favor from people. He has been likened to a mob boss in doing a favor to get a favor. While campaigning for president, he makes favorable, sometime obsurd, promises to his base of supporters. Donald Trump not only uses his worldly wealth to gain friends, he uses threats too.

Some Christians choose to interpret this parable as meaning it is fine to use shrewd tactics to gain godly outcomes as evidenced by the verse in the parable, "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.," They see Donald Trump, a sinner, doing bad to bring about good. He is backed by Evangelicals with a clear heart because of his overturning of Roe v Wade, and favoring other causes dear to them and their Christian faith. He doesn't have to be good or use ethics to bring about desired Christian outcomes in their minds. He is crooked for Christ.

The above parable seems to show that OUTCOMES are more important than means one uses to achieve the desired outcome. This is a parable many are not familiar with and you can see why. When I first read it I could not believe cheating was being sanctioned, making friends held as important in such a way, and self gain at any cost being encouraged. Even if the passage is trying to say it is more important to have friends than to worry about money, it wasn't the manager's money to use to gain friends. The Bible is clear, greed is a sin and the love of money can impede your entrance into heaven, but this is a parable about dishonesty.

It is evident Trump's wealth is his value in his eyes. He lies about his monetary value all the time and is currently standing trial for inflating at times and deflating his monetary value at other times. Every chance he gets he asks his followers to contribute to his defese or campaign even when they have no idea how the millioaire is going to use the money sent to him. Maybe they believe they are giving their money to a kingdom cause and when it is gone, they will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. But Evangelicals support Trump. Go figure.