Trump Evangelical Advisor Answers Critics

Apparently, a significant number of Christians did not take well to the news that highly placed evangelical leaders will serve on an advisory board for the Donald Trump campaign.

Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and executive editor of The Christian Post, received enough backlash to warrant a response. After emphaizing that serving on the board did not constitute an endorsement of Trump, Land wrote:

… what would our critics have us do? Would they really have us spurn the opportunity to give spiritual counsel and advice to Mr. Trump and his team? How would that be obedience to our Saviour’s command to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world? (Matthew 5:13-16). After all, as Evangelicals we all believe that the heart of the king “is in the hand of the Lord . . . He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

We never know how God may use our advice and witness in Donald Trump’s life. Is it not our responsibility to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you . . .” (1 Peter 3:15)?

Is it not our spiritual obligation and responsibility to speak biblical truth in love to all who will listen? It is our duty to speak biblical truth to Mr. Trump. It is his responsibility as to how Mr. Trump responds to our counsel and advice.

It’s a fair point. If someone asks for your advice, especially someone in a position of power, you would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to influence him.

However, it may prove just as likely that Land and the twenty-four other evangelicals on Trump’s advisory board are simply being used by the campaign for their credibility. Whether serving as an advisor constitutes an endorsement or not, it certainly constitutes an association. The campaign has already begun flaunting that association for political purposes. That somewhat undermines the notion that the board exists to influence Trump, rather than to influence voters by its mere existence.