When I was training to be a hospital chaplain, I learned that a good chaplain helps patients uncover their own spiritual and religious resources to grapple with suffering and pain. Inside each person is a trove of spirituality for difficult times. Inside each one’s religious tradition are life-giving forms of resistance for the most challenging struggles.
Under the new U.S. administration, many are suffering and searching for political, ideological, and spiritual resources to manage the next four years. My progressive Christian friends have expressed frustration, pain, and surprise at the current situation. Many feel lost because they have never seen a government and U.S. culture so opposed to their fundamental values. The country they once loved has turned into a demon ready to consume the most vulnerable. The U.S. president embodies the spirit of the anti-Christ.
Although a nation so opposed to our sacred values may be novel for many U.S. Christians, our current political situation is nothing new for long-established Christian tradition. The history of Christianity in the world reveals that faith often conflicts with political regimes and religious beliefs often contradict state authorities. Christianity, which has seen empires rise and fall, is a resource as we discern and live out our responses to the Trump presidency. Christianity provides models of resistance, hope, and humanity against anti-Christian political leaders and inhumane government policies.
In the Hebrew scriptures, the God of Israel calls God’s people to live out justice with compassion for the most vulnerable. The Hebrew prophets constantly speak out against the rich and powerful who commit injustice. Imprecatory psalms call down curses upon God’s enemies who use their power to abuse the weak. These texts were desperate cries against injustice when they were written. They can serve as a template for our prayer, preaching, and action today.
Examples of faithfulness to God and others also abound. In the book of Daniel, we read of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, young Israelite men who defied the King of Babylon when he demanded that they bow down and worship him. Their stand against state idolatry was prophetic and dangerous. The king threw the men into a fiery furnace, but they emerged unscathed because the God of Israel stood by them.
Centuries later, Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom of God in Judea. Followers of Christ owed their allegiance to a heavenly kingdom and way of life focused on peace and mercy, not the abusive tyranny of the Roman Empire. Because he defied political authorities, Christ died on the cross as an enemy of the state. According to Christian tradition, God vindicated Christ through the resurrection three days later.
Early Christians continued to defy the Roman Empire. Thousands gave their lives as martyrs in imitation of Christ. Their sacrifice was spiritual, but it was also political, a prophetic sign against the evils of the worldly kingdom. The book of Revelation is full of breathtaking imagery that reveals the horrors of a state in opposition to God. It also tells of God’s ultimate triumph over all the dehumanizing powers of the world. Christian resistance against evil and degrading government is in its blood.
I could go on and on about the ways that Christians have opposed evil ideologies and political regimes throughout history. In the last century, believers such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maximilian Kolbe opposed Nazi terror. In Latin America, Oscar Romero and others spoke out against economic injustice in corrupt and abusive political regimes. Here in the U.S., peace activists Dorothy Day and Daniel Berrigan confronted the evils of American warmongering during the Cold War. Their fidelity to the Gospel and love for all people serves as a witness to the power of Christian faith in the most trying times.
After less than two weeks of Trump’s presidency, some of my Christian friends are already burnt out. They are exhausted from the pain they see and experience all around them, and are burdened with anxiety about the future. Amid this ongoing suffering, Christian tradition offers a trove of stories, poetry, and teaching to sustain us in our resistance. The tradition gives voice to emotions such as defiance, pride, grief, lamentation, hope, love, and anger, but it can also serve as a powerful critique of abusive governments. Christianity comes to us through the experiences of other believers, that “great cloud of witnesses” from the past that cheers us on today. Christian tradition gives us strength to live out a Gospel ethic that defends the vulnerable in a nation that is quickly abandoning its most sacred values.
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