I love the idea of Making America Great. How thrilling this would be for American Christians in light of Jesus’ teaching, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” Imagine America deliberately taking on the role of servant around the world – just like Jesus – not counting status or risk or dollars. We could dedicate whole agencies from the US to come to the AID of the neediest among us. Count me in for making America great!
And listen…as for America First – it’s like “being great”…with a corollary. Here’s how Jesus put it. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Whew, that’s more than a little counter-intuitive right? But what follower of Christ would not be thrilled by the dream of taking the back seat…while continually serving the farthest out, most marginalized peoples of the city, region and world? I’m on board with being first too – the world will never be the same.
As for Making America Safe – this is more convoluted. Jesus doesn’t seem to have much for us regarding safety, except in the realm of eternity of course. Maybe heaven is what this slogan is talking about? But Jesus doesn’t promise “on earth” safety to his followers. The best we have is Jesus saying, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Not very safe, but I love the hope he supplies in the midst of our trouble. Perhaps we could change this one to “Make America Hopeful Again”. I’d sign up for that.
Finally, and new to Trumpworld this time around, we hear Making America Healthy. Let’s do it. Proverbs describes some foundations of good whole health – physically, emotionally and spiritually. “Gracious words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy to the body” (16:24). “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (17:22). “Fearing the Lord and turning away from evil is healing to the flesh and refreshing to the bones” (3:7-8). So let’s look for gracious words, joyful hearts, fear of the Lord, and turning away from evil. And if we cannot find these in Trumpworld, then here’s Isaiah’s promise for divine vaccination, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” I think we’ll need some booster shots along the way.
The Gathering 