Faith & Politics: Hidden in Plain Sight

The author of the book of Hebrews states “faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (or confidence) of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) I love this verse of scripture and it was the theme of my first writing, well-noted on this site. I like to describe faith as the intersection of the natural with the supernatural where God’s presence enters our life and changes the environment of our heart, mind and sometimes physical circumstances. I believe it is the moment when faith is birthed in us and is evident mostly by the unseen but felt changes in our lives. I also believe that once faith is birthed in us it is hidden but in plain sight as well. That is, our faith is an active part of our lives, and it can be seen or noticed mostly after the fact by the methods and motives of the way we live our lives. But it can also be evident when we knowingly violate principals of our faith by our own actions. If it is a serious enough violation of our core beliefs, it can devastate us, and it shows. An example of this is Peter’s denial of Christ three times as was predicted by Jesus earlier in that same 24-hour period. Not only did Peter’s accusers know he was lying, but Peter knew it as well and was devastated by his own actions. Scripture says afterward Peter went out and “wept bitterly”. (Mathew 26:27) Our faith has a way of showing itself to others and ourselves through what I refer to as “integrity of faith”. This is simply an alignment of our faith, our motives and our actions. Those three components should be harmonious or an integral part of one another. When one gets out of alignment it creates havoc in our faith walk like a car having a flat tire. We can go a little way down the road limping along in our faith walk but eventually we will have to make the repair if we want to effectively continue in our faith. This is faith hidden in plain sight and it can really show up in politics.

If you have not been following the series of Congressional hearings concerning the January 6th Capitol Riots, I would recommend you watch the last 10 minutes or so of the latest and last hearing (for a while at least until September). In those few minutes the representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district, Liz Cheney, methodically connected the events of January 6th with the motives and methods of the key players, most notably our former president. For any elected official their methods and motives of governance are influenced by any number of personal and political preferences. One public measure that can be made of an elected officials’ private faith is what they choose to verbalize in testimony of that faith. Given that not all elected officials openly speak of his or her faith, another measure would be to observe if their personal methods and motives align with an integrity that would be acceptable to people of faith. In other words, as a person of faith do I agree with the motives and methods of that elected official? That is the question we must ask ourselves as we look at some of the more recent revelations from the hearings and the motives and methods of ex-President Trump.

Representative Cheney made a provocative statement towards the end of her remarks. She stated that Donald Trump knew he could persuade his supporters to follow his directions no matter the consequences and said as much publicly. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK”? Trump remarked at a campaign stop in Iowa in January 2016. “It’s, like, incredible.” (Note quote from Article by Colin Dwyer, NPR, January 23, 2016) The hearings over the series of eight sessions gave explicit detail on the former president’s methods but Representative Cheney revealed why his methods were so effective. Let me paraphrase Representative Cheney’s words but encourage all to watch the video to confirm that I got it right. The former president knew that many Americans would stand up and defend our nation if it was being threatened. They would willingly put their lives and freedom at stake to protect America. And many did that day. Many have been prosecuted for doing what they believed was defending the country from being unjustly controlled. The truth of the matter is they were the ones being controlled. The former president was preying on the patriotism and sense of justice of Americans who sincerely believed they were acting appropriately. “President Trump turned their love of country into a weapon against the Capitol and the Constitution” stated Cheney. President Trump willingly lied and continues to do so regarding the use of foreign forces and corrupt officials turning a “landslide election” that he won into a race that he lost. Cheney stated in her conclusion “We cannot abandon truth and remain a free nation.”

Let me describe what all this has to do with faith and in particularly people of faith. I believe the way we conduct our political support is our faith hidden in plain sight. I believe our political support is one of those tests of our “integrity of faith” discussed earlier. That is, I believe our goal as a people of faith in exercising our constitutional right to vote should be to provide an outcome that aligns with our faith. That is, elect officials whom we think will govern our nation with truthfulness and the moral integrity to honor the oath of office taken by every president to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help them God. I don’t believe the specifics of a president’s faith can ever be known nor does it have to be to those who elect him. However, I do believe the evidence of faith, such as integrity and character, should be relevant to voters. Integrity and character are not exclusive to people of faith only, but nonetheless they should be qualities expected from all elected officials. After four years of presiding as president, we still have no knowledge of the quality or extent of ex-President Trumps faith. We do now know of his tendencies to lie, to control people and to not listen to his advisors as a result of these congressional hearings. Those are all characteristics that would not be so apparently embraced if he was a man that was walking humbly before the God of his understanding. This is the evidence in plain sight. Other evidence can be seen if we go back to our example of Peter’s behavior after his betrayal of Christ. Have you ever “wept bitterly”? I have at times when realizing my conduct was a betrayal to my faith. At the time it happened I believe my conduct was appropriate. Later I was able to “see” how my actions deeply hurt people that I love. When I realized some had been hurt by my actions, I wept so hard I felt like I was never going to stop. When I finally stopped weeping, I was emotionally and physically drained. The first thing I did was call my loved one and asked for her forgiveness. That is what faith does. Once we get off track it compels us to do whatever it takes to get back on our walk of faith. That is the evidence hidden in plain sight. Let’s take a moment and put aside all the lying, the misguided motives and methods that ex-President Trump has employed over the last 18 months or so. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to have heard at least one apology or statement of remorse for the loss of life that has occurred because of his actions? Shouldn’t there be an apology to all those faithful followers of his that have been convicted or are facing criminal prosecutions? Shouldn’t there be some acknowledgement for the wasted government expenditures for the repairs to the Capitol and the immediate areas? What about the Capitol police and their families that have suffered lost income and security because of these events? We have heard not a word of that nature from ex-President Trump, only a persistent argument that the election was stolen from him. That in itself is evidence of ex-President Trump’s faith (or lack thereof) hidden in plain sight.

Cheney ended her presentation with the question “How can we trust Mr. Trump ever to be in a position of authority again?” The integrity of my faith says I can’t. Please ask yourself the same question in faith. Can you ever trust ex-President Trump again to be in a position of authority? Can you be assured he will preserve, protect and defend our Constitution any better if elected again? If those questions are honestly asked, I am confident you will hear the right answer in faith. That is our faith hidden in plain sight.