Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, will you excuse blasphemy? Now, this is prompted by a recent article in the New York Times about President Trump posting and then taking down a picture of himself as Jesus. Of course, it's prompted by the New York Times article, but this story has been everywhere. if you don't know about this, President Trump posted on social media an AI generated image depicting himself as a Jesus like figure healing a sick man. This came shortly after kind of, a back and forth between him and the Pope about war and who's on the side of God and all of that. And President Trump's response was basically to equate himself with Jesus. Now, the image is full of religious imagery, patriotic imagery, and, you know, President Trump has since defended the image, saying, no, no, no, that's not me as Jesus. That's me as a Red Cross worker, as a doctor. But in typical American fashion, more and more, you see this, people defend it and then take it down. So you can read that how you will. Of course, Christians across the political landscape have been decrying this, saying that it is blasphemy. Equating yourself with Jesus, equating yourself with the Son of God is incredibly offensive to the glory of Jesus Christ and to Christians all over the world. Of course, by the way, that's true. You don't get to depict yourself as Jesus. There's enough theological arguments over there of whether we should even be depicting Jesus at all, with many people thinking that's a violation of the Ten Commandments. But regardless of where you land on that, picturing yourself as Jesus is beyond the pale. And it shows, I think a couple of things in President Trump's thinking. One is that he will traffic in Christianity whenever he thinks it suits him. I mean, that this post was a shameless attempt to get Christians to side with him instead of the pope, him instead of his opponents, and he will just kind of dip down into Christianity when he thinks it will gain him points. But then, of course, second, it shows what he really thinks about Jesus. There's no reverence there, there's no honor there. And if you've been paying attention, I guess that part isn't surprising. What President Trump should realize, though, is the Bible does warn people about this all the time. In Isaiah 42. 8, God says this, I am the Lord. This is my name, my glory. I give to no other. The Ten Commandments are clear. We shouldn't make any images of God, have any gods before him, put ourselves before him. Right. This is offensive to God. And I guess that's where I really want to focus. This episode's not about President Trump and who you should vote for. I understand that when you're voting, you're making a binary choice. And. And I understand tribalism, and I understand you're going to defend him if you vote Republican. You're going to attack him if you vote Democrat. I guess this is what my point is, understanding that if you're listening to this podcast, you're a follower of Jesus. Don't defend this. Don't excuse this. Even if you think President Trump is a great president, you need to be able to say he was completely and utterly wrong about this. Do not try to tell me about the Red Cross. Don't. Do not try to tell me about the Doctor. Do not try to justify. Or what about. Or at least he's not this. Or he's the lesser of two evils. No, no, no. When someone diminishes the glory of Jesus Christ, that has to be a line you will not cross. And so unintentionally, what I think President Trump did is create a litmus test for us as Christians, because if you'll defend this, there really isn't anything he can do that you won't defend. If you'll defend this, you need to hear me. You're out of bounds. Your support of him has become something that is spiritually toxic and sinful. You need to repent of your support in this way, and you need to go back to letting Jesus's voice be louder than Donald Trump's. That's what this is. What he did is inexcusable. And, look, as a Christian, I want to practice grace and forgiveness. So when President Trump comes out, I hope he does and says, that was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. Jesus is Jesus and I'm not Jesus. Then we'll move on. But until then, excuses, distraction, rationalization is not enough. He is not Jesus. Only Jesus is Jesus. I can't believe I even have to say that. Hopefully, I don't. To you, politics are politics, but the glory of Christ at the center of what God is doing is unassailable. You cannot support blasphemy. You cannot excuse it. So don't. So don't. Wherever we stand, we stand with the one son of God, Jesus Christ. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!