What if Biden did it?

The first weeks of President Trump’s second term in office have been controversial, to say the least. The number of policies he has enacted and the speed with which they’ve occurred has left much of the nation simply trying to catch up. And he does not seem interested in slowing down anytime soon. 

However, one constant amid so much change has been the partisan way in which most have evaluated the president’s actions to this point. If you supported Trump in the election, you’ve likely supported most of what he’s done over the last month (or at least been willing to take a wait-and-see approach). Likewise, if you weren’t in favor of a second term for the president in November, you’ve likely not been in favor of much of what he’s done since retaking office. 

But while that consistency is understandable, it’s not necessarily biblical. To that end, I’d like to propose an alternative way of evaluating both the president’s actions and, more importantly, our response. 

How would you respond?

When evaluating the degree to which we should support a given policy or stance, a helpful question to ask ourselves is how you’d see the issue if those on the other side of the aisle were the ones pushing it. 

• If former president Biden used the threat of tariffs to increase security along our borders, how would you respond?
• If the previous administration announced that America would retake control of the Panama Canal unless the nation to whom it was given rejected China’s influence, how would you respond?
• When Republicans in the Senate were the ones using confirmation hearings to advance a personal agenda rather than fairly evaluate cabinet nominees, how did you respond?
• And if Biden announced that the US would be taking over Gaza and that its refugees would have to relocate to neighboring countries, how would you respond? 

There are valid reasons why you might trust one administration to handle such endeavors but not the other, and my intent today is not to argue otherwise. However, taking a minute to honestly think about how you would react if these events had happened prior to January’s transition in power can help us understand when we’re supporting a policy because we agree with the position and when we’re supporting it because we want to agree with the person who is pushing it. And the same can be true of why we might oppose those same policies as well.

If you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with something President Trump does before you’ve taken the time to understand the issue, then you’ve probably made this mistake. And it’s as important now as it’s ever been to make sure that Christians avoid that trap.

The only perspective that matters

One of our primary goals at the Denison Forum is to discern what occurs in our culture through the lens of Scripture and then help others do the same. If the Bible is our ultimate guideline, then whether a position is right has less to do with who is pushing it than with the degree to which it honors the Lord. 

We see this principle play out throughout much of the New Testament, and it’s no less relevant today than it was nearly two thousand years ago. 

When Peter and John, for example, were brought before the same Jewish council that condemned Jesus to be crucified and were commanded to stop speaking in his name, they responded, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20). 

For them, the only perspective that mattered was God’s, and our response to the cultural and political pressure to conform today needs to be the same.

As our culture continues to shift away from a reliance on the Lord, it is essential that Christians do not lose our dependence on Christ and our independence from the politics that would see us fall in line rather than hold God’s line. 

There is room for well-meaning and informed believers to disagree on how God would have us act and on which policies really do honor him. But unless that discussion is based on the honest attempt to evaluate these topics through the lens of God’s word, then we’re making a mistake regardless of who or what we support. 

So the next time Trump proclaims a new policy or signs another executive order, take a minute to ask yourself, “What if Biden did it?” Then compare how you would have responded then to how you’re inclined to respond now. 

It’s worth the time to ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern if your support or disagreement is based on God’s word or man’s. After all, the answer is likely to be the primary determinant of whether we’re going to be used by God or by other people. 

Which will you choose today?