-Why I Feel A Kinship To
Trump-
As I have been watching this highly unique political season unfold, I
have been attempting to put my finger on the reason I feel a type of kinship
with Trump. I realize he is brash, uses
language I would not use, has a multi-faceted past, is on this 3rd
marriage, probably is not a believer (although nobody knows that for sure but
him and God) and is not a traditional conservative … although he is a populist
and nationalist, and as such, I believe truly loves America.
Back-story:
A Brief History
I grew up in a conservative, very conservative, branch of
Christianity. I was a part of a leading
evangelical church/school from 1st grade until high school
graduation in 1983. During those years,
I was never purposefully discipled. I
was a leader in the youth group … led my first soul to Christ when I was in the
9th grade as a counselor at a Jr. High youth camp … was a section
leader in the Churches high school leadership program … was involved in puppet
ministry, missions trips, etc. However,
I was never purposefully discipled. I
never had someone approach me (as a true discipler should) and say,
The first four stages of spiritual growth (discipleship) are: a babe, a little child, a child, a young man. All of these stages are in the Bible, have characteristics and match up nicely with the physical stages of growth (Romans 1 explains why this is true).
At that I should have asked, “What are the following 3 stages of spiritual growth?”
At that the equipped discipler would say (because he has gone through the growth process himself),
“The next 3 stages, in a nutshell, are: a father (bringing a son of God into this world), an elder (you can now become a spiritual leader of others), and an aged person (you know have a world vision). Satan will attack you at this point, but we will be there as you continue to build on your foundation.”
I was never offered authentic Biblical discipleship … I guess I was just
supposed to “get it” at some point and then get the mysterious “call” to the
ministry, go to Bible College and continue the journey hoping I would “get it.” Even at Bible College I was never offered
Biblical Discipleship … they just crammed book stuff down my throat and
continued to hope I would get it. I then
worked for 4 different leading churches in the evangelical movement and again …
nobody ever offered Biblical discipleship to me; even though a discipled person
would have known I was not Biblically discipled to that point.
But … I knew something was missing in my spiritual journey, but I couldn’t
put my finger on it. Being successful in
building a youth group and overseeing the entire Sunday School ministry I
thought what I needed was to answer the “call” to start a church. I began the process of getting all my ducks
in a row and went to the NC/SC Fellowship meeting to approach the leadership
about starting a church in NC. At the
meeting I meet with 6 of the top leadership of the NC/SC Fellowship and all they
asked me was how old I was, and then said, “You look like you’re ready; we
will support you at $250 a month for one year.”
Well, I wasn’t ready … but … nobody in that room knew that. That, in itself, was very telling (not then,
but now). It is telling as to how blind
our conservative evangelical leadership is to the Biblical principle of
authentic discipleship, or, the command to make disciples of all people groups. Somebody in that room should have asked me
to, at least, define the church, and reveal my plans of building a church. If they would have done that things would
have been different. But they didn’t
know the importance of that or they would have asked. They did not.
So, I began my journey to do what it was I believed God wanted me to do
(no thanks to conservative spiritual leadership). In fact, not a single one of the leader’s
churches in that room even encouraged me in any way one single time during the
first year (no phone call, no letter, no nothing). I did have a high school friend of mine ask
me to preach at his church, and in so doing, was able to give me $500. And at the beginning of my journey I was sent
$2000 by a pastor to help get us started.
But that is not what I needed. What I needed was a leader who understood I
wasn’t ready to do what it was I was
beginning to do … but … nobody in the leading conservative churches I met with,
or knew, knew I wasn’t ready. That is a
core reason of why I do what I do today.
I don’t want others to have to, unnecessarily, experience what my family
and I had to endure because of spiritual leaders that didn’t understand
spiritual leadership.
In 1996 a husband and wife couple loved me enough to expose our lack of discipleship
(because they knew what that looked like) and provide us a sure foundation,
which helped us build thereupon properly.
I thank God for Ken and Karin … they were the first (and only) couple in
my life that loved us enough to break us down so they could build us up. I am so thankful we submitted to that
breaking … for without that breaking our building could not have happened.
I have recently begun a ministry called RU FIT Ministries (www.rufitministries.weebly.com)
in an effort to lovingly expose the failures of many, I believe most, evangelical
churches as to how to produce an authentic disciple. It comes from my almost 40 year journey
through evangelical circles of leadership.
My Kinship/Affinity With Trump
My empathy with Trump coalesces around the similarity of our passions to
fix what is broken. As I clearly see what
is broken in the evangelical branch of Christianity, Trump, through his life
experiences, sees what is broken in the political arena. In that way I feel a kinship with Trump. Trump is not a traditional conservative … he
is a nationalist and a populist, and as such, I believe he loves America and
her people. He, in a post Christian
America, is our best chance to slow down progressive liberalism and bring a
fractured people back together.
What I would love to see is a person like Cruz (who claims to be a
Christian, and probably is) become Trump’s Vice President … build a
relationship with Trump … lead him to Christ and help a good man become a great
man. If Cruz could mend his relationship
with Trump, he could lead him to Christ … maybe even disciple him (I’d love to
be part of that process) and watch a life transform in front of the whole
nation and world. Then Trump could learn
from Cruz and Cruz could learn from Trump.
Trump would be in office for eight years and then follow that eight with
another eight … that would be 16 years of positive leadership.
Now … would that not be an amazing story! But it won’t happen if Christians continue behaving the way they are behaving inside and outside the auspices of the local assembly of believers.
RU FIT!
Mark Harrell - Founder and President of RU FIT Ministries
Habakkuk 2:2
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