On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. Americans are either welcoming or bracing themselves for his administration. How are citizens and people of faith to regard this?
First it seems we must restate the obvious that, namely, the peaceful transition of power is a hallmark of our democracy. In other places and other times, such transitions have been marked by military coups and bloodshed. In our case, thankfully, it is the Constitution that governs this passing of the baton. We must not take this for granted.
Regardless of one's take on this particular man who will occupy the oval office, citizens who esteem the Constitution and respect the office will support the role of President - not blindly, but in principle. And that act of respecting the office will be harder for some than others.
For many, this will be the realization of their election hopes; a new form of leadership will shake up the establishment and set a new course for the country.
Some who voted for the new President did so for a fairly limited palette of reasons - a certain fiscal orientation, some single issue, or a vague sense of wanting some kind of change - and they ignored or screened out the deficits in order to achieve these priorities. They cast their votes with fear and trepidation and now they hope for the best.
Still others have grave concerns about the man who will be our next President; his character, style, priorities and lack of real governing experience.
For all of us, the unfolding of the next four years will tell the story. The people of our country will affirm what can be affirmed and speak truth to power when it overreaches or missteps. Christians in particular will need to exercise their moral sense in critiquing practice of government.
In the meantime we Christians are counseled to pray for those in authority (I Timothy 2:1-3). This doesn't mean pray for those in authority with whom we agree. It means to pray for all who are in positions of governance. Imagine the context of these original words - the Roman Empire. The challenge for those early Christians was an unimaginable one; to pray for foreign pagan rulers who occupied their own country. Pray for these? Yes, pray for these. Why? So that they may be drawn toward governing with justice and compassion.
Yes, I will be praying for the President of the United States. And those prayers will be joined by another one - "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" - which is the highest authority by which we measure every principality and power of this world.
