Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount vs Trump’s Sermon in the Media

Jesus’s message in the Sermon on the Mount, “Happy are the hurting,” is the opposite of Trump’s stump speech. Christ is, of course, eternally right.

Donald Trump is having the time of his life proclaiming the gospel of this world: “Blessed are the rich, strong, and beautiful because they don’t make stupid deals.” If Trump’s sole goal in life was to write the antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount, he could do no better.

Of course, Trump is not alone in his opinion that “rich and beautiful are better.” His polling numbers demonstrate that many are making a deal with Trump according to the details in his “Sermon Through the Media.”

It is worth considering the differences between Christ’s beatitudes and Trump’s beatitudes. Who is it that is blessed? Contrast the gospel of a “would be king” with that of the only true King and see why it is the Trumps of the world who are really hurting. In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey interacts with Monika Hellwig who lists the following advantages to being poor.

  1. They poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.
  2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.
  3. The poor rest their security not on things but on people.
  4. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.
  5. The poor expect little form competition and much from cooperation.
  6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
  7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.
  8. The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.
  9. Then the poor have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.
  10. The poor can respond to the call of the Gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

Yancey continues:

In summary, through no choice of their own–they may urgently wish otherwise–poor people find themselves that befits the grace of God. In their state of neediness, dependence, and dissatisfaction with life, they may welcome God’s free gift of love.

See also:
Who Gets Helped By Jesus

Published by Chris

2 thoughts on “Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount vs Trump’s Sermon in the Media”

  1. Excellent. Thank you.

    Have I ever wished I lived a life of luxury? Of course. And while there are still moments when I look longingly at other’s “stuff” I honestly believe that God did me a huge favor by keeping me needy. I’m confident that God knows I’d not handle luxury well.

  2. Very good. We are able to see some of these truths through Our new daughters. They shine joy and love as others seek to pursue happiness and fail.

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