A few months ago I had a unique situation develop as I was accidentally tweeted at by the President of the United States. The drive-by tweeting brought me momentarily into the U.S. Twitter war and gave me opportunity to share some reflections via an open letter to the President (http://www.jonathancarl.org/2019/09/TrumpTwitterWar.html). Over the next week correspondence came my way that was mostly encouraging (with the expected disturbing responses as well). In the midst of interviews, I lightheartedly remarked on a TV interview that my wife would love to visit the White House at Christmas (https://www.wdrb.com/news/kentucky-pastor-thrust-into-spotlight-by-president-trump-twitter-mistake/article_de807c5e-cf47-11e9-bd6c-9736296eb439.html).
Just a few weeks ago my wife and I received a phone call from the White House with a Christmas invitation to visit! So tomorrow we visit the White House!
Why accept an invite to the White House?
When a sports team wins a championship, it seems to be a faddish and frequent occurrence for individuals to publicly reject a White House invite as a sign of protest or opposition to the President. Some might view the visit of a pastor to the White House as a public partisan endorsement but I don’t see it that way.
Consider if you had a neighbor, or even an enemy, invite you into their home, wouldn’t an appropriate response to hospitality be a yes. Of course there could always be a hidden agenda or motivation, but I think the best intents should be assumed at the outset and the hope should be there for reconciliation and change.
What would you say if you met the President?
If I had the momentary encounter of a handshake and greeting, I think I would say, “Thank you for your service to our country and I am praying to Jesus for you. Thank you for your invitation to the White House to enjoy these amazing decorations too!” I think such a gracious greeting would be appropriate for most brief hand shake encounters with our government leaders in their homes.
If I have more than a handshake encounter, I think I might hand President Trump a letter and say:
“I wrote you a letter a few months back, here is a copy, have you gotten to read it yet? It contains my hope and prayer for you with the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of James 1:19-20. My ultimate hope and prayer for you personally is that you trust and treasure Jesus more than anything, prioritizing His truth in the Bible daily.”
If the conversation continued, I would love to hear more about his faith journey, his personal spiritual beliefs and practices, and to hear more about his family life.
If I had the opportunity to speak a bit more, I think I would aim to say:
“I enjoyed reading your book Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again to get a better insight into who you are and your hope for the United States. I love that you wrote it out to share more of who you are and for your hope and plan for our nation. I am so thankful for your care and concern for the welfare of our nation and am praying it goes well for you. I am sure the political realm is a dark and discouraging place and I hope that Jesus’ love, strength, and truth propels you forward.
As I read your book, I think you are missing out on the main solution to our nation’s woes. On one randomly selected page of your book (p.12) I noticed you referenced yourself 27 times. In the entirety of your almost 200 page book, I only noticed three pages (p.130-32) giving reference to God and your Christian faith. There is a lot of self-talk and little God-talk. It reminds me of concerning similarities with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon about 2600 years ago in Daniel 1-4 where he bounces between praising God and taking credit for himself when things went well. Unfortunately Nebuchadnezzar had to be humbled by God before he got to the point where properly honored God as “the King of heaven,” acknowledging that “all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37 ESV)
My prayer that you humble yourself and make Jesus a greater priority in your personal life and in leading our nation. Only Jesus can heal our crippled nation. I am glad that you said that “the Bible is the most important book ever written” (p.130) and am praying that your life, lips, and leadership are guided by God’s faithful voice increasingly and more consistently.”
Now would I actually get the time to say all of that? Would I actually remember to say those sorts of things in the moment? Maybe, but probably not. But I am praying that these written words reach his ears or eyes through someone, somehow, soon.
Regardless of how our visit to Washington goes and no matter who we get to meet, I will continue to pray these truths over our nation’s present and future leaders.
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?— unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5, ESV)
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)
