Donald Trump says he wants to go to heaven. But RT Kendall warns that the President’s refusal to forgive his enemies puts him at odds with Jesus – and urges him to repent before it’s too late
During an interview with 60 Minutes this week, President Trump was asked by the Catholic journalist Ross Douthat, “What do you think happens when you die?”
I gather that the 80 year-old President is counting on living for a good while yet. But it’s a fair question. It could be sooner rather than later that his time will be up and he will be summoned suddenly to stand before God.
Jesus warned how one will be called into eternity without advance notice in one of his parables. There was a man who assumed he had years to live and planned for a happy future. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared – whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20).
When that day comes, Trump’s earthly fame as president of the United States will count for nothing. And yet President Trump has given every indication – many times – that he is counting on doing “a good job”, that “I am a religious person” and that his good works will earn him a place in heaven. He even said that if he wins the Nobel Prize, this would surely get him to heaven. Even if he was joking, this reveals that the Gospel of Jesus had not yet sunk in. If good works are still what he is counting on, then were he to die today I am so sorry to say he would go to hell. I wish it were not true. But hell shows how much God hates sin and how much He will punish those who live for revenge, those who feel no need to repent and those who refuse to forgive.
In the 60 Minutes interview President Trump admitted that he hates his enemies “and always will”. This is scary. It shows that much of his way of life is the polar opposite to Jesus’ teachings. I sometimes think he has used Christianity to win over people – like me – to vote for him. It is possible that Christians put him in the White House and yet he sometimes treats Jesus’ teachings with contempt.
Jesus taught that hating your enemy is murder in God’s eyes (Matthew 5:21-26), that we should actually pray for and love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). He said that if we do not forgive, God will not forgive our offences (Matthew 6:15). Jesus said that we must forgive from the “heart” (Matthew 18:35).
The need to forgive
Kindly bear with me if I share my darkest hour.
My 25 years ministering at Westminster Chapel in London were, to quote Charles Dickens, “the best of times, the worst of times”. I was utterly and unjustly betrayed. I was very hurt and angry. My worst moment ever. If I could narrow those 25 years down to five minutes – which would be my finest hour, it was when an old friend kindly and courageously said to me, “RT, you must totally forgive them. Until you totally forgive them, you will be in chains. Release them and you will be released”. Letting your enemy off the hook is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It is also the best thing I ever did.
And it is the best thing Mr Trump could ever do. The President does not seem to realise that he would be so much better off if he stopped hating his enemies.
Mr Trump has spent much time trying to ensure his legacy. There were two men in the Bible who built monuments to themselves – King Saul (1 Samuel 15:12) and Absalom (2 Samuel 18:18). Both were losers. Utter failures. Jesus said that whoever exalts himself will be abased (Matthew 23:12). If Jesus’ words are true – and they are, I would not want to be in President Trump’s shoes for anything in the world.
I wish I could say this to Mr Trump: “The worst thing in the world, Mr. President, is to have God against you. Not your enemies. You need to have God on your side. He is on the side of those who transfer their trust in their good works to the blood which Jesus shed when He died on the cross 2,000 years ago. Jesus’ blood is your only hope. Not vengeance on your enemies”.
I say to all: the last person in the world you want as an enemy is Almighty God. You surely do not want to have God against you.
We are all going to die one day. It is appointed that all of us will die. But after that comes the Judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
Eternity lasts a long time.
