5 Reflections on the 2024 Presidential Election
What Christians can learn from the re-election of Donald Trump and the widespread victory by Republicans
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
America just overwhelmingly reelected Donald Trump to another term as President of the United States. Coming into this election, I expected Trump to win, but I was prepared for any outcome due to the nature of the polls and what both campaigns were communicating. I came away, as I do after every election, with deep gratitude for our imperfect, but great country where citizens have the freedom to express their opinions and change their government.
What are some lessons Christians can learn from this election?
We are witnessing history
Donald Trump will be the first President to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in 1892. It’s rare to have a former President even run again. The last time this happened was when Teddy Roosevelt ran (and lost) as a third-party candidate in 1912. He also won the popular vote, which Republicans haven’t done since 2004 and before that, in 1992. Trump will be the oldest president to assume office.
I also think Trump’s victory is the greatest political comeback in U.S. history, surpassing even Richard Nixon’s comeback in 1968 after losing the Presidential election in 1960 and the California gubernatorial election in 1992.
Acts 17 tells us God “has made every nation of men to live all over the earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.” God has made us and equipped us for this moment. History is current events for the people living through it.
The electoral map is shifting
Donald Trump has shifted the electoral map. It’s not just white evangelicals and Catholics who vote Republican. It’s working-class people of color. Trump won states Republicans haven’t won in decades, such as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. It turns out that identity politics isn’t working so much anymore. People voted based on economic and cultural issues. Consider that 45% of Hispanics, once a reliable voting block for Democrats, voted for Trump. He improved his numbers among black men, Asian Americans, and other groups. Anecdotally, I saw this. I have students whose parents are either children or grandchildren of immigrants. They all voted Republican and all have deeply patriotic parents and grandparents who do not like the economic or social policies of the left.
This complicates a dominant narrative about Trump and white evangelicals. This has become a cottage industry with a flood of books, essays, and conferences demonizing, stereotyping, and condemning folks for their votes. Some voices have been helpful. Most have been condescending, divisive, and unhelpful. The narrative is called into question, however, by the growing number of other groups who are voting red in this new multi-racial coalition that is rejecting policies from the left. I hope future takes are more nuanced but I’m not holding my breath.
The media landscape is changing
If you tuned into major mainstream media sources, you would not have seen this electoral landslide coming. I consume quite a bit from a variety of sources and for many journalists, it is just unthinkable that anyone would be upset about boys being in girls’ bathrooms, taxpayer funding of transitions for inmates, and gender reassignment surgeries for minors. But most ordinary people you talk to—who may not even be that conservative or Christian—think that stuff is crazy. The way the media often frames the abortion debate is in terms of “women’s reproductive rights” instead of the taking of the life of a baby just assumes their audience is with them on that issue. The way media folks can’t understand why ordinary families are struggling to pay for basic needs is also a huge problem.
Look, conservative media can be an unhelpful echo chamber as well. If all you listen to or read are right-wing podcasts and websites, you’ll also be out of touch with the rest of the country. But there is a deep disconnect in many of our institutions with ordinary Americans. Trump understood that and while still doing quite few interviews with mainstream outlets, spent a lot of time talking to popular podcasters and Youtubers who reach Americans who likely won’t read Politico or watch CNN. I still think mainstream media outlets matter, but their influence is waning. If they were smart, they’d hire more conservative commentators and find journalists who don’t all vote the same way.
The country sent a mixed message on abortion
If, like me, you care deeply about the sanctity of human life, this election provided a mixed message. On the one hand, we can be grateful for the defeat of Florida’s expansive referendum that would have allowed abortion at all stages of pregnancy with zero restrictions. Nebraska and South Dakota also voted similarly.
On the other hand, seven states, including Missouri and Arizona, passed sweeping pro-abortion referendums that made it hard if not impossible to restrict abortion. Clearly, after the Dobbs decision, we are learning that a majority of Americans do not yet see the humanity of the unborn. This is tragic.
It is also interesting to see how this issue played out in the Presidential race. Many pro-lifers have lamented the softening of the Republican party’s position in this cycle and the mixed messages sent by the Presidential campaign. Yet it is also somewhat gratifying that the Democratic party’s insistence on doubling down on abortion rights with zero restrictions wasn’t the electoral winner they thought it would be.
The bottom line: just as it took half a century to overturn Roe, it will take an equally long effort to educate and persuade Americans on the humanity and dignity of our most vulnerable neighbors. We cannot give up this fight.
President Trump has a rare opportunity for leadership
President Trump will enter the Oval Office again with several historically rare advantages. First, he won the popular vote which gave him a mandate. Second, he will have a GOP Senate with 53 seats and a GOP House with a narrow majority. Third, he does not have to (and cannot) run for reelection. He will have about 18-20 months to pass meaningful domestic legislation before the midterms begin after which he will mostly be a lame-duck President. After the midterms in 2026, he can can continue to lead on foreign policy and the administrative branch, but will gradually lose political capital. That’s just the nature of these things.
But Trump will have a significant window to get some stuff done for the American people, including immigration, social policy, and economic policy. I’m hopeful. Imagine, for instance, if he was able to secure the border and negotiate an immigration deal that would increase legal immigration (something Trump has recently been championing). Social conservatives should be watching who is appointed to important positions like the FDA and HHS. I also hope and expect he will ensure Ukraine doesn’t fall to the Russians. All Christians should pray for our incoming President and his team, regardless of how they voted (1 Timothy 2). We should pray for wisdom, for discipline, that Trump will surround himself with wise people, and that he will help unify the country. We should pray for humility and not hubris, charity, and not revenge. He is entering office facing a more dangerous world and with some significant challenges at home. Believers should, like any president, applaud when he does things that align with Scriptural beliefs and oppose when he does things that do not align with Scriptural beliefs. We should root for him, like any president, to succeed. Because if he does well in his job, America does well.
Much of the work of renewing our country happens in our own communities.
Presidential elections are important, but regardless how the outcomes, our job as Christians hasn’t changed. We worship God weekly, raise our families to honor him, and do meaningful work where he has called us. Much of the work of renewing our beloved country happens in the communities where we live. The American Founders never intended for our lives to revolve around who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We should neither gloat nor despair. Political parties rise and fall, but God’s kingdom endures.
Christians should be the people who live with both courage and kindness (1 Peter 3:15-17). We are the ones to whom Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” We must engage in the political process, we should seek the flourishing of our cities and country, but most of all, we must remember we are bearers of the best possible news: that Christ has conquered sin, death, and the grave. He’s renewing and restoring human heart and is coming back one day to fully renew and restore the world.
My book, The Characters of Christmas, is now on sale on Amazon. Get it if you are planning your Advent season. If you have little kids, you’ll like Jesus and The Characters of Christmas.
If your church is looking for a resource about understanding spiritual gifts, check out my study with Lifeway.