The Christianity Today editorial calling for Donald Trump to be removed from office and describing him as having a “bent and broken character” has been causing quite a stir. “Nearly 200 influential evangelical leaders” sent the magazine's CEO a letter complaining, “Your editorial offensively questioned the spiritual integrity and Christian witness of tens-of-millions of believers who take seriously their civic and moral obligations.” In reality, the editorial called on Christians to question themselves.
”To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior,” Christianity Today editor Mark Galli wrote. “Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.”
Despite the criticism, Galli told MSNBC, “We have lost subscribers, but we’ve had 3 times as many people start to subscribe.” And while many evangelicals in the pews dismiss the editorial or simply haven’t heard about it, others say that it has started many mostly private conversations within churches or families or among friends.
One editorial at one magazine wasn’t going to shift the mass of evangelicals away from supporting Trump. But boy, has Christianity Today succeeded at getting the discussion started, putting on the table in an inescapably public way the argument that removing Trump, “we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”