Over the weekend a tape from 2005 was leaked to the media. On this recording Donald Trump is heard making lewd and sexually aggressive comments. They don’t need repeating, but they were so vulgar that many former supporters have abandoned Trump. One evangelical supporter, though, seems to have dug in with his support. Over the weekend, and undoubtedly in response to the Trump backlash, James Dobson tweeted this:

Lord, You have spoken plainly about the consequences of withholding forgiveness. Help us to hear You and obey. Amen.

— Dr. James Dobson (@DrJamesCDobson) October 8, 2016

As I’ve been saying throughout this entire election my concern is not with my fellow believers who will cast their ballot for Donald Trump. I can’t do it personally, but I understand their reasoning (though, I must confess, a bit less every day). My biggest issue through this whole thing have been what evangelical leaders like Dobson, Falwell Jr., Jeffress, and others are doing to the gospel. And so whenever I see evangelical leaders make dangerous statements, like this one by Dobson, I cannot remain silent.

There are two major reasons why Dobson’s statement is dangerous.

First, Dobson reflects the common evangelical view of a therapeutic forgiveness divorced from repentance. What Dobson says in his tweet is absolutely true if the offending party has sought forgiveness. There is a difference between having a posture of forgiveness and actually living in reconciliation. The first is unconditional the second, though, is conditioned upon repentance. To not know the difference is to open wide the door for continual abuse.

Trump’s apology and dismissing his comments as mere locker room talk is not repentance. The Bible clearly outlines what repentance looks like—and it isn’t dismissive or apologizing because someone might have been offended. Biblical repentance will never hide behind an “at least I wasn’t as bad as the other guy”. It will instead see sin—even in seed form—as odious and offensive to a holy God. Trump has not repented of his comments and he certainly has not modeled repentance of a heart which objectifies women.

Therefore, for Dobson to chide folks for “withholding forgiveness” is not only inappropriate it is also dangerous. It is inappropriate because technically “withholding forgiveness” happens when the other party seeks reconciliation but the offended party refuses. Trump has not sought reconciliation. We can certainly encourage those who might have been offended and harmed by Trump to embrace a posture of forgiveness but they are unable to truly walk in the full expression of forgiveness until Trump repents.

I also say that Dobson’s statements are dangerous because this is the type of rhetoric which causes abused people to stay in abusive relationships. I’ve heard painful stories of church leaders—adopting this view of forgiveness—chide abused women because they refused to “forgive” their unrepentant husbands. Yes, we should consistently have hearts ready to forgive even our abusers. But we can only live in a reconciled relationship with those who are repentant. It’s not because we are “withholding forgiveness” it is because the abuser is “withholding repentance”. We are doing them a disservice by adopting cheap grace. Which is the second major problem with Dobson’s statement.

Secondly, Dobson is promoting a cheap grace. Part of the biggest way that many among the Religious Right has dragged the gospel through the mud is in their proclamation of Trump as a believer or “baby Christian” even though he has often stated he has nothing to repent of. Divorcing the gospel from repentance as these men have done is nothing more than happily promoting the cheap grace which Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke so strongly against.

Consider these tongue-in-cheek words from Bonhoeffer and see if they don’t fit:

Let the Christian rest content with his worldliness and wit this renunciation of any higher standard than the world. He is doing it for the sake of the world rather than for the sake of grace. Let him be comforted and rest assured in his possession of this grace—for grace alone does everything. Instead of following Christ, let the Christian enjoy the consolations of his grace! That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs. Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. (Cost of Discipleship, 44)

Dobson is offering cheap grace to Donald Trump. It certainly isn’t doing those he has objectified and victimized any favors. But such a thing is also not helpful to Donald Trump. And it certainly is not promoting the biblical gospel.

So once again I’m bothered by the way the gospel of Jesus Christ is being abandoned for the porridge of potential political power. It isn’t worth it.

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