SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON BEING A GOOD SHEPHERD IN THE AGE OF TRUMP: RUSHING TOWARD AMERICA’S BONHOEFFER MOMENT (WITH VIDEO)

THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “If you point out these instructions to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished [through study] on the words of the faith and of the good [Christian] doctrine which you have closely followed.” – 1 TIMOTHY 4:6, AMP

KEY TERM. “NOURISHED.” ‘Entrephó’ [ἐντρεφόμενος]: “From a root word meaning, ‘To fatten, cherish or rear; thus, to educate, instruct.’ Noah Webster (1828): ‘To feed and cause to grow; to supply the means of support and increase; to encourage.’” NOTE: “The verbἐντρέφω (Strong’s Greek 1789) pictures: ‘The steady, ongoing Nourishment that strengthens and matures a believer in Faith and Doctrine.’ Used only once in the New Testament, it anchors Paul’s Pastoral Charge to Timothy and supplies a vivid metaphor for discipleship that resonates with the broader Biblical Witness.”

QUOTATION. “‘No, Aleck, no!’ The Danger of Ruin to Methodism does not lie here. It springs from quite a different quarter. Our preachers, many of them, are fallen. They are not spiritual. They are not alive to God. They are soft, enervated, fearful of shame, toil, hardship … ‘Give me one hundred Preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the Gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth!’” – JOHN WESLEY, “Letter to Alexander Mather,” August 6, 1777, quoted in Luke Tyerman, The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley (1871), III:632; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things’ – Of the Truths just stated [re: the “Latter Times”].’ They are, therefore, proper subjects to preach upon. ‘It is the Duty of the Ministry to show to the people of their charge what is Error and where it may be apprehended, and to caution them to avoid it.’

‘Nourished up in the words of faith’ – That is, you will be then ‘A GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST,’ as becomes one who has been nourished up in the Words of Faith, or trained up in the ‘DOCTRINES OF RELIGION.’ The Apostle evidently designs to remind Timothy of the manner in which he had been trained, and to show him how he might act in accordance with that. From one who had been thus educated, it was reasonable to expect that he would be a faithful and exemplary Minister of the Gospel.

‘Whereunto thou hast attained’ – The word used here means, properly, to accompany side by side; to follow closely; to follow out, trace, or examine. It is rendered ‘shall follow,’ in Matthew 16:17; ‘having had understanding,’ in Luke 1:3; and ‘hast fully known,’ in 2 Timothy 3:10. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The meaning here seems to be, that Timothy had followed out THE DOCTRINES in which he had been trained to their legitimate results; he had accurately seen and understood their bearing, as leading him: ‘To embrace the [FULLNESS OF] the Christian Religion.’ His early training in the Scriptures of the Old Testament 2 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 3:15, he had now fully carried out, by embracing the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, and by evincing the proper results of the early teaching which he had received in connection with that Religion.

‘IF [and only IF] he now followed THE DIRECTIONS of the Apostle, he would be a Minister of the Lord Jesus’ – Worthy of the attainments in Religious Knowledge which he had made, and of the expectations which had been formed of him. No young man should, by neglect, indolence, or folly, disappoint the reasonable expectations of his friends. Their cherished hopes are a proper ground of appeal to him, and it may be properly demanded of every one. ‘That he shall carry out to their legitimate results ALL THE PRINCIPLES of his early training, and that he shall be in his profession ALL that his early advantages make it reasonable to expect that he will be.’” – ALBERT BARNES, Notes on the Old and New Testament, 14 vols., 1834, 1884; edited

II. TEACHING

America’s White Evangelical Leaders and Pastors for the most part have supported President Trump for ten years running, with little variation in the 83% that National Polls consistently demonstrate.

Given Trump’s most recent Draconian Policies being shot-gunned by Executive Orders that clearly violate so much of the Bibilcal Canon and Christian Gospel, THE QUESTION hanging in the increasingly toxic air today is:

Why?

Two just released studies, one from August and one just out this month of September provide chilling, Faith-killing evidence for THE ANSWER. The first is from AP reporter PETER SMITH in an analysis titled, “Trump Energizes Conservative Christians with Religious Policies and Assaults on Cultural Targets” (PBS, Aug. 7, 2025; edited). He outlines TEN WAYS that earn Trump the allegiance of both White Evangelicals and Catholics.

TRANSGENDERISM. “Trump has cracked down on Transgender identity and medical treatment, long targets of Religious Conservatives. He signed an Executive Order on his first day in office recognizing only male and female as biologically determined sexes. Another Order aimed to eliminate Federal support for gender-affirming care for young people, which several medical institutions have discontinued.”
PASTORS. “The IRS declared on July 7, 2025, that Pastors can endorse political candidates from the pulpit without risking their churches’ tax-exempt status. The move effectively calls for a carve-out for religious organizations from the IRS rule known as the Johnson Amendment, enacted in 1954 and named after then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson. That rule said churches and other nonprofits could lose their tax-exempt status if they participate in any political campaign for or against any candidate. The rule was rarely enforced, though some conservative religious leaders spent years vocally claiming it was violating their freedom of religion and speech. Trump had vowed in 2017 to ‘destroy’ the Johnson Amendment.”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD. “Trump signed budget legislation aimed at cutting Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s biggest abortion provider and a longtime target of Christian conservative groups. U.S. law already bars Federal funding for abortion, but the latest cuts target other services offered by the organization, such as contraception and cancer screenings. Trump in January pardoned anti-abortion activists who had been convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances.”
FAITH OFFICE. “Trump created a White House Faith Office led by Paula White-Cain, a longtime Pastor and Evangelist in the independent Charismatic world. While past presidents have had similar White House outreach to Faith-based communities [as with President George W. Bush], this appointment puts one of Trump’s earliest high-profile Christian supporters in a strategic position. White-Cain held a similar post in the first Trump administration.”
TASK FORCE. “Trump created a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi and composed of high-ranking government representatives. Its two-year mandate is to ‘Identify any unlawful anti-Christian actions’ allegedly taken by the previous administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ‘and to recommend changes.’ The Order cites grievances voiced by conservative Christian leaders in recent years, though skeptics questioned how those grievances were portrayed and whether the Nation’s most dominant Religious demographic needed special protections.”
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. “Trump created a Religious Liberty Commission. It includes several conservative Christian clerics and commentators, some of whom have supported Trump politically. Its chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, supports prayer and Ten Commandments postings in public schools. The Commission’s announcement came at a White House prayer event at which Trump said of the concept of Church-state separation, ‘Let’s forget about that for one time.’”
ISRAEL. “Trump appointed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and prominent Religious Conservative, as Ambassador to Israel. Huckabee reflects the unwavering support for Israel among many Evangelicals, who see it as favored by God and largely dismiss criticisms of Israel’s War with Hamas and aid restrictions in Gaza. Huckabee was confirmed by the Senate despite concerns he previously supported Israel’s right to annex the occupied West Bank. He pledged to ‘carry out the president’s priorities, not mine.’”
STATE RELIGION. The Office of Personnel Management said in a July 28 Memo that Federal employees may promote and talk about their Religion with fellow employees on the job, so long as it’s not “harassing in nature.’ They can display religious items at work and encourage co-workers ‘to participate in religious expressions of faith, such as prayer,’ the memo said. Office Director Scott Kupor said Federal workers ‘should never have to choose between their Faith and their career.’ Critics said this erodes Church-State Separation, potentially creating a hostile workplace environment. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said ‘this memo encourages Federal workers to abuse the power of their positions by imposing their religious beliefs on others.”’
SUPREME COURT. “Trump hasn’t made Supreme Court appointments yet this term. But his three first-term picks — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — continue to deliver for the Christian conservatives and their allies from other faiths who cheered their appointments. The High Court ruled in June that Maryland parents with religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ+ storybooks; that Tennessee can ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors; and that states can block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid money. All three were decided by the same 6-3 margin, with Trump’s appointees in the court’s Conservative Supermajority.
CULTURE WAR. “Trump launched a wide-ranging Culture War against universities, museums, public broadcasters and other institutions. These targets have long been accused of Liberal Bias by Religious and other Conservatives, even though specific grievances and circumstances varied. Trump has cut funding, forced out officials or otherwise demanded changes at the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He signed a Congressional action slashing funding for public broadcasting. The Trump Administration also cut research funding at several elite U.S. colleges, some of which have offered financial payments and other concessions to his Political Agenda in an effort to regain funding. ‘It has also worked to suppress Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at Government agencies and private corporations.’”

DK’S TAKE. In Summary then, White Christians have signed on to a Power-driven Political Agenda that agrees with their presumed Scripturally founded Spiritual Priorities. This Covenant with Political Power chooses to ignore the severe admonitions from the Lord to avoid the following SERIOUS COMPROMISES. Scriptures rendered in the Amplified Bible Translation.

CAESAR. “‘Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, asked, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius [a day’s wage]. And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said, ‘[The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”’ – MATTHEW 22:17-21

MAMMON. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” – MATTHEW 6:24

FIDELITY. “You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].” – 1 CORINTHIANS 10:21

COST. “For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done.” – MATTHEW 16:25-27

Now let us turn to what GOOD PASTOR-SHEPHERD is to lead his flock to do in such a time as this nearly total Spiritual Darkness.

III. LAST THOUGHTS

Those of you who have followed my Commentaries over the last several years that I, like so many others, have often cited DIETERICH BONHOEFFER as the Paragon of Suffering and Martyrdom in the Modern Era. But I may have gone too far without looking more deeply at this extraordinary – and very ‘normal’ Christian Leader. Here is what I mean.

AMERICA’S BONHOEFFER MOMENT. Accordingly, I borrow here from a rather hard scrabble, unvarnished view of the great man by the distinguished scholar, DR. VIRGINIA J. BARNETT. Her essay it titled, “There is No Such Thing as a Bonhoeffer Moment,” Christian Century, January 2025 (edited).

Her Resumé is exceptional. She is one of the world’s preeminent scholars of Religion and the Holocaust, as well as a leading expert on the German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. She is the general editor of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (2011), author of Bystanders: Conscience and Complicity During the Holocaust (2000) and For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protest against Hitler (1992), and editor of “After Ten Years”: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Our Times (2017).

Here is a brief Summary of her MAIN THOUGHTS to support her rather unusual Thesis.

OPEN. “In almost every lecture I have ever given on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, someone has asked this question: ‘Are we in a Bonhoeffer moment?’ It is usually a question about some current issue of moral urgency, a ‘Here I Stand Moment’ that demands that we speak out as Christians: An election. Racial justice. Israel/Palestine. Abortion. The future of Christian Faith. The challenges of American Culture. LGBTQ issues. Denominational tensions. Over the years the question has been posed by progressive Christians, Evangelicals, ‘Nones,’ and everyone in between.”

SENTIMENTALISM. “I have my own strong views about all these things, but there’s a bigger problem here. The very notion of a ‘Bonhoeffer Moment’ is based upon the widespread, overly simplistic image of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a Christian activist and hero, moved by conscience and faithfulness to his Lord, who singlehandedly led his church in its fight against Hitler and was ultimately executed for rescuing Jews and trying to overthrow the Nazi regime. Most American versions of Bonhoeffer (particularly in popular books and films) draw on that heroic image, tweaked over the years to conform to certain sensibilities.”

REALISM. The significance of Bonhoeffer’s role in Resistance circles is complex. He desperately did not want to serve in Hitler’s army. Through his brother-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi, he got a desk job in military counterintelligence (along with seven other Confessing Pastors also evading military service). He became involved with the Conspiracy to Overthrow the Nazi regime only because of his family connections. The portrayals that give him a leading role in the Resistance—plotting with the other conspirators, planning to assassinate Hitler himself—are dramatic exaggerations … Reflecting on the inevitable compromises and complicity that had marked their lives during that first decade of Nazism, Bonhoeffer wrote in his Christmas 1942 Letter, ‘After Ten Years:’ ‘Have there ever been people in history who in their time, like us, had so little ground under their feet, people to whom every possible alternative open to them at the time appeared equally unbearable, senseless, and contrary to life?’” This letter is a stunning indictment of what Germany had become under Nazi Rule. But it also illustrates Bonhoeffer’s profound sense of his obligations to a broader humanity—and to history itself.”

LESSON. “That’s the kind of writing Bonhoeffer leaves us with. And we need it, whatever is to come. The ‘Century’ stretching before us will be one of tremendous turmoil, driven by intensifying climate change, battles over resources, economic disparity, and the refugees fleeing these things. ‘In the US we still struggle with our nation’s own Original Sins: The deeply intertwined history of Racism and Violence.’ The sheer Ugliness of our Times has permeated not just our social fabric but our individual relationships, and it is increasingly difficult to trust what we are told. In such moments we shouldn’t read Bonhoeffer for superficial sound bites or empty reassurances of larger-than-life heroism. ‘We should read [Bonhoeffer] because his is THE STORY of one decent human being who understood better than any of us that in Evil Times, we must remain Faithful—if only for the sake of future generations, because we are creating for them the Foundation from which they can do good in this fallen world.’”

THE BARMEN DECLARATION (1934). Or the Theological Declaration of Barmen (German: ‘Die Barmer Theologische Erklärung’) was a document adopted by Christians in Nazi Germany who opposed the German Christian movement. In the view of the delegates to the Synod that met in the city of Wuppertal–Barmen in May 1934, the German Christians had corrupted Church Government by making it subservient to the State and had introduced Nazi Ideology into the German Protestant churches that contradicted the Christian Gospel.

SIX THESES:

The only source of Revelation is the Word of God — Jesus Christ. Any other possible sources (earthly powers, for example) will not be accepted.
Jesus Christ is the only Lord of all aspects of personal life. There should be no other authority.
The message and order of the Church should not be influenced by the current political convictions.
Leadership in the Church is not Dominion, it is in Service of its ministry entrusted to all its members; there can be no special leader (“Führer”) apart from that ministry.
The State should not fulfill the task of the Church and vice versa. State and Church are both limited to their own business.
Therefore, the Barmen Declaration Rejects: (i) The subordination of the Church to the State; and (ii) The subordination of the Word and Spirit to the Church.

In Sum: “We reject the False Doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.” – EDITORS, Wikipedia, March 6, 2025; edited

THE C.A.C.N. PROJECT (2019). Christians Against Christian Nationalism is a grassroots campaign to combat Christian Nationalism in local, state and national contexts. This effort is not in response to any one event or statement; rather, it’s a sustained campaign built to resist Christian Nationalism and the threat it poses to our Faith and Country. Christians Against Christian Nationalism is a project of BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty), an organization that defends and extends Faith Freedom for all people. The Project is headed by AMANDA TYLER, an American lawyer and Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) in Washington, D.C.

“‘Christian Nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian Faith and America’s Constitutional Democracy.’ Christian Nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for White Supremacy and Racial Subjugation. We reject this damaging Political Ideology and invite our fellow Christians to join us in opposing this threat to our Faith and to our Nation. As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by Faith. WE BELIEVE THAT:

People of all faiths and none have the right and responsibility to engage constructively in the public square.

Patriotism does not require us to minimize our religious convictions.

One’s religious affiliation, or lack thereof, should be irrelevant to one’s standing in the civic community.

Government should not prefer one religion over another or religion over nonreligion.

Religious instruction is best left to our houses of worship, other religious institutions, and families.

America’s historic commitment to Religious Pluralism enables faith communities to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing our theological convictions.

Conflating religious authority with political authority is idolatrous and often leads to oppression of minority and other marginalized groups as well as the spiritual impoverishment of religion.

‘We must STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT against Christian Nationalism!’ Especially when it inspires acts of violence and intimidation—including vandalism, bomb threats, arson, hate crimes, and attacks on houses of worship—against religious communities at home and abroad.

Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths. All are equal under the U.S. Constitution. ‘As Christians, we must speak in one voice condemning Christian Nationalism as a Distortion of the Gospel of Jesus and a Threat to American Democracy.’”

CODA. It was the Apostle named JAMES, Jesus’ brother and leader of the Church at Jerusalem, who penned these powerful words: “For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead” (2:26, AMPC).

Though this famous quotation is still hotly debated as to its Original Source (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemöller, or Robert Hudnut), I care little of that since it reflected the deepest sentiments of the German Confessing Church and my own heart in the Age of Trump.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

WHAT IS A ‘GOOD SHEPHERD’? Precisely this, according to a famous Principle from the Great Reformer around 1530:

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every proportion of the Truth of God except precisely that LITTLE POINT which the World and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. WHERE THE BATTLE RAGES, there the loyalty of the Soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the Battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

This is our SACRED DUTY in the Hour of The Antichrist – Donald Trump.

MEDIA

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/EoUUiK0SkP8