I remember, during my high school seminary days, talking about Ephesians 6:11-18. The whole armor of God turns out to be a pretty awesome metaphor, one that continues to resonate even though I only see swords and shields and armor when I go to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Arms and Armor collection.
Of course, the lessons I’ve been in tend to focus on the actual armor and what it stands for, with much less focus on who we’re arming and protecting ourselves against. And who is it? It’s not flesh and blood—we’re arming ourselves against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” And what does that mean? The NSRV translates that list of four as “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
In other words, we’re to use the whole armor of God as we wrestle against rulers and authorities.
Of course, at an institutional level, we have to balance that Pauline wrestling against the U.S.’s rules for political participation by tax-exempt organizations. So now that we’re going into a second Trump presidency, could the church, if it wanted, put on the whole armor of God to stand against Trump?
Yes.
And note that this blog post is purely descriptive. I’m going to talk about a handful of things that the church can do; I’m going to leave aside the should.
By way of context: section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code provides some limitations on the actions a tax-exempt organization can take. The two principal ones for my purposes here are that (a) “no substantial part” of a tax-exempt organization’s activities can include attempting to influence legislation and (b) no part of its activities at all can include endorsing or opposing candidates for office.
That means that until November 5, the church couldn’t say good or bad things about Donald Trump, at least not within the contours of its tax exemption (contours that, frankly, I’m a fan of, even if I have questions about their constitutionality).
But it’s now November 17. So where do the laws governing the church’s political participation now stand? Let’s look at some questions!
Can the Church Condemn Donald Trump?
Absolutely. He is no longer a candidate for elective office. If the church wants to condemn his sexual immorality, his racism, his support for killing people, or anything else, it is welcome to do so. The church can tell members that he was and will continue to be the (third) worst president in the history of our nation, that he will undermine the rule of law. It’s all fair game. There is no prohibition on tax-exempt organizations criticizing government officials. The prohibition is solely on supporting or opposing candidates for office.
Can the Church Oppose Trump’s Cabinet Nominees?
Can the church speak out against the guy has been investigated for having sex with underaged girls and sex trafficking? Or the guy with tattoos that are popular among white supremacist groups? Or the woman who is inexplicably a superfan of Russian president Putin? What about Trump’s judicial nominees?
Again, yes! It can! The government has explicitly recognized that “candidate for office” means candidate for elective office; the law does not prevent a tax-exempt organization from supporting or opposing “the appointment of individuals to nonelective offices.”
Can the Church Stand Against Trump’s Policies?
Again, another big yes! Whether it’s his immoral and fiscally disastrous plan to deport 20 million people or his fiscally disastrous, but probably not entirely immoral, plan to impose massive tariffs on all imports, there’s nothing preventing the church from actively opposing his agenda, as long as that active opposition does not constitute a “substantial part” of the church’s activities. (What is a substantial part? Honestly, nobody knows. But there’s precedent that 5% of its activities and/or expenditures is not substantial, while somewhere in the 15-20% would be. But honestly, given everything the church does, I think it would be difficult for the church to fail to meet the insubstantiality rule.)
Will the Church Do Any of These Things?
Maybe? During his last term in office, the church made a (rare) statement opposing his family separation policy.
But ultimately, my goal here isn’t to say what the church will, or even what it should, do. It’s to provide an explanation of what the church can do, consistent with its tax exemption. And what it can do, it turns out, is a lot. There is nothing to prevent it from putting on the whole armor of God to oppose rulers and authorities when they act wickedly.