Pastor Responds to Critics After He Brought Trump Onstage and Prayed for Him
The pastor who prayed for President Donald Trump on Sunday sought to quell the waters of wrath on Monday by explaining that in praying for the president he was living out his faith.
Trump made an unannounced visit to McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, on a day when the Rev. Franklin Graham and more than 250 church leaders called for churches to pray for the president.
Pastor David Platt prayed over Trump, who made no public comments and left after the prayer.
As with all things Trump, the prayer drew criticism.
“The question isn’t whether to pray for those in authority but how to pray for someone who’s abusing authority,” one Twitter user wrote. “Would Platt have offered a similar photo op to an abusive husband who’s publicly gaslighting his spouse & kids?”
The question isn’t whether to pray for those in authority but how to pray for someone who’s abusing authority. Would Platt have offered a similar photo op to an abusive husband who’s publicly gaslighting his spouse & kids? https://t.co/QrX6rsLWfo
— Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (@wilsonhartgrove) June 3, 2019
I’m all for Christian leaders encouraging their churches and constituents to pray for President Trump. But we should also be asking if they were urging the same for President Obama and presidents before. If not, then we know what this is about: Alignment with political power.
— Eugene Cho (@EugeneCho) June 3, 2019
Platt replied to his critics and the intense media scrutiny, as well as to his own church members, in a statement posted on the church’s website and later shared on social media.
“Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we didn’t see coming, and we’re faced with a decision in a moment when we don’t have the liberty of deliberation, so we do our best to glorify God. Today, I found myself in one of those situations. At the end of my sermon at the 1:00 worship gathering, I stepped to the side for what I thought would be a couple of moments in quiet reflection as we prepared to take the Lord’s Supper. But I was immediately called backstage and told that the President of the United States was on his way to the church, would be there in a matter of minutes, and would like for us to pray for him,” the statement read.
Platt said his first thought was not to be used for political purposes.
“I immediately thought about my longing to guard the integrity of the gospel in our church,” he wrote in the statement.
“As I said in the sermon today, Christ alone unites us. I love that we have over 100 nations represented in our church family, including all kinds of people with varied personal histories and political opinions from varied socioeconomic situations.”
However, Platt said that as he heard Trump was coming, “the passage from God’s Word that came to my mind was 1 Timothy 2:1-6.”
“Based on this text, I know that it is good, and pleasing in the sight of God, to pray for the president. So in that moment, I decided to take this unique opportunity for us as a church to pray over him together,” he wrote.
Platt pushed back against comments that this was political partisanship at work.
“My aim was in no way to endorse the president, his policies, or his party, but to obey God’s command to pray for our president and other leaders to govern in the way this passage portrays,” he wrote.
Platt said he prayed for and was granted a private moment with Trump.
“While I won’t go into the details of our conversation backstage, one of our other pastors and I spoke the gospel in a way that I pray was clear, forthright, and compassionate. Then I walked back out on stage, read 1 Timothy 2:1-6, and sought to pray the Word of God over the president, other leaders, and our country,” he wrote.
Platt said he issued the statement “in part because I know that some within our church, for a variety of valid reasons, are hurt that I made this decision. This weighs heavy on my heart. I love every member of this church, and I only want to lead us with God’s Word in a way that transcends political party and position, heals the hurts of racial division and injustice, and honors every man and woman made in the image of God.”
Platt then asked his congregation for prayers.
“In the end, would you pray with me for gospel seed that was sown today to bear fruit in the president’s heart? Would you also pray with me that God will help us to guard the gospel in every way as we spread the gospel everywhere? And finally, I’m guessing that all of us will face other decisions this week where we don’t have time to deliberate on what to do. I’m praying now for grace and wisdom for all of us to do exactly what we talked about in the Word today: aim for God’s glory, align with God’s purpose, and yield to God’s sovereignty,” the statement said.
On Sunday, Platt publicly welcomed Trump.
“We in this city have a unique opportunity to pray for leaders who are part of this church and leaders who stop in unexpectedly to this church. We count it an honor to be able to pray for any leader in any position. Any leader from any party, including our current president,” he said, according to The Washington Post.
“Many of you may have seen that there was a call to, particularly on this Sunday, pray for our president,” Platt said. “We don’t want to do that just on this Sunday, we want to do that continually, day in and day out.”
Platt then prayed while touching Trump.
“And so we stand right now, on behalf of our president, and we pray for Your grace, and Your mercy, and Your wisdom upon him, Platt prayed, according to The Christian Post.
“God, we pray that he would know how much You love him. So much that You sent Jesus to die for his sins, our sins, so we pray that he would look to You. That he would trust in You. That he would lean on You. That he would govern and make decisions in ways that are good for justice, and good for righteousness, and good for equity, every good path,” Platt prayed.
“Lord we pray, we pray that You would give him all the grace he needs to govern in ways we just saw in 1 Timothy, chapter 2, that will lead to peaceful and quiet lives, Godly and dignified in every way.”
Platt included Trump’s family and the leaders of Congress, as well as courts and state and national governments in his prayer.
“Please, oh God, help us to look to You. Help us to trust in Your word. Help us to seek Your wisdom and live in ways that reflect Your love and Your grace, Your righteousness and Your justice. We pray for Your blessings on our president toward that end. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen,” Platt prayed.
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