The mid-term elections and the battle for America's soul.

The mid-term elections in the USA have attracted a vast amount of attention not only in America but also in Britain and elsewhere in the world. The highest voter turnout in 50 years for mid-term elections confirms their importance in the mind of the general public, where the media have portrayed the elections as a popularity contest for the Trump presidency.

Both Republicans and Democrats had something to cheer in the outcome of the elections and for Donald Trump personally it was a confirmation of his presidency. With this level of support, if he had been up for re-election this year, he would have been successful.

But the elections were also a triumph for America’s electoral system, whereby although the Republicans increased their majority in the Senate, they lost their majority in the Lower House of Congress, which will strengthen the Opposition and enforce greater scrutiny of all government decisions. These are the checks and balances of democracy in action - and will ensure that the White House cannot force through measures without them being carefully weighed by elected members.

Of course, Trump boasted that in marginals where he had campaigned on behalf of the Republican candidate, there had been significant victories. He was also able to claim with a degree of accuracy that the American economy has improved significantly in the first two years of his presidency, particularly providing more jobs for blue-collar workers, from whom he derives much of his support.

Bias and Bitterness

It was notable in Britain how the BBC stressed the negative aspects of the elections and underplayed Trump’s achievement. They celebrated that without a majority in Congress he will not be able to get his policies approved, which could lead to gridlock in Government procedures. But this is all part of the BBC’s bias against right-wing populism which undermines the hold on power exercised by the left-wing ruling elite in most parts of the Western world.

Both Republicans and Democrats had something to cheer in the outcome – but it was notable in Britain how the BBC underplayed Trump’s achievement.

Many reports have noted the bitterness of the rhetoric on both sides of the political divide in the US in the lead-up to the mid-term elections. This bitterness was not just because they were seen as a test of Trump’s popularity. There is a far deeper significance in the political battle that is raging not only in the media, but right across the public sphere in every state in the USA: underneath is a spiritual battle between left-wing secular humanist values and conservative Bible-based values.

America is at war with itself over God: it is as simple as that!

Reversing Values, Rejecting Truth

Put in its biblical context, it is a battle between light and darkness, between right and wrong, between goodness and evil.

The Bible has a lot to say about this battle. It was put neatly by the Prophet Isaiah, who one day startled the residents of Jerusalem by standing up in a public place in the city and singing what in Hebrew would have come over as a rap song! Its theme was about a vineyard which did not grow good grapes and only yielded bad fruit. So, the owner decided to destroy the vineyard.

It was only towards the end of the song that the people realised that this was a parable and the vineyard was really the House of Israel, whom God would no longer protect because “They have rejected the Torah [teaching] of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people” (Isa 5:24).

The Prophet went on to list the injustices and wickedness of the nation that were an offence to God. Isaiah said “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (5:20).

Underneath the political battle raging right across the USA is a spiritual battle – America is at war with itself over God.

It was this reversal of all the values of personal and corporate behaviour that was so offensive to God. Israel had turned upside-down the whole basis of society so that no one could trust a neighbour or know that a promise would be fulfilled. Fake news, lies and deception were everywhere, so God was threatening to remove his protection over the nation, leaving them open to attack from their enemies.

These same warnings ought to be sounding loud and clear in Western nations today, where biblical values were once held high but have now been spurned.

Christians Caught in the Battle

Christians are caught up in this battle between right and wrong, light and darkness. Though the spiritual battle is black and white, however, in practice things are of course more complicated, because humans are complex and imperfect beings.

This makes for difficult decisions: for instance, can American Christians support a President who is a self-confessed adulterer and who has numerous moral blemishes to his record? Clearly, Trump is standing against the ultra-left-wing, secular humanist establishment and upholding biblically-based social values, even if his own personal behaviour has often been objectionable. But does that make him trustworthy?

Is he a sinner who has recognised the good of biblical values and so surrounded himself with evangelical advisers who constantly pray with him? Is he a genuine God-seeker, who has even recognised the importance of supporting Israel, moving the American Embassy up to Jerusalem? Or is he simply an astute businessman who has spotted a way of winning power?

These were the questions that evangelical American voters had to face on Tuesday. None of us knows all the answers, of course, but we can all see the great and worsening divide in the US today as part of the spiritual battle that is raging across the Western world, including throughout Europe and in Britain with the Brexit battle nearing its climax.

We can all see the great and worsening divide in the US today as part of the spiritual battle that is raging across the Western world.

The polarising of Western societies reflects the diametrically opposite spiritual forces battling behind the scenes. Surveying this astonishing political landscape, it could be argued that the ground is being laid for the last great battle prophesied in Scripture, between the anti-Christ and the Messiah. Thankfully, we know the end of the story: “the Lord Jesus will overthrow [the anti-Christ] with the breath of his mouth and destroy [him] by the splendour of his coming” (2 Thess 2:8)!

The question we must all answer meanwhile, is which side of this ultimate battle we – and our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues - will be on.