The Word of the Administration

The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) that Paula White, White House Faith Advisor, has been doing an excellent Job gathering faith leaders to “spread the word of this administration as well as the word of God…”. This claim jumps out at me as a summation of what Leavitt believes about the administration and it has me anxious.

Here is the interview that Leavitt did with CBN

I would expect that anyone who has the job of White House Press Secretary has a good command of rhetoric and knows what they are trying to convey when they speak. And this fact gives me pause as I listen to how Leavitt describes Mr. Trump and the role of faith in this administration. At the 9:54 mark of the her interview in response to a question “Do you think President Trump is part of that in terms of ushering in this renewal this spiritual revival…” she responds with “I do…”. Then at the 10:50 mark she begins talking about the role of the White House Faith Office. In this answer she never discusses any influence the Faith Office has in setting agendas instead she says, “Which is the most powerful thing she can do is spreading the administration’s message, and President Trump’s agenda.”

Listening to this interview and the way Leavitt talks about the President and the administration I am very concerned. She attributes revival to the work of the President, she attributes the President surviving an assassination attempt to Divine providence while it was Satan who tried to assassinate him (7:40). How did we go from:

2015 Mr. Trump is like Cyrus– a non-believer God is using as a tool to bring about justice,

to:

2025– Mr. Trump is a target of Satanic spiritual warfare and he is ushering in revival

when he has demonstrated less character and less concern for God than he did in 2015?

If I take Karoline Leavitt to be speaking honestly then I am glad the White House is not taking theological advice from Paula White, her cheap simony is reprehensible. I am thrilled that White is not setting policies because her commitment to bogus claims like sending her $1,000 will ensure God’s seven-fold blessing on you makes a mockery of the Christian faith. But that is small consolation. I ask what does it say about the administration’s faith commitments that such a person is the head of the Faith Office? What does it say about this administration that they want to play up such spiritual language around the President when he has not shown a commitment to God?

Now I remain committed to my principles that where it is possible for Christians to work with administrations we should do so. Where we can work together to help the poor, homeless, hungry, and otherwise in need– go for it. When we can work with the government to promote the Gospel message, we should take that opportunity. However, I have seen cuts to food banks, deportation of Christian refugees, cuts to insurance,and education and I’m wondering what is “the word of the administration” that White is spreading? Why is it the White House feels the most important task of their Faith Office is to spread the President’s agenda? Where is the evidence that the White House’s agenda has any commitment to Christian principles?

This whole interview was troubling, both Brody and Leavitt seemed to want to create a veneer of Christianity and “family values” without any substance. Yes, I understand this is a puff piece meant to make Leavitt look good and so I should not expect any push back from Brody on anything she says. But her responses are troubling, because if she is being honest it certainly sounds like the administration is using Christian supporters for their own ends rather than working with Christians to make our country better.

I am not opposed to working with this administration on seeing Christian concerns addressed. But here we have a White House official claiming the President is ushering in revival when he has no connection to the movement that is starting, while overlooking the fact he is revoking the legal status of thousands of Christians and forcing them to leave this country. She claims the president was spare by God for a purpose but is overlooking how his policies have drastically cut the resources going to Christian charities and their endeavors to spread the Gospel through helping those in need. She brags about faith in the White House but says the Faith Office’s greatest responsibility is to proclaim the word of the president, rather than proclaim the word to the president.

I am reminded of Walter Brueggemann’s book The Prophetic Imagination, in it he talks about the court priests and prophets whose job was to support the king of Israel. These individuals never criticized the king or his policies, rather their job was to proclaim God’s favor on the king and proclaim to the people how the king was God’s anointed. This is what Leavitt and White sound like, mouthpieces of the President playing up his connection to God. Brueggemann reminds us that the role of the prophet, the one truly called by God, was to speak on God’s behalf to the king. The true prophet speaks God’s message to those in power, and is not a messenger for those in power.

I trust that Leavitt was being honest in this interview about her views and about how the White House approaches the role of the Faith Office, that is why I am concerned. The role of a Faith Office should be for a Christian to advise the President on how policies will impact people of faith and how the administration can work with Christian organizations to further shared goals. The role of the faith office should not be to “spread the word” of the administration. Leavitt seems to be cloaking her politics in Christian language and this is a deception of the worst kind. If the administration wants to show a serious commitment to working with churches and Christians that is great, I applaud that; however this comes off as a cheap ploy to win support. I take Leavitt;s words as her own and not inherently representing the administration, but even as such they are irresponsible and should be rejected.