On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives fulfilled their duties under Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution and impeached President Donald Trump on two articles: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Almost immediately, the White House and Trump's allies began a campaign of denial and distraction.
But one ally decided enough was enough.
The magazine Christianity Today—founded by the late Reverend Billy Graham and credited as the largest publication for Evangelical Christians—published an editorial calling the impeachment of President Trump justified. They also called for Trump's removal from office.
But the Evangelical leaders who justified and glorified Trump for the past several years quickly scrambled to discredit Christianity Today.
First the son of the magazine's founder, Franklin Graham, issued a rebuke of the editorial. Then another legacy Evangelical leader—Jerry Falwell Jr. who also inherited his ministry and fortune from his famous father—weighed in.
Jerry Falwell Jr.—who goes by just his late televangelist father's name on Twitter—posted along with a Fox News link:
"Less than 20% of evangelicals supported [Hillary Clinton] in 2016 but now [Christianity Today] magazine has removed any doubt that they are part of the same 17% or so of liberal evangelicals who have preached social gospel for decades! CT unmasked!"
The social gospel Falwell referenced includes such ideas as helping the poor and persecuted. Falwell and others like him follow a modern version of Evangelical Christianity founded in the televangelism that created millionaire TV preachers called the "prosperity gospel."
In the social gospel, the purpose of the church is to help others. In the prosperity gospel, the purpose of the church is centered on gathering followers and their monetary donations through a promise that the more money given to a church, the more money God will give the donor.
Those facts worked against Falwell in his attempt to discredit Christianity Today as an organization focused on charity and helping others instead of gaining personal wealth.
Although some asked for "proof" of Trump's less than Christian inclinations.
And many remarked on Falwell's own personal scandals.
@jonfranks/Twitter
But the hypocrisy was a feature of many reactions to Falwell's attempt to discredit Christianity Today and uplift Trump.
In January the Senate will take over and hold the trial for President Donald Trump. While many consider the GOP giving a free pass to the President a forgone conclusion, 18 Republican Senators are up for reelection in 2020.
The will of their constituents may have more bearing than the will of their party leadership.
The book The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power over Christian Values is available here.
