A Nation that repays evil with evil is not a Christian nation

Hey Trump Christians - these questions are for you.  How do you feel, supporting a President that claims to be the best President ever for Christians, and yet acts the opposite of what Jesus told us to act?  A few days ago, Trump said, "We are a very reciprocal nation with me as the head. When somebody does something negative to us in terms of a country, we do it to them."  In other words, we are a nation that repays evil with evil.  Does that sound even remotely like something Jesus ever taught?  Does it bother you that your chosen candidate says and does things like this?  On top of that, consider the likelihood that you support Trump because of his claims about being so much in favor of Christians. 

If you are unhappy with it, where is your voice?  More and more, polls show that the U.S. is no longer a Christian nation.  The fact that we have a leader who blatantly acts very un-Christian and yet claims to be so supportive of Christians tells us something.  It tells us that the polls are right.  We are more un-Christian as a nation.  A nation of individuals.  Individuals who seem to have lost sight of what Christianity is really about.  Or maybe we're just a nation of so-called Christians who look to the devil to promote our Christian religion?

That might sound a bit strong.  Maybe very strong.  And yet, when so many Christians - including Christian leaders - are so silent when their candidate of choice says and does things like this, is it really so strong?  When Trump claims to be so pro-Christian, where is the push-back or the talk of the reality of what he really does being so anti-Christian?  And it's the same thing when he speaks like this.  Where's the push-back, asking how someone who claims to be so pro-Christian can say things like that?  Isn't accountability part of Christianity anymore?

Are we really talking about repaying evil with evil?

Actually, we are.  Here's what Trump said, as reported on msn.com:

President Donald Trump threatened undefined retaliation Friday against countries and organizations that issue travel warnings on the United States because of gun violence.

"If they did that, we'd just reciprocate," Trump said during a wide-ranging impromptu gaggle with reporters at the White House, en route to fundraisers in New York.

He added: "We are a very reciprocal nation with me as the head. When somebody does something negative to us in terms of a country, we do it to them."

So, this is about countries that are putting out travel warnings for their citizens who consider traveling to the U.S.  Some countries are doing it because of all the mass shootings in this country.  Clearly, Trump views those warnings as negative: When somebody does something negative to us in terms of a country.  It's his own words.  

Dictionary.com lists the following synonyms for the word negative: uncooperative, antagonistic, hostile.  That certainly falls under the category of evil, when it comes to what we'll be looking at below.  We have to remember, evil has a wide range of connotations that range from uncooperative, antagonistic, hostile to purely demonic activity.  The thing is, when the Bible says not to repay evil with evil, it means the entire range.  We'll see that as we go along.

Clearly, Trump views it acceptable to repay negative actions with negative actions.  Whether we're talking uncooperative, antagonistic or outright hostile - Trump is letting it be known that he'll respond in kind.  As I said, we'll see below that the Bible says not to respond in kind when such actions are directed towards us.  Don't repay evil with evil.

Remember, we're not talking about someone declaring war on us.  We're talking about travel advisories.  Something we do to other countries all the time.  But when the shoe is on the other foot, all of a sudden it's a hostile / evil practice.

Trump Christians - how are you feeling so far?  Still want to repay evil with evil?  

Let's keep going.

Did Jesus say not to repay evil with evil?

Technically, no, Jesus never literally said those words.  However, that's really not correct.  It's like the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law.  In the Old Testament, there were lots of "don't do this" and "don't do that" kinds of commands.  However, in the New Testament, under the New Covenant, it was much more of a "do this" scenario.  Then, by doing "this", we automatically would refrain from doing the things that were against the Old Testament Law.