Donald Trump: lessons in leadership?

Over the years, I have become more and more convinced that, from a human perspective at least, the most important factor in determining the growth and fruitfulness of the local church is leadership.

I have studied and analysed a large number of churches that have split, closed or gone into maintenance mode, and almost without exception the problem can be traced back to a leadership issue – either a lack of leadership, the wrong people in leadership, the wrong exercising of leadership or the wrong attitude towards leaders on the part of the congregation as a whole.

There is a crisis of leadership in the church, at least here in the UK and I suspect also further afield. But, with those thoughts filtering in my mind, I realised there are some important lessons to learn from President Trump who holds a position often described as "the leader of the free world."

From the outset, I have to say that the lessons we can learn from him are entirely negative. In my opinion, Donald Trump is singularly unfit for any leadership position, let alone one in which he has so much influence on the world stage. That doesn't mean, of course, that I don't agree with Paul's statement in Romans 13:1 that "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." However, recognising the providence and sovereignty of God does not oblige us to necessarily support or approve of those who He, in His infinite wisdom, raises up.

What has surprised me greatly in recent months has been the support and approval of Trump by Christians, not only in America but also here in the UK. It would seem that because of his strong opinions on such matters as gender identity, same-sex relationships and his, albeit somewhat wavering, opposition to abortion, many are willing to "turn a blind eye," as it were, to the many and major defects in his character. After all, his good "friends" Putin and Kim Jong Un agree with him on those moral issues, but western Christians don't fawn over them in the way they do over Trump. He also talks openly about the Bible which, I am sure, endears him to many Christians, but the problem is the glaring disconnect between his profession and practice, something which, of course, we all struggle with, but just not on the world stage.

There are at least two major character defects which I maintain make Donald Trump unfit for leadership; character defects that I have also observed in Christian leaders and which should ring loud alarm bells.

1. A 'non-existent' relationship with truth

First, based on all the evidence - and there is much of it! - Trump has a non-existent relationship with the truth. He is certainly not a man of integrity, but rather is a pathological liar. He lies on an industrial scale and much of the time seems to be persuaded by his own falsehoods. You simply cannot believe anything he says and my own observation is that you can always tell when Trump is lying, because his lips are moving.

But personal integrity and honesty are the very bedrock of effective leadership. While Ephesians 4:25 is addressed to all believers, how much more so to those in positions of influence and leadership:

"...having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour."

The Bible speaks in very strong terms about how the Lord views dishonesty: "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD." (Proverbs 12:22)

The impact in ministry

My experience is that Christians, and Christian leaders, all too often play fast and loose with the truth. We use exaggeration and half-truths, for example, and yet these are designed to deceive and mislead. I think of a leader in a Christian organisation who was trying to persuade a supplier to give a better deal than some of his competitors. He told this supplier that he had a lower quote than he was being offered and when asked what the lower quote was said, "I have in front of me on a piece of paper.....". The problem was that what was written on that piece of paper was a figure he had made up and written down.

I think of a non-Christian social worker who helped my ailing mother who lived in a Christian care home but who said she would never trust another Christian, because the staff had lied to her about my mother's situation.

I think of the elders of a church who, when their pastor left told the church there were no issues between him and them, despite emails and correspondence showing a major breakdown in the relationship and lies being told about him.

Of course, truth is not only about our words, but about our whole lives. What comes out of our mouths is an overflow of what is in our hearts. To be in leadership it is incumbent that, by God's grace, we seek to live lives of integrity and truthfulness, in every respect.

In other spheres of life, in almost every other vocation or profession, there can be a mismatch and disconnect between your personal life and your professional competence. You can be philanderer and yet a brilliant surgeon, for example. Not so in spiritual leadership. As Robert Murray M'Cheyne, minister in the Church of Scotland, wrote: "In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents which God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God."

2. A focus on self

Secondly, Trump is not only a liar but a narcissist. Everything is about him, and that, and that alone, makes him unfit for leadership, certainly in the spiritual realm - though it has to be said there is something about leadership that attracts narcissists. Leadership is a natural objective for narcissists because it feeds their motivational aims of status, power, and being the centre of attention.

But the consequences of a narcissistic leader are immense. If you don't always agree with their views and opinions, if you don't constantly massage their already inflated ego, then you become 'persona non grata' and are ridiculed, humiliated or discarded, as happened recently when Presidents Trump and Zelensky met in the White House. That was all about Zelensky daring to challenge Trump and not simply "suck up to him."

When businessman Sir Alan Sugar was asked about dealing with Donald Trump, famous for his deal making, Sugar's response was revealing: "The only way you can deal with him is to not disagree with him."

The impact in ministry

Narcissistic leaders are often reactive and antagonistic and will use corruption, manipulation, and exploitation to get what they want. Now, that's bad enough in the secular and political world but catastrophic in the local church and in the spiritual sphere as I have myself witnessed on more than one occasion.

I shudder when I recall a pastor speaking at a fraternal I attended many years ago at which we were discussing pastoral issues and church discipline. His comment was that he didn't understand why we had all these problems. "If someone disagrees with me," he said, with a straight face, "I show them the door. I exercise a sort of benign dictatorship." To which the friend sitting next to me commented privately, "Dictatorship, yes, benign, not so sure".

And what really troubles me is that this is happening today largely because churches, when selecting leaders are placing all the emphasis on competency rather than on character. But that is to reverse the Biblical order. I think of the leadership group in a Glasgow congregation who, when I asked them what sort of man they were looking for to be their next Pastor, their immediate reply was, and I quote: “As long as he has a PhD we will be happy." I think of the then Principal of one of the largest evangelical Bible Colleges in the UK who told me that due to the influence of secular academics, he was producing, and again I quote, “pastors with PhDs who can’t pray.”

There is no doubt but the overriding emphasis of the Scriptures on a man’s suitability for ministry is on his character. Biblical scholar Alec Motyer wrote, commenting, I believe, on 1 Timothy 3:1-7: “The New Testament does not give a job description but a character reference.” And M'Cheyne famously said: "My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness." If someone is in Christian leadership because it boosts their sense of self-worth or plays into their egocentricity, then disaster awaits.

Another consequence of this, also demonstrated by Trump, is that narcissists will generally gather around them colleagues who will agree with and support them and rarely, if ever, challenge them. In Trump's case, as illustrated by that famous encounter in the White House which was clearly a set up to humiliate President Zelensky, the Vice President, JD Vance, tried to out-Trump Trump, and that's the sort of people narcissists appoint. On the other hand, Scripture says, "in the multitude of counsellors there is safety," (Proverbs 11:14) and "faithful are the wounds of a friend," (Proverbs 27:6).

Especially, though not exclusively, in the spiritual sphere, leaders lead by serving those they lead. They lead for the benefit of others not of themselves. Everything about Trump is about Trump. There is no clearer demonstration of that then the recent AI generated video he re-published about his proposed Trump Gaza paradise. It was nauseating to say the least and, to anyone other than Trump, would have been profoundly embarrassing.

I have known leaders of churches and Christian organisations who have seen their church or organisation as "theirs" and who manipulate and bully others with the aim of furthering their own "empire" or cause, rather than seeing the people in their charge flourishing and maturing in their service for Christ. Some years ago, when serving as the CEO of an international mission agency, we interviewed a candidate to serve as my deputy. At interview he was asked what gave him most satisfaction in his role as a leader. His answer was that it was seeing those he led growing in their gifting and effectiveness and in their Christlikeness. That answer alone effectively got him the job.

Those of us who are called into spiritual leadership roles are to there to lead by serving, and we not only need the grace of God to do so, but also the prayers and support of those we lead.

The author writes in a personal capacity. en is committed to publishing a range of views on Donald Trump, recognising the strength of feeling held by many both for and against his presidency; for other perspectives, see for example this item, this item and this article entitled "In defence of Trump".

For a fuller list of Trump-related pieces see here. If you would like to submit an article on this topic for consideration, contact en via the details here.