Praying for a President Who is Not that Radical: Platt, Prayer, and Polarization

The outrage against David Platt's prayer for President Trump reveals more about us than David.

This past weekend, President Trump dropped by McLean Bible Church and was prayed for by Pastor David Platt. You can see the video here.

In years past, this would probably have been seen by many as an admirable practice—a president stopping by for prayer. However, as Emma Green explained in the Atlantic, “Donald Trump’s controversial stop at a Virginia mega-church after a mass shooting showed how even normal Christian behavior has been scrutinized during this administration.”

Yet, this is a different time, and (as most would agree) President Trump is a different kind of president.

Four things come to my mind when we think about this situation.

First, the criticism of David Platt was often not fair.

I was frustrated at the arm-chair quarterbacking I saw online, with some saying that he should prophetically have rebuked the president, others saying he should have denied the request, and still others wishing that he’d been more affirming of the president.

I tweeted:

I know that every person tweeting criticism of @PlattDavid would have handled it so much better if @POTUS showed up to your place with little notice, but maybe just consider that he is not as smart, godly, or prophetic as you are and try to extend grace to your lesser brother.

Simply put, David Platt made a fast decision when the president came by. To condemn him for that is simply not appropriate. He basically had two choices—either honor the request or not.

Platt could have chosen to decline the visit. This would have inevitably led to attacks from Trump supporters, a public outcry over a pastor refusing to pray for the president, and questioning of his personal position on the president.

Instead, he chose the second option, and, in his ...