During an interview earlier this week on “Fox & Friends,” President Donald Trump spoke extensively about his commitment to try and end the protracted bloodshed in eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine.
Clearly burdened by the senseless loss of life on both sides, Mr. Trump then revealed, with something of a smile in his voice, what also might be behind his willingness to devote countless hours, energy and resources to his peacemaking overture.
“I want to try and get to Heaven, if possible,” he explained. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to Heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
Not surprisingly, some mainstream news outlets pounced. The New York Times asked sarcastically, “Who, exactly, has been informing the president that he is ‘not doing well’ with regard to Kingdom come? Did Michael the Archangel somehow get Mr. Trump’s cellphone number?”
The Mirror US suggested the president might have tipped his hand on a previously undisclosed health concern. The outlet quoted an X user as saying, “Think of all the reasons an old man that spent his life nips deep in the Seven Deadly Sins would suddenly get desperate for absolution. And then ignore all of them except one: he knows he’s dying.”
The hard truth is, President Trump is dying. But so are you — and so am I. The Bible teaches us that death is universal. It is no respecter of person regardless of their power or their position.
But I don’t believe that President Trump was revealing thoughts or concerns about the status of his looming mortality. Instead, he was expressing what countless other people, including many who profess belief in God, think about the pathway to Heaven.
Even in an increasingly secular culture, Heaven is a hot topic. In the 15 years I’ve been hosting my daily radio program, conversations about eternity consistently generate the strongest response. My friend and author John Burke is a popular guest who writes about near-death experiences. Listeners are intrigued. We’re all intrigued.
There are some who believe “all roads” lead to Heaven, and then there are those who believe you must work your way to Heaven. This is a perspective Trump seems to have embraced, hence his comments correlating his heavenly reward with his deft and hopefully successful negotiation for peace.
This isn’t the first time Trump has talked about Heaven in these terms.
While campaigning for a second term last October, President Trump told a Madison Square Garden crowd, “I know my mother’s in Heaven. I’m not 100 percent sure about my father, but it’s close.”
We can all appreciate Mr. Trump’s reasoning, especially given what the world often seems to preach about — what we would call a “works-based salvation” philosophy. But the very best news is that the New Testament holds an opposite and much more liberating perspective.
As a Christian, there is no totem pole to climb. You can’t earn your way to the “Pearly Gates.” It’s not horseshoes or nuclear bombs. Close isn’t close enough. It’s all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them,” said Jesus (John 3:36). We later read in John’s Gospel another declarative promise from the Lord: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6).
The president carries enormous burdens as both chief executive and commander-in-chief. The very best news for Trump, and everyone else for that matter, is that they don’t have to bear the added burden of being good enough or doing enough to earn the gift of eternal life. Incidentally, since we don’t know what’s in a person’s heart, and who may have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, I think we’re going to be surprised by some who we meet in Heaven.
Yet, we don’t have to worry, wonder or work to qualify for our own eternal reward. Instead, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, repent, turn from our sinful ways, and put our faith and trust in Him.
That is all. That is enough.
Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family and host of the daily “Focus on the Family” broadcast heard by more than 6.3 million listeners per week on more than 1,000 radio stations across the U.S.
