Whether or not you plan to vote for Donald Trump, there is no denying the fact that he holds sway and the attention of many people in America. The question that many are asking is “how did he get this far?” When his campaign was announced, it seemed like a joke and an impossibility. Now he is the republican nominee. I think there’s something fascinating in his captivation of his supporters, and it lies in the very brash and rather extreme things that he says. His appeal plays to the same desire that is at the root of other issues in our nation today.
Donald Trump “says what everyone is thinking.” He’s not going to shut up because people don’t like him. He’s not going to sugar coat things. He’s not interested in political correctness. He doesn’t answer to anyone, so to speak. And people love it. For another example of this sort of leader we look no farther than Mark Driscoll, co-founder of the Act 29 church network. Driscoll recently had a civil racketeering lawsuit filed against him for the misappropriation of church tithes. However, his church had a massive attendance and his blog gained a lot of publicity. Why was this? He, like Trump, approached things with a brash demeanor, writing flaming attacks on his blog against those he considered to be weak. Why do we choose to follow people like this? We think that they are strong leaders. We love the emotional rush, the excitement and the exhilaration of hearing something that stirs us.
Our culture screams “give us something, anything. Only let us feel.” People want to feel something. They want to be passionately in love with their spouse. They want to follow a leader who stirs up their sense of justice or patriotism or who simply inspires them to a cause. They want to attend a church where the worship brings them to tears and the sermon produces a delicious sense of guilt.
There are several unfortunate consequences that result. One is a higher divorce rate. If the passion and initial love fades in a marriage, then it becomes necessary to get out and pursue a different and new relationship. Another example is in churches. The drive for strong emotional reactions means that pastors can tend towards the dramatic and stray from teaching scripture for fear of being seen as boring or uninteresting. Also in churches the music for worship becomes more and more elaborate with swelling choruses and emotional instrumentals. Despite this, the words to the songs become more vague and unsound.
I think “Performance culture” would seem to be an accurate term to describe this. Seeking always the next emotional high, we tend to compromise the truth and knowledge. We leave behind the steady love of a long marriage. We church-hop until we feel an emotional connection. We follow leaders who we deem to be strong because we respond with raw emotion to their words. And this is why Trump has gained the unexpected support that he has. His loud voice, his lack of moderation and his “answer to no one” attitude make us feel something.
