zion’s fire magazine preview
INSIGHT FEATURE
A Theology for Losers
Written by Marvin J. Rosenthal
There was a #1 national best-seller at the newsstand in 1987 called “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” It’s the story of Donald Trump, a self-made billionaire and the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. One newspaper wrote of him, “Cary Grant has his accent; Clark Gable his pencil mustache. Donald Trump has his money and power, and like other romantic heroes, he knows what to do with them. . . . We are swept into the romance.” Other newspapers have made pungent comments concerning Trump. One wrote, “Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivorous and water is wet.” Another said, “He is the latest of a breed unique to this decade – a superstar member of the business world. ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal’ may be worthwhile just for the insight it gives on life in the big league.” Still another newspaper suggested, “America’s most glamorous tycoon reveals his successful game plan. . . .” The Washington Post called the book “the most down to earth . . . guide to making a billion you will ever read.” Donald Trump is intelligent, handsome, powerful, popular, and rich. And nothing is wrong with those attributes if they are not wed to pride. He has had three beautiful wives and fi ve children he apparently adores. He is also a grandfather. Trump owns some of the most spectacular property in the world in locations such as New York City, Jersey City, Chicago, Las Vegas, West Palm Beach, Waikiki, Puerto Rico, Turkey, South Korea, Canada, and the Republic of Panama. He is involved in spectacular financial deals throughout the world and has acknowledged that he has more money than he will ever need. For Trump, it is simply the thrill of the deal, the satisfaction of the success. He has a number of homes that evidently almost defy description. And among his toys have been a $14 million unrivaled pleasure yacht, a Boeing 757 private jet, and a Sikorsky helicopter that commutes him regularly between his business ventures. If money can buy it and Trump wants it, he possesses it. Within his circle of friends are many of the most successful business celebrities, and superstar athletes. He is surrounded with glamour. In the eyes of the world, Trump is rich, powerful, and successful. His life is bigger than life. It is the things that fairy tales are made of. He is brash, proud, in some ways conservative, and confrontational. There is even some benevolence in his life, thrown in for good measure. Trump does not live life – he attacks it, and with an evident disregard for death. Trump is the epitome of worldly success – a man to emulate in the minds of the “high rollers: and the incarnate fruition of the ideal fantasy in the minds of the multitudes. He apparently wants to be viewed as complex and unpredictable – a man of mystery, an asset in the world of high fi nance and big deals. But his very public life, evidently made so by choice, is very predictable. Trump appears to exhibit the quintessence of what the Bible calls “pride. For Donald Trump and his “Art of the Deal,” bigger is better, and success is its own vindicator. But Trump is not alone. He is a microcosm of the dominant value of this unregenerate world system. This article is not an attack on Donald Trump as an individual but on the reputation of the character of this age in general. If it’s bigger, the world says it must be better. And if it’s successful (as men count success), that is its own stamp of approval. ere is nothing innately wrong with bigness, and success may be a legitimate measure of achievement. But bigger is not necessarily better; success is not necessarily an indication of divine approval; and acceptance by one’s peers is not necessarily a confi rmation of correctness. To God, what men call large may be small; what men call success may be failure; what men accept He may reject. . .
A Theology for Losers
Written by Marvin J. Rosenthal
There was a #1 national best-seller at the newsstand in 1987 called “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” It’s the story of Donald Trump, a self-made billionaire and the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. One newspaper wrote of him, “Cary Grant has his accent; Clark Gable his pencil mustache. Donald Trump has his money and power, and like other romantic heroes, he knows what to do with them. . . . We are swept into the romance.” Other newspapers have made pungent comments concerning Trump. One wrote, “Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivorous and water is wet.” Another said, “He is the latest of a breed unique to this decade – a superstar member of the business world. ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal’ may be worthwhile just for the insight it gives on life in the big league.” Still another newspaper suggested, “America’s most glamorous tycoon reveals his successful game plan. . . .” The Washington Post called the book “the most down to earth . . . guide to making a billion you will ever read.” Donald Trump is intelligent, handsome, powerful, popular, and rich. And nothing is wrong with those attributes if they are not wed to pride. He has had three beautiful wives and fi ve children he apparently adores. He is also a grandfather. Trump owns some of the most spectacular property in the world in locations such as New York City, Jersey City, Chicago, Las Vegas, West Palm Beach, Waikiki, Puerto Rico, Turkey, South Korea, Canada, and the Republic of Panama. He is involved in spectacular financial deals throughout the world and has acknowledged that he has more money than he will ever need. For Trump, it is simply the thrill of the deal, the satisfaction of the success. He has a number of homes that evidently almost defy description. And among his toys have been a $14 million unrivaled pleasure yacht, a Boeing 757 private jet, and a Sikorsky helicopter that commutes him regularly between his business ventures. If money can buy it and Trump wants it, he possesses it. Within his circle of friends are many of the most successful business celebrities, and superstar athletes. He is surrounded with glamour. In the eyes of the world, Trump is rich, powerful, and successful. His life is bigger than life. It is the things that fairy tales are made of. He is brash, proud, in some ways conservative, and confrontational. There is even some benevolence in his life, thrown in for good measure. Trump does not live life – he attacks it, and with an evident disregard for death. Trump is the epitome of worldly success – a man to emulate in the minds of the “high rollers: and the incarnate fruition of the ideal fantasy in the minds of the multitudes. He apparently wants to be viewed as complex and unpredictable – a man of mystery, an asset in the world of high fi nance and big deals. But his very public life, evidently made so by choice, is very predictable. Trump appears to exhibit the quintessence of what the Bible calls “pride. For Donald Trump and his “Art of the Deal,” bigger is better, and success is its own vindicator. But Trump is not alone. He is a microcosm of the dominant value of this unregenerate world system. This article is not an attack on Donald Trump as an individual but on the reputation of the character of this age in general. If it’s bigger, the world says it must be better. And if it’s successful (as men count success), that is its own stamp of approval. ere is nothing innately wrong with bigness, and success may be a legitimate measure of achievement. But bigger is not necessarily better; success is not necessarily an indication of divine approval; and acceptance by one’s peers is not necessarily a confi rmation of correctness. To God, what men call large may be small; what men call success may be failure; what men accept He may reject. . .