We recently learned that former President Joe Biden is suffering advanced cancer, despite repeated assurances that his health was excellent as he exited the White House a mere four months ago. Everyone dies, even presidents. Yet it is a significant moment to hear of a likely terminal diagnosis for one of the nation’s living former chief executives. The other that comes to my mind is when Ronald Reagan announced his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 1994, noting the beginning of his long goodbye. In response to this more recent news about the 46th President, good people will say we should lay aside our differences and pray for him. To be sure, it is right to offer prayers in all situations. The question is how to pray.

Beyond the call for intercession, one thing I often observe when we learn that a major public figure is dying, or passed away unexpectedly, is a cultural practice of largely laying aside differences. This aligns with the general human tendency to want to offer respect to those no longer living among us, even those who went to the end as a foe. It’s especially tempting for many of my fellow followers of Christ to take this route. Yet I caution that we must be wise and avoid following cultural knee-jerk tendencies to give a sort of emotional pardon even to those whose lives demonstrate fidelity to spiritual darkness. Doing so is not the practice of Biblical grace, but of over-pietism. 

At times like this, the temptation is to fall into espousing a form of pietism that places heavy emphasis on God’s grace, while downplaying His love of justice. It reflects a malleable hermeneutic from which many in positions of theological leadership legitimized immoral sexual practices, concurred with unlawful government mandates to close churches, and encouraged congregants to take an experimental shot and isolate from each other. A hyper focus on pietism gave us a bastardization of the Romans 13 call to obey human rulers over clear scriptural limitations when the demands of state government contradict the commands of God. 

The same scripture that teaches salvation also teaches eternal punishment for the unrepentant. How do we reconcile the Biblical command to pray for our enemies (as seen in the Gospels), and also to pray that God bring about justice on the earth (a hallmark of the imprecatory Psalms)? The answer is that the whole of scripture guides us to do both. The same Christ who went meekly to the cross will lead the armies of Heaven into the Battle of Armageddon. This King of kings who will judge the earth remains one with the Holy Spirit that inspired all of scripture. 

There are many who seem to think that when it comes to praying for those who embrace and perpetuate evil, we should ask primarily for their continued good fortune in addition to their repentance. Such perspective misses the proper theological mark. It is right and good to pray that those who embrace depravity will surrender to Christ and renounce their old ways, while simultaneously praying that God frustrate the plans of the unrepentant wicked and release His judgment upon them. Both are right, good, and Biblical.

Mr. Biden has embraced evil throughout his entire life and used political power to diabolical ends. This is a man who wished a winter of death on those who would not take the COVID-19 shot. He labeled people of Christian conviction as "extremists." Mr. Biden proved the most pro-death culture president of American history, and the one most sold out to the post-humanist sexual agenda that targets children for procedures that can be accurately described as butchery. I cannot help but recall that the lockdown measures his administration championed reduced healthcare access for people suffering physical disease similar to what he now faces, and forced many Americans to die isolated and alone in settings akin to imprisonment. The man’s entire political career was built on a foundation of arrogance, hubris, dishonesty, selfishness, and narcissism. So here’s the deal: Mr. Biden’s cognitive and physical undoing in public view constitutes an appropriate bookend to a life that gained the world at the cost of a hardened soul. 

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With that said, I offer an important caveat. Many people who walk well in life face similar diagnoses. Suffering the effects of dementia, cancer, or any other ailment is not necessarily an indication of God's unique judgment on any one person. In this fallen world, both the righteous and wicked are blessed at some times and stricken in others. My father and mother-in-law were good people. We lost them both to cancer. Stretching beyond my Calvinist tendencies, I feel that they were undeserving of such fate. Other good people in my life have walked similar paths that tested my faith. When people we know to be decent are afflicted with disease, it is right to mourn, to be disappointed, and to ask why. In contrast, when we see someone wholly committed to evil face tragedy, the appropriate Christian response is along the lines of "That's right." As we read in Proverbs 11:10, “When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices; when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting.”

We should pray for Biden’s salvation, because an eternity separated from God is suffering beyond description, without hope. Yet let us remember that redemption is not merely about obtaining a quick ticket to Heaven on the deathbed. True repentance is not—as politicians like to say—a private, personal decision. True surrender to Christ is manifested in one's actions. Scripture teaches that the heart turned to Christ declares it, turns from sin in public fashion, and seeks to make former wrongs right. The idea that a man who used power darkly on a national scale will quietly relent to Christ in his last breath is unlikely according to Biblical teaching. The whole of scripture is clear that when one hardens his heart long enough, God grants that continued rejection of grace. That said, I acknowledge that so long as Mr. Biden lives, hope remains. 

Should we pray for Mr. Biden? Yes. Should we forget the rotted legacy of his arrogance and abuse of power over many decades? Absolutely not. His continued decline in public view is a fitting part of the dark legacy Mr. Biden deliberately pursued over many decades. An appropriate Christian response includes hoping for salvation and its fruits for the former president in this final season of his life, and also gratefulness that his ability to spread evil and destruction has passed. 

We should, in this moment, reflect anew that death is the great equalizer. We will all stand before God alone and without any of the treasures accumulated during our time on the earth, fully accountable for how we use the authority entrusted to us. That reality should inform how we consider the news about the 46th President in this moment.

Notes: 

-Scriptural reference taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible

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