Story highlights Issac Bailey: Politicians using religion for their own narrow purposes is nothing new

But Detroit pastor allowed Trump to pull a veil over his long history of bigotry, Bailey says

Issac Bailey has been a journalist in South Carolina for two decades and was most recently the primary columnist for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. He was a 2014 Harvard University Nieman fellow. Follow him on Twitter: @ijbailey. The views expressed are his own.

(CNN) Bishop Wayne Jackson adhered to one of the most important principles of the African-American church by inviting Donald Trump to speak before his congregation. He also illustrated how faith is almost always diminished when it is used for crass political purposes.

Jackson had spent the days before Trump's visit defending his decision to embrace a man reviled by most of the black community because of his decades-long track record of bigotry.

Issac Bailey

Jesus did not shun sinners, Jackson argued, and neither should the church. We all are imperfect and need prayer, and everyone deserves a chance to be heard.

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That thinking is perfectly aligned with the church's long history. Christ left room for all to redeem themselves and we should extend the same courtesy, even when it's difficult --- in fact, especially when it's difficult. The already redeemed don't need us to remind them about God's grace, an unearned, unqualified favor available to everyone.

It's in line with the families of Dylann Roof's victims forgiving the young white supremacist who perpetrated a massacre in a Charleston, South Carolina, church last summer. That's why Marion Barry could be caught on FBI video smoking crack with a prostitute and regain stature in his community, and why the most hardened young black men who've committed horrific crimes will be offered refuge.