God Save America from Donald Trump....Snub of Trump revealed 'What would Cruz do?'

Sen. Ted Cruz leaves the stage after his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention, having withheld endorsement of former GOP presidential rival and now-nominee Donald Trump. (Andrew Gombert / EPA)

In retrospect, the juvenile skirmish between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz at the Republican National Convention should not have been a surprise. This is a campaign, after all, that at one point referenced penis size.

It pains me to type those words. But facts are facts, and ego has been the dominant theme of this presidential campaign. Not the national debt. Not deficit spending. Not Obamacare. Not terrorism. Not the economy. Ego.

From the moment in February when Marco Rubio commented on Trump's "small hands," an inappropriate and sophomoric reference to the male appendage, voters should have known a substantive exchange of ideas would not be forthcoming. Perhaps we should have known even before then, when a dust-up between Trump and Fox News host Megyn Kelly centered on menstruation.

You can't make this stuff up.

The Republican National Convention nominated Donald Trump as the GOP's presidential candidate in Cleveland the week of July 18, 2016.

So at a moment during the convention when they could have demonstrated a molecule of humility, it should be no surprise that they have not. Instead of politely supporting Trump, Cruz used his center-stage moment to twist the blade of revenge. He refused to endorse Trump at Trump's own convention during a prime-time speaking slot.

Ego, ego, ego.

Earlier Wednesday, while Cruz was addressing a rally near Quicken Loans Arena, Trump flew aboard his private, branded airplane directly above the event and drew attention away from Cruz. No reports yet if there was any curiously timed release of airplane lavatory waste.

Both Trump and Cruz at various points have behaved like crybabies in need of a sucking device. But Cruz's childish maneuver was particularly offensive given his dogmatic pronouncements about his faith.

No Cruz speech begins or ends without a recitation of Scripture or a reminder of how his faith guides his principles. And yet there was very little of "What would Jesus do?" in his decision to steal the spotlight Wednesday rather than accept the fact that voters did not choose him as the GOP nominee.

Sen. Ted Cruz leaves the stage after his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention, having withheld endorsement of former GOP presidential rival and now-nominee Donald Trump. (Andrew Gombert / EPA)

Trump, for all his maniacal idiosyncrasies, doesn't fake an allegiance to the Holy Spirit. During a speech to conservatives in Iowa, he brashly admitted that he did not seek forgiveness from God and that he went to church sometimes to "drink my little wine and have my little cracker." No mystery there. Trump does not consider himself a servant of the Lord and he doesn't pretend to be one.

Cruz, on the other hand, wears it like a face tattoo.

Wednesday night at a moment when he could have embodied Scripture, he embodied self-centeredness. His inability to accept the Trump movement and simply respect it divulged more about him than Trump. Cruz's decision was calculated. It was driven by a need to stay true to his political power, not true to his heart. He was grinning as he did it.

A little advice to Cruz and Trump for their next speaking engagements, courtesy of a good book in my Cleveland hotel room:

"When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom." Proverbs 11:2.

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." Philippians 2:3

"Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion." Romans 12:16.