{"id":9449,"date":"2025-03-12T22:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/?p=9449"},"modified":"2025-05-23T21:19:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T01:19:47","slug":"how-do-christians-respond-to-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2025\/03\/how-do-christians-respond-to-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his \u201cChristian\u201d supporters?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9461\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2025\/03\/6-ways-Christians-can-respond-to-Trump-and-his-Christian-supporters.png\" alt='How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his \"Christian\" supporters?' width=\"780\" height=\"654\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are 6 suggestions:<\/p>\n<h3>R<strong>eclaim the Bible<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Too many Americans claim to be Christian but then behave contrary to the teachings of Jesus. They support policies and politicians who victimize or exploit the weakest and most vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout history, powerful Christians have wielded the authority of the Bible as a weapon to divide and hurt and not a blueprint to unite and heal. But the redemptive truth of Christ remains constant.<\/p>\n<p>True Christians must be more comfortable quoting the Bible in conversation with Trump Christians and in public. We must <strong><em>tell<\/em><\/strong> the world that Christianity is more than the hypocrisy demonstrated daily by Trump supporters claiming to be Christian. We do that by quoting the Bible to those who ignore it.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible is as clear as window glass: to follow Jesus we must help the widows, the orphans, the poor, the sick, and the foreigners living among us.<\/p>\n<p>Trump Christians aren\u2019t Christian if they abuse others or allow others to be abused.<\/p>\n<p>Those of us who try to follow Jesus should strive to be <em>Matthew 25<\/em> Christians and help the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the needy and the sick, because, as Jesus says, when we help them, we help him.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus tells Trump Christians, \u201cDepart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Grow closer to God<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We pray to God, C.S. Lewis said, not to change God, but to change us. And the <em>only<\/em> thing we can change in our lives is ourselves. No matter our situation, be it a<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9473\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9473\" style=\"width: 429px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2025\/03\/DALL%C2%B7E-2025-03-13.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9473\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2025\/03\/DALL%C2%B7E-2025-03-13.jpg\" alt=\"Jesus showing compassion \" width=\"429\" height=\"429\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9473\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">People can\u2019t follow Trump and Jesus \u2013 Scripture says they lead in different, opposite directions. Trump represents and reflects the evils of the world while Jesus teaches us the heart of God. | Image created in Dalle for Patheos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>prison cell or the gilded halls of the world\u2019s richest, ultimately, we only have control over our response.<\/p>\n<p>Spend moments in silence listening to the still, small voice of the Lord moving in your heart.<\/p>\n<p>Seek the \u201cthin places,\u201d where the barrier between this world and the spirit world is the thinnest. This can be a church, nature, a cemetery, or any location where we feel most connected to creation and the Creator.<\/p>\n<p>When you work on your relationship with God, you will better see the Divine in others, and you will be able to respond in more positive ways not only to Trump but to other issues as well.<\/p>\n<p>Trump is chaotic, ungodly, and the opposite of the Grace of God. Always remember that <strong><em><u>everything<\/u><\/em><\/strong> associated with Trump is pulling you away from God and act accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>When the Lord speaks to us in silence, we raise our voices against injustice.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Proclaim Christ<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We follow a risen savior. Admit it publicly. Proclaim it loudly. Don\u2019t be ashamed of following Christ and feel comfortable and empowered to sham those who claim Christ but don\u2019t do what Jesus says to do.<\/p>\n<p>Just as you can\u2019t eat hotdogs and claim you\u2019re vegetarian, you can\u2019t allow the abuse of \u201cthe least of these\u201d and claim you\u2019re Christian.<\/p>\n<p>People can\u2019t follow Trump and Jesus \u2013 Scripture says they lead in different, opposite directions. Trump represents and reflects the evils of the world while Jesus teaches us the heart of God.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Speak up<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The message of Jesus is simple and clear: love God and love others. If we respond to the love of God by loving others.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9452\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2025\/03\/Jesus.png\" alt='\"Love God. Love others.\" How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?' width=\"780\" height=\"654\"><\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t just live like Christians, we must stop hiding our light under baskets, and explain <em>why<\/em> we are Christians. If we remain silent, we let other voices dominate. And those dominant voices aren\u2019t Christian.<\/p>\n<p>Trump Christians will offer misquotes, half-quotes, and distortions to defend the indefensible policies of Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Bible says \u2018don\u2019t judge,\u2019\u201d they say; ignorant of the rest of the sentence when Jesus says we will be judged the same way. If we\u2019re living the message of Jesus, scripture says we have no fear of the judgment of the Lord. People saying, \u201cDon\u2019t judge,\u201d really mean, \u201cDon\u2019t judge me for ignoring everything Jesus says.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Remain silent <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cFor our struggle is not against flesh and blood,\u201d Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, \u201cbut against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We must not only speak up more often, we must also remain silent when our neighbors are threatened.<\/p>\n<p>When government authorities demand information, remain silent. When questioned about the nationality, sexuality or other particulars about coworkers, friends, or neighbors, don\u2019t participate in the persecution. Just because a question is asked, we aren\u2019t required to answer.<\/p>\n<p>Variations of \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m sure that\u2019s none of my business,\u201d are always good responses to bad questions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8679 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2024\/06\/Your-paragraph-text.png\" alt=\"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?\" width=\"768\" height=\"644\"><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Contact elected officials<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If Jesus wanted Christians to control governments, then he would have controlled the government. He would have appeared on the steps of the Roman Forum, declared himself King of the world, and then called down a heavenly band of angels to enforce his reign. But he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>And Jesus doesn\u2019t want his followers to do that, either.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Nationalists craving political power reject the lesson of Jesus and instead focus on the power of Rome. They aren\u2019t Christian. For them Jesus is a mascot, not a messiah.<\/p>\n<p>But, as Christian tax payers we have every right to demand public polices reflect our faith and a Christian commitment to helping others, rather than have our tax dollars spent on death and weapons of war.<\/p>\n<p>Contact elected officials, in the name of Christ, and demand that public policy reflects your morality, and not the amorality of Trump and his sycophants.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>None of this is easy. Some of this may be well outside your comfort zone. In the name of Christ, do it anyway.<\/p>\n<h3>Ultimately, Trump is the symptom, not the disease.<\/h3>\n<p>Trump Christians have been manipulated for decades into believing they can\u2019t be Christian and Democrat, so the default response for many American Christians is to support a Republican, even when the Republicans are profane liars and the opposite of Jesus in every way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least he\u2019s not a Democrat,\u201d isn\u2019t a Biblically based justification to support policies that harm the weakest.<\/p>\n<p>Trump Christians are comfortable in their persecution of others, it\u2019s up to us to hold them to the standard they claim \u2013 the standard Jesus asks of us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u03a9<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/shop\/faithonthefringe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\"><strong>You can support my online ministry by shopping for books at Bookshop.org<\/strong><\/a>, where I\u2019ll receive a commission. Thanks for your support.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8889 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1007\/2024\/08\/Bring-Faith-on-the-Fringe-to-you.-Faith-on-the-Fringe-creator-Jim-Meisner-Jr.-is-available-to-speak-at-your-church-group-or-gathering.-An-engaging-and-entertaining-speaker-Jim-is-also-the-autho.png\" alt=\"Faith on the Fringe\" width=\"768\" height=\"644\"><\/p>\n<p>For more from Jim, follow these links:<\/p>\n<p><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2024\/04\/mamie-and-kenneth-clark\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Clark Doll Study Documenting the Damage of Segregation<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2024\/09\/do-christians-need-to-be-reminded-that-racism-is-immoral\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Do Christians Need to be Reminded that Racism is Immoral?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2024\/08\/trump-uses-a-slur-against-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Notes from a Sermon: Mark 7: 24-37<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u03a9<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.faithonthefringe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong><em>Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> is the author of the novel <\/em>Faith, Hope, and Baseball<em>, <\/em><\/strong><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2BCVnc2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong><em>available on Amazon<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>, or <\/em><\/strong><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/faithonthefringe.com\/faith-hope-and-baseball-a-novel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong><em>follow this link to order an autographed copy<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>. He created and manages the Facebook page <\/em><\/strong><a class=\" decorated-link decorated-link decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FaithOnTheFringe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Faith on the Fringe<\/em><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his \u201cChristian\u201d supporters? \u00a0 Here are 6 suggestions: Reclaim the Bible Too many Americans claim to be Christian but then behave contrary to the teachings of Jesus. They support policies and politicians who victimize or exploit the weakest and most vulnerable. Throughout history, powerful Christians have wielded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3527,"featured_media":9473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,14,32],"tags":[2475,2469,653,2542],"class_list":["post-9449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civil-rights-2","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-donald-trump-and-christians","tag-donald-trump-isnt-christian","tag-faith","tag-political-allegiance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his &quot;Christian&quot; supporters? 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Here they can find faith on the fringe.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/faithonthefringe.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FaithOnTheFringe\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/author\/jmeisner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?","description":"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his \"Christian\" supporters? Start by reclaiming the Bible and Jesus.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2025\/03\/how-do-christians-respond-to-donald-trump\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump?","og_description":"How do Christians respond to Donald Trump and his \"Christian\" supporters? 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I created this blog and Facebook page, Faith on the Fringe. I\u2019ve been the pastor of my current church for more than three years. Jesus gives us a better way to be, but too many judgmental Christians get in the way and drive people away from the message of Jesus. I\u2019m frustrated with both Christians and non-Christians who make judgments based on what they think the Bible says, rather than what it actually says. What they think the message of Jesus is, rather than what it actually is. The authentic message of Jesus remains on the fringe of the faith and many spiritual seekers are on the fringe of the culture. Here they can find faith on the fringe.","sameAs":["https:\/\/faithonthefringe.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FaithOnTheFringe\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/author\/jmeisner\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}