(OPINION) In the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented conviction, controversial Pastor Mark Driscoll began pleading on social media for Jesus’ return ahead of Election Day in November. “Lord Jesus, we would humbly request that you return before November 5,” he wrote on X.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was convicted last Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged sex scandal that could have negatively impacted his 2016 campaign.
Several prominent Christian voices reacted late last week to Trump’s historic conviction.
The Rev. Franklin Graham said the U.S. is “at a crossroads,” noting the former president’s conviction “raises questions about whether our legal system can be trusted.”
He encouraged Christians to “pray for our nation, for God‘s guiding hand that this republic will be one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.” Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship urged believers to “pray for America like you never have before.”
Others who are more critical of Trump, like Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today and the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, pointed to perceived problems with the Republican’s character.
“The question is what it has always been — fit or unfit,” he argued. “And the answer was obvious all along. Character matters, still.”
As for Driscoll, he urged his followers on social media to keep in mind there is no politician who can solve the problems plaguing society. Rather, it is only God who can remedy what ills the world.
“Government can’t fix spiritual problems; it’s ultimately a God problem,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Trusting in politicians won’t solve it — repentance and faith are the only way forward.”
