A Special Appeal to Christians in a Time of Global Crisis

As a Christian observing from Australia, I understand the powerful appeal of Donald Trump—especially to believers who see a world spinning off its moral axis. In a time marked by cultural confusion, political corruption, and growing spiritual emptiness, it’s tempting to place our hopes in leaders who promise to fight back, restore order, and uphold traditional values.

Now that Trump has returned to the presidency, many Christians feel vindicated. After all, doesn’t he oppose the very ideologies that have caused so much damage—radical progressivism, moral relativism, globalist overreach?

And yet, I believe we are at a dangerous crossroads.

This is not just an American problem—it is a global one. Across the world, democracies are weakening, societies are fragmenting, and faith is being manipulated to serve political ends. Millions are suffering, and in our desire for stability, we risk making the same mistake that history has repeated too many times: putting our trust in men and in power instead of principle.

We need to pause. Not to condemn those who support the strongmen leaders, but to reflect on where we are, what we are being asked to support, and what it means for the body of Christ in this generation.

Let us look not to headlines or politicians, but to Christ—and specifically, to His temptations in the wilderness.

The Three Temptations of Christ—Then and Now

In the Gospel accounts, Christ faced three temptations: to turn stones into bread, to leap from the temple to prove His divinity, and to accept dominion over the world by bowing to Satan.

The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky described these questions as being at the ultimate spiritual crossroads of human history—questions that every civilization must eventually answer, concluding the source of the three temptations is beyond human reasoning:

“By the questions alone, simply by the miracle of their appearance, one can see that one is dealing with a mind not human and transient but eternal and absolute. For in these three questions all of subsequent human history is as if brought together into a single whole and foretold; three images are revealed that will take in all the insoluble historical contradictions of human nature over all the earth.”

In other words, these three temptations were not “invented” or “made up” by the evangelists for dramatic effect. The very “perfection” of the temptations posed by the devil reveal their veracity.

Temptation One: Bread Alone

The first temptation—“Turn these stones into bread”—speaks to our bodily appetites, our desire for comfort and pleasure.

Today, we live in a world that has accepted this temptation wholesale. Modern capitalism, stripped of ethics, tells us we are what we consume. The neoliberal worldview proclaims that greed leads to prosperity, and the postmodern ethos insists that truth is whatever we want it to be.

Together, these ideologies have created a new religion: consumerism. Our societies are now governed by markets, not morals. Everything—relationships, education, healthcare, even belief—has become commodified.

This is the world many Christians believe Trump is fighting against. But here’s the tragic irony: his movement does not challenge this false gospel—it rides it. His brand is built on spectacle, ego, wealth, and domination. He reflects the culture’s broken values while claiming to resist them.

Christ’s answer still stands: “Man shall not live by bread alone.” Freedom is not indulgence. True liberty requires self-mastery.

Temptation Two: Faith Without Responsibility

Next, the devil invites Jesus to leap from the temple, claiming that God will save Him. Jesus responds, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

This temptation is about using faith as an excuse for recklessness, passivity, or moral compromise.

Globally, many Christians have fallen into this trap. They support political figures with glaring moral failures, claiming that “God uses imperfect vessels.” They pray for revival while excusing injustice. They lean on grace but neglect accountability.

In doing so, they become like the servant who buried his talent. Christ was clear: freedom is a gift, but it comes with the responsibility to grow, to mature, to act in line with virtue.

Today’s global Christian community is at risk of becoming complacent—outsourcing our moral duties to politicians, assuming our job is just to pray, vote, and hope for the best. But that’s not faith. That’s spiritual laziness.

Christ calls us to be light and salt—not silent observers of authoritarianism disguised as salvation.

Temptation Three: Power Without Conscience

Finally, the devil offers Jesus control over the kingdoms of the world if He will only bow down.

This is the temptation of raw power—the belief that if we could just seize the institutions, win the courts, and control the media, we could fix everything.

This temptation is seductive to Christians because it promises the ability to enforce morality. But it replaces spiritual authority with political coercion. It turns churches into campaign offices and pastors into operatives.

This is not just an American issue. From Hungary to Brazil, from India to Russia, authoritarianism is rising—and Christians, eager for influence, are too often riding shotgun.

But Jesus said no. He did not build His kingdom on the sword. He did not manipulate or dominate. He laid down His life and called His followers to do the same.

The Deeper Danger

These temptations have not just returned—they’ve been rebranded as virtues. Freedom is now framed as license. Faith is reduced to tribal loyalty. Power is pursued as righteousness.

Worst of all, this counterfeit gospel convinces us that the solution is to double down on political saviors—rather than reclaim the spiritual tools God gave us: responsibility, humility, and character.

Even worse, many Christians now believe that the only way forward is divine intervention. That only God can save us. But this is itself a trap. It leads to fatalism, withdrawal, or worse—blind allegiance to those who claim to speak for God but act like kings.

The Path Forward: A Global Christian Response

We cannot go on like this. The global Church must offer more than culture war rhetoric or partisan alignment. We must model a different way.

That way begins with rejecting the three temptations, just as Christ did.

It requires us to affirm that freedom is sacred and moral; that power is to be shared, not hoarded; that peace is built through conscience, not coercion.

That vision is embodied in the Freedom Declaration for Peace—a global call to rediscover the moral foundations of civil society. It is not a political program. It is a spiritual and philosophical realignment for a post-industrial world that has lost its story.

It declares that cooperation, not conquest, is the path forward. That freedom, properly understood, is God's gift not just to Christians, but to all humanity. And that the role of believers is not to dominate nations, but to be moral exemplars in every society.

Let the Kingdom Begin Within

Christ said, “The kingdom of God is within you.” That is where our revolution begins—not in Washington or Canberra, not in parliaments or palaces, but in the quiet conviction that we are called to a higher standard.

Not to win at all costs, but to live with moral clarity.

Not to impose truth, but to embody it.

Not to seek kings, but to follow the King who knelt, who washed feet, who forgave His enemies.

A Final Word

To my fellow Christians around the world—whether you live under liberal democracies, fragile regimes, or rising autocracies—this is our moment.

Trump is back in power. Strongmen are on the rise. But so is disillusionment. The world is hungry for something deeper than slogans and strong arms. It is hungry for peace rooted in principle, for truth spoken with grace, and for freedom redeemed through virtue.

We can be the answer to that hunger.

Join the movement not of kings, but of conscience.

Sign the Freedom Declaration for Peace and let the world see that followers of Christ still stand for humility, responsibility, and the true meaning of freedom.

Let history record that we did not mistake power for righteousness.

Let it be said that when the temptations returned, we chose Christ again.

Together, we can reject the lies.

Together, we can build the civilization the blind men cannot see.