“America’s pastor” Max Lucado got national attention when he broke his long silence on political issues to criticize Donald Trump, and found himself in the middle of a small national controversy. The way Trump spoke of others “wouldn’t even be acceptable even for a middle school student body election,” the bestselling Christian author had said in an item on his personal blog on February 24th, which was read by a reported 3 million people in the first 36 hours it was up. “But for the Oval Office? And to do so while brandishing a Bible and boasting of his Christian faith? I’m bewildered, both by his behavior and the public’s support of it.”

National Public Radio noticed, and interviewed him. In the conversation Lucado told NPR that he remains “baffled” by Christians who support Trump and ignore his behavior. But he said he only spoke out because he wants the person who judges Christianity by the way Trump speaks to know that how Trump “speaks about people is not the way our master, our savior has taught us to speak; it’s not the way our Scriptures urge us to speak.”

Lucado continued:

The Bible urges us to be respectful to all people, especially people with whom we have disagreements, to never libel people, to never label people. Now this is a huge deal in Scripture, and … the reason I’ve gone so verbal and vocal with this is because I’m protective of the reputation of Christ and the church, and I would ask that person not to interpret the Christian faith through the words of Mr. Trump.

Asked by NPR about the “deep undercurrent of worry” he’d mentioned in his blog, Lucado replied, “I think there’s a fear of we don’t know what’s next.” We are better off now, he said, than 8 or 10 years ago, with a “somewhat stable” economy and a reduction in the international conflict. And yet, “There’s just a level of anxiety. I’m personally of course of the persuasion that all of our issues are spiritual issues and that a disconnect with God creates a disconnect with our neighbors and that leads to anxiety.”

Lucado is the long-time preacher at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio and the author of books that have sold an estimated 80 million copies.

In a follow-up item on his blog, titled “Worried Enough to Pray,” Lucado said that he had detected several “themes” in the responses to his first item on Trump. Readers, he said, deeply love America, are allergic to “convenient Christians,” and are deeply concerned for the future of the country. He pointed to the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and particularly to Elijah’s prayers as a model for American Christians.

If your responses to my blog are any indication, you are anxious. You love this country, yet you are troubled about the future. You wonder what the future holds and what we can do. Elijah’s story provides the answer. We can pray. We can offer earnest, passionate prayers. It’s time to turn our concerns into a unified prayer. Let’s join our hearts and invite God to do again what he did then; demonstrate His power.

Trump has not responded.