And I think that the majority of Christians around the nation are cowering in their little fundamentalist caves, wondering what will happen next. Judging from what people like Pat Robertson and James Dobson tell me, apparently I should be waiting for our economy to collapse, mass murder and chaos to overtake our land, and the reign of the antichrist to be ushered in. I can't tell you how many places I've seen or heard the phrase "This is a horrible time for America" uttered by Christians.
I, for one, am not buying it. In fact, I want to challenge my Christian brothers and sisters to take a different outlook.
Here's the thing. I'm a Christian. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat, either. I tend to side with Democrats on fiscal issues, and Republicans on more ethical ones. I've taken about 3 different kinds of political tests, and on each one, I score right in the middle.
I'm a moderate. I don't have any political ax to grind. I am not thrilled with Obama. He's inexperienced. He has some very liberal stances on some issues that I do not agree with. That being said, I don't like John McCain, either. I'm not convinced he would have offered the change that our country needs, and I think that he lacks the sense of unifying leadership our government needs right now. And while I like Sarah Palin as a person, I think she was a horribly irresponsible choice for the office of vice president.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not really "in bed" with any political figure.
Church, let me approach you with this idea. Perhaps Barack Obama is the man that God wants to lead our nation right now.
Have you ever considered that?
I know that he doesn't serve God's party, the Republicans (hope you're catching the sarcasm here), but consider this. God certainly could have made a miracle occur if he really wanted to. I mean, he's defeated armies, struck down people, resurrected the dead... I don't think deciding an election would be too hard for him. Yet, we still have Barack Obama set to lead our nation for the next 4 years, and the fact remains that this is the leader that God has allowed to be in charge of our country for the next term.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't in any way think that Barack Obama is this new Messiah-like figure that some make him out to be. Without sounding too corny, my hope isn't in Obama; my hope is in Jesus.
Ancient Israel was led by many men who were much worse than Barack Obama. Ahab and his wife Jezebel prohibited Israelites from worshipping God throughout their reign. People like Athaliah were horrible and awful leaders who did a lot of negative things. Yet, God still chose to weave history across and through the path of these individuals.
In the early church, Christians were pretty much all part of the Roman Empire. I don't know if you've done much study on the Roman Empire, but it was ruled by some horrible, awful people. Emperor Nero burned Christians, and Domitian led a state-sponsored crusade against Christians. Yet, both Paul (Romans) and Peter (1 Peter) had the courage to ask believers in their letters to submit to the governing authorities. I'm sure that both Paul and Peter had some problems with the policies of their government (Who doesn't?). Yet, the fact remains that they still were loyal to those leaders ruling over them (provided their loyalty to Christ didn't conflict with their loyalty to government), even if these people weren't holier-than-thou Bible-thumping Christians.
So yes, you may hate that Barack Obama is a pro-choice president. But I would come back with the idea that maybe it's time for the church to step up and evangelize the world around us, allowing issues like abortion to take care of themselves.
The fact remains that Barack is the person God has allowed to be the leader of our country at this time. And I think that regardless of your political party, your allegiance to Christ means that you should lovingly support President Obama with all you've got.
Something to consider.
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