President Obama and the Church

In less than two weeks, if the polls are to be believed, a record turnout of the American electorate will elect Senator Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States. To be sure, his election will be a significant and historic milestone for our country.  No matter what your politics, all Americans recognize that the election of an African-American President signals that the last significant vestiges of institutionalized racism in this country are gone forever.  We all rejoice in that.  But at the same time, no one really knows what kind of President the Illinois Senator will be.

The optimistic and pessimistic sides of me have differing takes on this. The optimist part in me thinks that Obama has the opportunity to be, as Colin Powell noted in his endorsement, a "transformational leader."  He could bring us together and seek common ground with both Red State and Blue State America. The pessimistic side of me fears he might move sharply to the left and govern from there causing us to move farther away from the Jeffersonian ideal that the government that rules best rules least. (I must point out that if that happens it will, unfortunately, be just a continuation of the Bush Administration's disappointing trend toward enlarging government and moving away from a free market economy.)

For now, I will choose to hold on to the optimistic hope that a President Obama will unite rather than further divide us.  More importantly, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I will support him as my President and be faithful to pray for him.  Let's be clear: If I choose to follow God's Word, I have no other choice.  Sadly, I fear many in the church - most notably many church leaders - will choose to be political rather than biblical in responding to President Obama.

That is the critical question facing the church in the United States today: Will we in the church choose to be biblical or political in our response to a President Obama? I am convinced that our response will in large measure determine our effectiveness and credibility for the next four years. 

It is no secret that since at least the late 1970s, the portion of the Christian community known as the "Religious Right" has been solidly entrenched in the Republican party. In the interest of full disclosure, I should state for the record that I have voted for the Republican Presidential candidate since I cast my ballot for Ronald Reagan's first term in 1980, so I would certainly qualify as a card-carrying member of the Religious Right. 

For a generation now, those of us on the Right have presumed to have a lock on so-called "values voters."  We have assumed that God was on our side and that we were on His. We have almost deified our preferred candidates, while denigrating and demonizing opposing candidates almost to the point of character assassination.  We assumed that if you were a Christian, you would vote the same way we were voting.  That was a safe assumption for us to make because everyone we knew and socialized with agreed with us 100% politically.

This present election cycle has been vastly different.  The "Religious Right" as we knew it for a generation foundered, unable to agree on a candidate to support. (Why they failed to wholeheartedly endorse Mike Huckabee is still a huge mystery to me.)  When John McCain, arguably their least favorite candidate - one who openly called Christian leaders "agents of intolerance" in 2000 - was tapped as the Republican nominee, the damage to their credibility and influence was done.

Absent someone to be for, many of my brethren on the Right have opted instead for simply being against someone, in this case Barack Obama. In my role as Managing Editor of two Christian media portals, I receive dozens of press releases and news wire dispatches from Christian organizations in my inbox and on my Blackberry every day.  Here is a sampling of recent headlines from Christian groups and organizations:

"Newscast from the Future Exposes Obama Nightmare"
"Reasons Why Obama Looks Like a Wolf"
"Barrie Hussein: Congenital Liar"
"Fake Christian Chooses Fake Catholic as Running Mate"

It is interesting to note that these same Christian news wires ran numerous press releases attacking John McCain before he became the Republican nominee for his stance on a range of issues including abortion. But there have been nothing but positive stories sent out since he became the presumptive nominee.  This is a problem, folks.  When we fail to be consistent and biblical in speaking truth to power, we forfeit the right to do so.  When our staunch criticism of John McCain ceased when he became the Republican nominee, we are being political rather than biblical.

I can understand opposing - even strongly opposing - a candidate on the issues, but to call a man who gives a sincere testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ and who is by all accounts a devoted father and husband a "Fake Christian" is beyond the pale.

A couple of years ago, a prominent Christian leader (on the Right, I might add) stated that the church needed to repent of failing to give Bill Clinton the respect that he was due as one God had placed in authority over us.  He was right. Maybe if the church had earnestly prayed for President Clinton and shown him respect even while opposing his policies there would not have been the scandals in his personal life and his presidency.  If you scoff at that idea, I would suggest you underestimate the power of prayer. 

The Bible could not possibly be clearer: We are to give the leaders that God places in authority over us respect. And we are to sincerely lift them up in prayer. 

Tony Evans is fond of saying the white church depends on an elephant, the black church depends on a donkey, but Jesus is not riding on either.  He stands before us saying, "I'm not here to take sides, I am here to take over!"  The bottom line is this: My personal relationship with Jesus Christ defines who I am, not my political convictions.  My relationship with Christ transcends politics.

Let's purpose in our hearts that we are not going to repeat our mistakes from the Clinton years.  Let us determine at the start that We will be faithful to pray for and support our President - whether it is Obama or McCain - and ask God to give him wisdom, discernment, and favor as he leads us in the years ahead. 

Comments

[Jeff Mueller]

Thank you Alan for this honest and thoughtful post. As a fellow brother in Christ I too have been thinking about the same points that you mentioned. Our relationship with Christ does transcend politics and most importantly no matter who is in office we need to pray for them every day.

[Kyle O'Neal]

Great post man! We as the church need to for SURE be asking ourself that. Good stuff. Lunch soon?

[senny tamunowari]

Nice write up.
Christians have to learn to hear from God, and vote for who He has chosen, not nesessarily who agrees with their doctrine or view point.Also, american churches have to deal with the race issue in their pews,otherwise the church will continue to lose out.Could it be that they could not accept that Obama is a believer because he is black?Did they allow race to make them not to recognise their brother?When the white brother is attending a white church, and has no conection to any black brother, this kind of mistake can take place. Note It can be the other way round as well. What is this black church and white church division of His body? Will that division be in heaven? I also noted that Macain's election ralies were predominantly white, while that of Obama was a real shade of colour.Obama said he is a believer, that should be enough. Even his pastor under whom he sat for years, missed his moment when his convert was to make it to the top.A number of the black leaders failed to see what God was about to do.Practically most pastors of the white churches missed it too.Why is it always like that? All boils down to hearing from God.Obama is a believer. It will be sad if the church fails to pray for him.He may not be your type of christian.The office of president can be a baptism of a sort,let's hope some christians will not be like the pharisees in Jesus time who missed the chance to be baptised by John the baptist . It is sad though that the whole world knew that Obama will be elected,how come the religious right or many bible carrying white christians missed it? Obama could not have won if majority of the white people did not vote for him. Could it be that racism is now only in the church?The credit must then go to the white majority of American populace who chose a black candidate because he was a better candidate and did not allow the colour difference to influnce them.Tt also showed that America has changed. Note majority of americans claim to be christians if only in name only.May God hear our prayer for America. There is also the issue of not knowing who Obama is. It reminds me of Ananaias discussion about Paul(then Saul), and God telling him he is a chosen vessel of his. This Obama election issue has exposed the the fact that american christians may be weak when it comes to hearing from God.The person God may want to use may not fit into your type of box, so you have to learn to listen to Him and not just stick to your own stereotypes. That is a basic lesson in the bible about who God uses, He even used a donkey.Some say they do not know which type of president he is going to be. That is an expression of fear or worse. No one knows what type of president any one president was going to be, before they were elected.It depends on the circumstances that presents itself. Who knew that Bush will take America to war.That is why we seek God's face for his choice.
Obama wrote about himself in his two latest books that should be enough to tell you about him,as well as the long campaign system.His having to beat Mrs clintin was a real indication of what a person he is.He brought a new approach to politics never known before. That shows that he was a very unique person for a unique time.