Politics and the Christian

I recently got the same chain email that lots of other people have apparently been receiving.  It claims to have been written by “a pastor’s wife.”  I googled a bit to find out who wrote it, but alas, its been duplicated and sent around so much, it would be difficult for the CIA to trace its origin.

If you are curious, here is a link to it, I really don’t feel like reproducing it yet again here.  It was another “obamaination” email about the end of the world and President Obama.

It appears that many conservative Christians hate our President.  These, for the most part are people that I relate to.  They believe in a king.  They believe in the Bible, they believe in heaven and hell and they believe – most importantly of all – in the gospel of Grace.

But if they believe in all those things.  I don’t know how they can spew such hatred at a president.

Respect those in Authority

We should respect and obey our leaders because God has placed them there.  Whether you believe a person is truly a Christian has nothing whatsoever with whether or not God has placed them in that position.  God has chosen Barack Obama as the leader of America.  And if you want to respect God – respect his choice.

What are your Idols?

We lash out against those who destroy our idols.  We all have things that we worship and cherish.  And when those idols are threatened, boy do we ever get vicious.  We are like a dog who sees you reaching for his food.

So why do we despise Obama? I have heard words like socialist and marxist.  I hear people saying that he is going to destroy the country or economy.  That Health care will be impossible to receive once he is done with it.

These things are said with barred teeth, fear and anger.  We are afraid our idols are going to be ripped away.

People who say that they believe in a king who reigns forever.  People who claim that the Alpha and Omega who created all that there was and ever will be is in charge of the universe.

These are the people who are concerned about a small and relatively insignificant man.  One man who will be dead of natural causes in at least fifty years.

This one man is currently in charge of one of the youngest countries on earth.  This country is one country of several hundred.  This one country and this one man are enough to make you fear what exactly?  That the king is no longer on his throne? Do we fear that the kingdom we belong to is somehow less effective?

Or is it that the king you really want is one who will give you health care you can have access to AND afford?

Do you want a king who will guarantee you that you will always live in a capitalist society?  Even when approximately 99 percent of his subjects never imagined such a thing as a capitalistic republic?

Maybe the pain you feel is your idol being dashed to dust.  If so you should be praising God for President Obama and praying for his success.

How we deal with Politics

So how should we deal constructively with politics?  We have a voice, and we have a Biblical worldview.  We should voice what we believe.  We should do so in gentleness, and with compassion.  Many people are beginning to think Christians are all lunatics because of the way some of my own brothers and sisters are speaking.

Some of us should run for public office.  Some should carry signs on Pennsylvania Avenue.  But in either case, people watching should know immediately that we are different.  We should not take pages from the playbook of other protesters, or other politicians.

We have no need to be outrageous to draw attention.  We have a great need to be faithful to our spouses.  We need to be honest – wouldn’t that be different?

The bottom line is that we need to be responsible for the areas in which we are responsible.  Before you decide to run for public office, how is your relationship with your wife and kids?  You think if you can’t be faithful to your own wife I want you to represent me??

Personal responsibility is all any of us can claim.  Personally I am not responsible for National healthcare.  Though I am responsible to contribute to my community to make it better for the people around me.

Let’s all start taking responsibility for the people in our own houses and the people next door.  Let’s stop fighting about Washington.  Let’s respect the President and keep our hope in Jesus where it was always supposed to be in the first place.

A Word on Hope

There is a line in the email I received which indicates that the author trusts in the success of America, which is “our pride and our hope.”

We have only one pride and hope.

If you believe that Satan is real, then stop for a minute and ask yourself this. would Satan want you to live in a nation which provides freedom of worship, a fair trade economy, and a decent quality of life and believe this nation to be your pride and your hope.  Or would he prefer that you live in squalor under a dictator and hope only in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Hallelujah, for the Lord God almighty Reigns!

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