Obama and the Children of Light

I was going to title this entry something like, “Christians Should Give a Damn!” Or, “What the Hell Is Wrong With God’s People?” But I thought that might be too strong.

Speaking of curses, Deuteronomy 28 speaks of the curses on the nation that does not acknowledge God’s principles. It says in its opening verses, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you…if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.” This is reminiscent of Katharine L. Bates lyrics which most of us used to sing as children—when it was still in vogue and permissible to do so. “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” We understood that the prosperity, security, and strength of our nation, was an endowment from God. We didn’t earn it by being smart or sophisticated. We pursued being in right standing with Him and adhering to His principles. We tried to do the right thing. This is supposedly what Christians throughout the centuries have tried to do. Christians were never perfect—from day one (Cf. Ananias and Sapphira, Paul and Barnabas, Onesimus the Slave). Our country has certainly never been perfect. No Presidential candidate has ever been perfect. But once upon a time, Christians used to value morality. Remember those days? When the words of Ephesians 5 actually mattered, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral person…has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” I heard a Christian say recently, “I don’t care about morality right now.” The insinuation being that in our present economic state, moral issues are unimportant. Imagine that attitude in the 1800’s: “Who cares about slavery? We need slaves for our economy to flourish. That’s all I care about. Now, excuse me, I have to go get ready for church.” Maybe we should have paid more attention to the almost million people who were murdered in Rwanda in the 90’s, even if it would have had a negative effect on our economy. Jesus said “You are the light of the world,” and Paul admonishes us to “live and children of light.” So we do not live as the world does. We do not think as the world does, “for the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.” Therefore, Christians will not simply jump on the Obama band wagon without digging out the truth first. Right?

Could it be that there are Christians who actually believe that they themselves—or the President—are actually responsible for how much the nation will be blessed? You know, through our rich financial savvy. It’s no wonder that Paul calls these people in Ephesians 5, Idolaters. “In _______ we trust.” Sure, competence in leadership is crucial, but when someone says, essentially, that they don’t care about what matters to God (morality), or that some other party controls our fate, how else could I interpret that, but as idolatry? (“Obama, Obama, Obama in the highest! He will prosper us!”) Someone else said a short time ago that they could not afford this [Iraqi/Afghan] war that we are in. I am so trying to be nice and professional…but what the (HECK) kind of statement is that? (a) they can’t afford the war, but they could afford Democrats gaffs on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (b) they can’t afford the war, but they could afford higher taxes to make the government bigger (c) they can’t afford the war, but they could afford to have our president sit with those who are trying to destroy us and our economy (“Please, Mr. Amadinajab, be nice. Pretty please. We’ll be your friend.”) (d) they can’t afford the war, but who cares about the hundreds of thousands of people that Saddam Hussein can no longer torture and kill—because we went to war and kicked his…butt. Why should Christians care about that? Why should we care about any of these things when we could have a smooth talking, four (whole) year senator, former dazzling community organizer, run our country?

Yes, Christians. Let us pray. Let’s pray hard that God’s mercy and grace continue to shine on this nation. And whatever the outcome of this election, I pray that the true people of God honor Him and His word by truly seeking truth. How sad it would be for Christians to think and be just like the world? In futility.

Paul: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes…”