Consideration of Christianity

I was doing some research on Barack Obama's profession of faith and I came across a blog with a few comments in it, and a comment sprang up from me.

I was struck by what seemed to be indignation that Christians would seek a leader who reflected Christian values. There also seemd to be an assumption that for Christians to want the nation's leader to be a Christian was evidence of Christians wanting to institute a theocracy. I was obviously compelled to respond.

Now, I'm sure I do not represent all Christians (I have enough trouble adequately representing myself), but I pray I have at least represented the truth.

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I don’t think Christians expect a theocracy, and I’m pretty sure the New Testament never advocates such government, but to tell Christians they should not expect a Christian President is the same as telling non-Christians they should not expect a non-Christian President.

It’s true on both counts, but the point is you have a right to your expectation, your beliefs, and your vote.

Christians feel that faith is a virtue; therefore they will (as is their right) consider the presence, lack, or pretense of such virtue when casting their vote. To assume this means all Christians vote based on some judgmental measure of their fellowman’s righteousness is about as logical as assuming all non-Christians vote based on a selfish, prideful resentment and rebellion of God. It’s just not so.

Many people are trying to vote according to what they feel is best for the nation. Is it always best for the nation? No, but you can’t reserve credit for the attempt to only those who vote like you.

When it comes to Barack Obama’s faith, would you call someone who cannot swim a swimmer? Or someone who runs once every two months a runner? Yet, our culture regularly celebrates as Christians those who do not believe in the standards God set or his Son, the Christ (the foundation and identity of Christianity).

In case you’re missing the point, imagine how indignant you might feel if Obama regularly attended a Bible believing church, surrounded himself with a Bible believing cohort, carried a Bible everywhere he went, and was known to regularly read and quote scripture and voted according to God’s standard of morality, yet he claimed to be of no particular faith and professed to represent all non-Christians…as well as Christians, of course.

It’s only reasonable that you’d be skeptical of his professed life philosophy. You would scrutinize his claim to the non-Christian religion, and where you found evidence that that claim was erroneous, you would cry, “charlatan!”

In a country where freedom of religion reigns, why should the religion of Christianity be any less welcome in politics than the religion of individualism, homosexuality, or feminism (yes, though not theistic in nature, they are religions)?

It is not my place to judge Obama’s relationship with or profession of faith to the one true God. It is my calling, however, to look at Obama’s fruit and test it against the Biblical measure. In my humble opinion, he comes up short. Does that mean he is damned, that’s above my pay grade; but it does mean I reasonably assess his beliefs and his politics to be incongruent with mine, and I will not vote for him…as is my God given right.