America Did Not Elect God
I must admit shock at the behavior of some Christians. I supported John McCain because of a few key issues, but he lost. That’s disappointing, but not upsetting to me. I have a hard time understanding the angst and fear exhibited by Christians over the election of Obama. I am troubled by Christians involved in groups where they put President Obama’s head superimposed in a poster of Osama Bin Laden. That is offensive and shows no respect for the highest office in the land. I am angry when I see countries in the Middle East defaming our President, what is being done here in our country is no different, maybe worse.
Our God is Almighty and Sovereign no matter whom the President is. The Bible has a lot to say about kings (in our case a president) and our response to them and our government. I’d like to share a few passages with you.
In Matthew 22:17-22 the Bible shows a dialogue between people and Jesus: Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
Caesar overtaxed his people. He was not someone who was loved by Israel. These Pharisees thought they could ignore Caesar because of his wickedness, but Jesus give them a surprising answer. They are to give Caesar what is his. Interesting to think this instance compared with our culture.
Another passage on submission to governmental authority is Romans 13:1-7: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Submission to authority sometimes just goes against the grain doesn’t it? Yet God’s Word commands us to respect and be in subjection to our ruling authorities. They are appointed by God and He demands that we respect their authority. President Obama deserves our respect because he is going to be our President. We need to show the love of Christ to him, his family, and supporters. I see no evidence of Christ supporting actions which defame our leaders. I also see evidence in this passage that God will not bless those who are not in subjection to their leaders. I see no evidence that this President will impede on our rights to freely worship, we should be grateful to God for this, it is our most important freedom.
Another principle to think about is Ecclesiastes 10:20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
I am convinced that with the amount of vitriol I see on the internet or hear from Christians about Obama, that there are even more bad thoughts about him in hearts and minds. This behavior is not winning souls to Christ. It is turning them away.
I believe that on issues that are against God’s law such as abortion, Christians should stand their ground firmly. Surely God’s law comes first. This kind of stand against wrong doing can be done while still respecting the office of the Presidency. It is what we should strive to do.
I am sure some who have read this will disagree with me, feel free to tell me why. I pray that some will consider their part in this nonsense, and show real Christian love to those with whom they disagree politically.
God was on His throne when Obama was elected, God will be on His throne when Obama is no longer our President, and God will be on His throne forever and ever, Amen!
wlumm
1181 days ago
Yes, God is in control! God has allowed Obama to be president and we may not be able to see the “big picture” right now…but we need to Trust and not Worry in God!So I agree…the only part that I worry about is if our money (taxes) start going to pay for abortions all the time…that will be hard for me to stomach…what do u think about that as a Christian? I would like to know your view.
Keri
1181 days ago
I share your view of abortion. Unfortunately, our taxes have funded Planned Parenthood for years now. That did not change with Republicans in office and will probably not become much worse under an Obama administration. It’s sad but true. We have been stomaching our country’s fiscal support of abortion for years.What we do to fight abortion is support legistlation that limits abortions. My friend actually helped craft proposition 4 in California which failed. We need to raise support for these laws which can reduce abortion.We can also volunteer at places like Piedmont Women’s Center and help educate women about other alternatives.So that’s my view. We fight on issues but are respectful and loyal to the office of the President.
coolcatana
1181 days ago
Hi Keri,I had been hoping and wondering what your reaction to the post-election hype would be, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. Even though I supported Obama for president, I made sure that I was respectful of others’ views throughout the campaign and especially after the results were in. What I found in response immediately after the election from a lot of people, including Christians I have always respected for their faith, however, was a lot of hatred and bigotry. It was incredibly disappointing to get on facebook last week and see my Christian friends with whom I went to a Christian high school put up status messages that were hateful, angry, untrue, and not at all what Christ would have us do. I understand that an election can be heated and that if things don’t go the way you hoped a lot of emotions are felt. I know this first hand, one of my older sisters lost her race for Florida state house of representatives. But Christ would not have us damn our president-elect or any other man to hell. He would not have us continue to spread lies about his religion or any other such nonsense I read post-election. Unfortunately a lot of things have been said this election season that show the ugly side of human nature. We need to get beyond what has been said and done and look to the future of our country and to God’s plan. Ana-Cris
Anonymous
1180 days ago
I enjoyed your article. One brief observation. Had William Wilberforce sat idly by while slave trade in Britain continued thousands more of innocent men and women probably would have died. I know you are not proposing to do nothing, but most of the time it takes a fight to wrong social evils. While we know God is in control, we should bold facedly be a light to all that is good and holy and protect the innocent as much as possible. One thing to add on abortion: President Bush had a ban on international funds being used for abortions, Obama already announced his plans to lift that ban. We cannot cure all social ills but one step at a time may save lives and if done correctly bring others to Him.On a lighter note…is there nothing sweeter than all your children soundly asleep?Jennifer Sanders
loraena
1180 days ago
“Our God is Almighty and Sovereign no matter whom the President is.” Amen to that! I am so thankful that politics are temporal and God is working and moving no matter how we feel about our situation.
Tabitha
1180 days ago
I just wanted to let you all know that as an Obama voter I respect your reaction to his being elected, realizing that this has been a disappointment to most of you. I believe that what happened last week showed to our global community (and reminded us as US citizens) that America truly is an icon of hope. I’ve been reflecting on this in terms of being a Christian here in America and what it means to rally together in playing an active role in our local and global community (I still have so much to learn!). Though I don’t agree with every single thing that Obama believes, says, or does, I am hopeful for his presidency in many ways. I continue to be convinced, however, that the most important piece is us living out the Gospel in our daily lives, though I’m sure that will look different for many of us.
Keri
1180 days ago
Thank you for your comments! It is exciting for me when an article actually serves it’s intended purpose. To Tabitha and Ana-Cris: I’m encouraged that you see that there are Christians who are not angry. I think this article would have been appropriate no matter who had won. I am encouraged by your responses that you would agree with me on that point. Jennifer – I could be wrong on this, but I thought Wilberforce used his position in Parliament to fight the slave trade. This is basically what I proposed to the other comment about abortion. I do not remember from the story where he was disrespectful to the king. Again, I did not look the story up but that is what I remember. I had not heard that about the international ban being lifted, I’ll be looking into that and researching if anything can be done for us to fight that action legally.Loraena – Thanks for your encouraging words!
Martin LaBar
1180 days ago
Thanks. For what it’s worth, I posted some of the same scriptures, for more or less the same purpose, on Sunday, but I missed the Ecclesiastes one.
Jennifer Sanders
1179 days ago
Yes, you are correct, Wilberforce did not show disrespect to the king, but neither did he sugar coat the atrocities that were happening or back down due to opposition. I never would propose disrespect to the president. I am confident God’s perfect plan is in action, and we should not be angry or disrespectful but on guard and diligent in protecting what we were so generously given in this great country. My approach to politics will continue to be, fight the good fight for the glory of God. I just hope Christians in the name of respect and resting in God, don’t hibernate for the next 4 years. Two great quotes that show Wilberforce’s spirit,“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”“So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the Trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for Abolition. Let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.”And so I will try to never fight the person, but the cause…and never give up the cause in the name of political unity!
coolcatana
1178 days ago
This is in response to what Jennifer said: “And so I will try to never fight the person, but the cause”I am glad you brought this up. It is quite often that we see people in the name of other Christians and Christianity going out of their way to fight not only for a cause, but to direct it at people. It is upsetting, to say the least, when I see this because it gives a rather negative image of all Christians when only a select few take it upon themselves to “represent” the rest of us.
Kristina
1123 days ago
Agreed – and well said. I have had a hard time understanding how God could have possibly chosen this for our country. But I do trust His sovereign control. I have also been discouraged by what I have heard from some Christians, post election. However, maybe most concerning to me were some of the reasons given by Christians’ vote for Obama. Maybe there were reasons to vote for Obama that were Christ honoring, but until now I haven’t heard any of them. And I’ve talked to a lot of people. To me, it’s one thing to do what you want with your life, or politics, or whatever. It’s quite another to do what you want and then attempt to twist Scripture to support what you did. It truly does concern me – the state of our nation, but maybe more so the complacency or selfishness of Christians in it.