How appropriate was my daily Scripture reading for November 5—the morning after our nation elected its first African American President.
My passage for that morning came from John chapters 8 and 9. Jesus is addressing the Pharisees—even those who say they believe in Him, those who give lip service to His ministry but continue on in their established religion. Jesus’ ministry was revolutionary. It required deep personal change. It called for an inward change from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19)—hearts devoted to the living God; hearts of mercy and compassion and forgiveness; hearts that would change the world and see God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
But the Pharisees had no room for Jesus. Their hearts were full of their own gospel—arrogant, pompous, self-righteous, worldly power through religion. And because their hearts had no room, they could not hear Jesus’ word. Without hearing, their minds could not accept and understand (John 8:43). With hardened hearts (hearts of stone), they could not see the sin in their own lives. Though their eyes were open and taking it all in, they were blind (9:39). They could not see, so they could not witness this man as the Son of God. They did not know Him. They did not know the Father (8:19).
We evangelical Christians can be much like Jesus’ Pharisees. Our hearts have been hardened by our love of our religion, our love of political power, and our determination that we have it right! Four years ago we were held up as George W’s strength. We were the reason he won the 2004 election.
Where was the evangelical Christian clout in 2008?
It seems it held little interest with this year’s two candidates. Why? Look at our leaders. One was removed from office after admitting sexual immorality and soliciting drugs. Six “prosperity gospel” televangelists were investigated by the Senate Finance Committee. Two weeks before the election, a pro-family action committee posted a “what-if” letter reflecting on the first Obama term of office. This 16-page document dated October 22, 2012 proposes a future America where the Boy Scouts have been abolished, student-led prayer is ruled as proselytizing and worship and is no longer allowed in public schools, and several Christian publishing houses are forced out of business because major booksellers, targeted by homosexual activists, discontinue sales of Christian books. The scare tactics from this family-first group are vicious and seem designed to provoke mistrust among people of faith.
Have our evangelical leaders no room in their hearts for Jesus? Where is the mercy, the compassion, the forgiveness? Jesus asked this question of the religious leaders of His day. We should ask the same in 2008.
Watch our Christian leaders in the coming months. Will they be praying for our new governmental leaders? Praying for their safety as well as their decisions? Will they tell us that God places our leaders over us…or is that true only when “our guy” wins the election? Will they remind us to turn to God to ask how He wants us to respond to this election?
And how do we respond? That is for God to guide and lead us. But it does seem that we better open our ears and our eyes. There is a reason why minority and young adult turnout at the polls was higher than ever before. These groups could finally identify with a candidate. We need to remember that neither the Republican NOR Democratic Party has put a candidate before the people who has engaged them in the process as Obama did this year. We need to open our eyes and ears to the people who have felt disenfranchised. Why have they felt that way? We need to ask God to show us how to respond to their voice.
And we do need to pray for our new president. If the evangelical leaders won’t ask you to do this, I will. God has allowed Barak Obama to win this election to fill His purpose. We need to be sensitive and responsive to that. Pray for President-Elect Obama: for his safety, for his wisdom, for his faith. Pray the same for his family and his advisors. Pray for peace among the elected officials of both parties as they work with the new president for the good of our country. And pray that you are able to respond as God desires.
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