Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Pray for our country and its leaders.

We have a new President, and as Christians we all have a responsibility to pray for him and his family. I realize that I spend too much time with 17 year olds, but I was so disturbed by the remarks made by some of my students today. I have to wonder where their ideology comes from. So many of them believe that you must vote a certain way, belong to a particular political party, agree with them, or you are not a Christian. They did not come to this conclusion by themselves; they have been taught this. I have always believed that there are smart people on both sides of most issues. I have attended church almost my entire life with both Republicans and Democrats. My mom and dad canceled one another's vote out every year. My dad told me that the election after mom died was the first time his vote had ever counted.
In my life I have voted in every election since I was 18 years old. Sometimes my candidate has won; sometimes he has lost. I don't ever remember being so upset that I have predicted assassination for the winner. That is not a Christian response to the election. There is no justification for this type of comment, but I heard it more than once today from students who claim Christianity as their faith.
For many years now some outspoken Christians have demonized anyone who does not agree with their politics, and some politicians have declared faith to gain votes from the evangelicals. The only problem is that recently some of those very politicians have humiliated themselves and their families with "unseemly" behavior. Their hypocrisy has been exposed to the world, and they have become fodder for Jay Leno and David Letterman. God will not be mocked.
Regardless of who we supported in the election, one thing is certain, God is in control. He was in control yesterday, and He will be in control tomorrow.
It's time for us to admit that Christians do not have a good reputation in this country. We once had a good reputation with other Christians, but now we can't even claim that. If we are going to win the lost, we have to reassess our behavior and reach out to people instead of sitting in judgement of them. The overwhelming election numbers in favor of the Democratic party reveals that Christians are not of one party.
I'm going to pray daily for the safety of Barak, Michelle, and their girls. I hope other Christians will join me.

1 comment:

K. D. said...

I agree with you, we need to pray for them. Regardless of who we wanted to win or voted for, he is now our President. So we must support him, pray for him, and let God take care of the rest. I did not vote for him, and I did not support any of his ways before the election. But since it is over and done with now....I will support the decision made, even if I thought it was the wrong one. We all must pull together at this time of seperation because the whole world is watching and waiting on our reaction.