Christians During Election Time

I see many of my brothers and sisters become really passionate about who to vote for during election season. Some of them seem more passionate about who they are voting for, and creating converts to their given candidate, than they are passionate about God and sharing the gospel of Christ. This shouldn't be should it? When we are passionate about a particular candidate to the extent that he becomes the central part of our conversation it appears our lives have become centered around a human being, an American politician. This is always a hopeless life.

This applies to Christians who love Obama because they think he will demonstrate mercy and compassion through creating universal healthcare while ensuring the right to equal treatment of minority groups such as homosexuals (another act of mercy). This applies to Christians who love John McCain because they think he will end abortion, win the war on terror, and prevent America from taking steps toward socialism. I want to say this, and I may take heat for it, but neither one of these guys set a great example of being like Christ. Look at both of their lives and voting records and you will see evidence of that very quickly.

Another thing that bothers me deeply is the mingling of Amerian nationalism with our Christian faith. It seems many think of America as a shining beacon of the Christian faith to the rest of the world. This could not be farther from the truth. Our nation is one of the most perverse and wicked cultures in the history of mankind. We kill our babies, we kill each other, we eat more than anyone else, download more pornography, use more resources, and commit more time to leisure than perhaps any culture ever. And some people think Christianity has something to do with capitalism and free market economics.

Our history is one of dominance throughout Latin-America chock full of subversion, overthrowing of democratic governments and exploitation for our gain. Its no wonder that communism and socialism was very appealing to Latin Americans as it became popular in the early 20th century. They were the ones being capitalized by "christian America". When Jesus said that we are to be a city on a hill he was not talking about America. He was not talking about Rome. He was not even talking about Jerusalem. He was talking about the church of God, his people. We are supposed to live in such a way in the world that men would see our good works and glorify our Father. Instead, we have Christians in our day looking for a government leader who will make America the city on a hill. Derek Webb articulates some of these thoughts well in his song a king and a kingdom. Where are your allegiances? Is your allegiance to America right up there with your allegiance to Christ? If so I pray God gives you repentance.

who's your brother, who's your sister
you just walked passed him i think you missed her
as we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'cause we married in to a family of immigrants

my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom

there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom

but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think