Man of Depravity - Tyler Braun's posts on Church Ministry, Worship, Seminary, and Theology.

A Christian President

2008 November 10

by Tyler

This week I’ve had a number of emails and a number of comments from my post titled “Christians Hate Obama.” Many of them have been quite negative to the point where I have either deleted the comment or shared some of my concern through an email back. Part of the problem is that if you google search “christians hate obama” you get this:

Yeah my blog post is right up there at the top. So I’m guessing that a number of irregular readers are the ones who have I gotten the disrespectful emails and comments from. I could sum most of them up as saying “how can a true Christian kill babies?” or “he is friends with terrorists so he is a muslim” or “that sign is right on, he is all of those things” (the sign being the picture on the post). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because Christians are notorious for not being Christ like when it comes to politics.

Disclaimer: What I have to say comes out of the responses I’ve received in the past week. I am not speaking to or targeting any one person, nor am I trying make Obama’s policies come across as the Godly way. I don’t have any hidden agenda with this post and I’m not indicating which way I voted based on what I wrote.

Here is my concern. Obama has claimed many, many times that he has a personal relationship with Jesus. Politically he does have many liberal policies, zero of which affect his eternal destiny. Why do I say that? Let me explain.

In the New Testament there is much discussion of circumcision, but the discussion doesn’t need to be about circumcision, it could be about anything. At that time the Jews wanted Gentiles to get circumcised before they could become true followers of Christ. All through his letters and his life as a Christ follower, Paul fights this idea.

Essentially you could replace the word circumcision with anything: to be a true Christ follower you must first become (insert group here) OR to become a true Christ follower you must stop doing (insert sinful activity here). This is what the Jews were doing to the Gentiles…do this and then you can be true Christ followers like us. And that is exactly what many Christians are doing to Obama. Essentially saying to him… “If you would do this or stop doing that, then I could believe you are a true Christian like me” (no I’m not accusing you of thinking like this). That is not the grace I read about in the Bible.

There are no prerequisites to becoming a true follower of Christ other than recognizing the need for God’s grace. Paul is the best example of this. He had his first “Jesus encounter” on his way to Damascus to either jail or murder some apostles. If Paul can receive grace, so can a politician who is for abortion and has friendships with alleged terrorists.

Obama is a Christian as much as anyone else who claims to be. Only God knows the true eternal destiny of humans, those circumcised and not.

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http://ash-nits.blogspot.com ash

Well look at that! My name is in the first line! HA ha ha ha…well, people who wanna be “haters” are gonna find what they’re lookin’ for! A friend of mine posted a great blog on Christians and the Islamic Middle name Obama carries and how wrong the attitude is…- http://jthelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2008/11/whats-in-name.html …if you’re interested in peeking
http://www.aaronivey.com aaronivey.com

yeah, i’m pretty disgusted with how many Christians are reacting to Obama, especially after election. hard to imply a belief in God’s sovereignty while also spewing hatred, racism and fear towards a new leader. besides that issue, even if a Christian does disagree with his policies or ideologies… to turn disagreement into terror and hostility is counterproductive to everything in the Christian faith.

i like Obama. and whether someone voted for him or not, he’s our President… and the Christian response NOW should be doing exactly what we should have been doing everyday before November 5th… putting our faith into action by loving, serving, and caring for those around us in Jesus’ name.

one cannot hate Obama in Jesus’ name.. so let’s stop the freaking hatred. or i’m going to rage.
http://ash-nits.blogspot.com ash

and ya know aaron? there are plenty of christians who did vote for him. so they are evil too? (rhetorical) i have seen too many, even people i’ve respected make him out to be the anti-christ. and i just don’t get it. but maybe this is the first time our generation has seen a roar in the country both for and against a candidate. i know kennedy was under a lot of scrutiny, even just being catholic, nixon (who later resigned) and johnson. granted they were presidents during a great time of change an uproar in the u.s. perhaps we have reached it again. the next 4 years will prove themselves positive or negative, and christians who do disagree w/ him should at the very least have an attitude of prayer and willingness to watch and learn and grow…not pull down the president.
http://brentinworship.com/blog brent(inWorship)

Good post and thoughts.

Honestly, I haven’t seen any difference this election than the last few when it comes to those who are mature and those who are idiots. All sides have both of these people. the difference this election, I think, is that the liberal guy won. So we are hearing the voice more clearly from the conservative side.

Your last paragraph nails it completely. I cannot judge the heart of man. I’ve never been asked to. I do believe that as believers we have a right and commitment to hold each other accountable to our way of living. But I don’t know Obama (neither do all these people blasting him) and they have no right to hold him accountable. That privilege comes to those that Obama knows and has entrusted his accountability to. Not to the masses.
http://brentinworship.com/blog brent(inWorship)

One thing I meant to say. Since we have heard the voice of the conservatives more clearly this election (the loudest voice is usually the one that is most upset) I think it has felt different, because we assumed their response would be better.

This speaks volumes to what people think of liberals as well. I think that many would assume that liberals are loud and negative and conservatives are more contained and positive. What has happened this election is that people have been able to see the conservative side at their worst. They backs were up against the wall and the true colors came out.

All we can do at this point is take it to heart and apply it personally.
http://www.rachelrowell.wordpress.com Rachel Rowell

You my friend, are RIGHT ON!!!!!!! Thank you for speaking truth in a non-judgemental, disrepectful way.
http://voiceofdon.blogspot.com Don Hofer

Thanks for the intelligent post! One reason I am so discouraged with politics is some Christian’s responses and reactions to PEOPLE. I also find it difficult to know who to trust or what information to trust. But, as best as I can tell, Obama knows Jesus and follows Him as imperfectly as you or I do.
Thanks again!
don