Reform & Revive

I was going to write a fourth post discussing the issues and how voting is not as black and white as some on the Religious Right would make it seem. But, I don’t think that’s necessary. The issue I did not want to dictate my vote this election has been the thing that (I believe) the Holy Spirit will not let my conscience disregard or put aside (no matter how noble other issues might seem). Maybe this is God doing away with my pride, having me ultimately align myself with those I’m disgusted with (and I certainly believe that this presidential candidate is himself disgusted with some of his own followers).

A good friend of mine, though, is voting the opposite- and after hearing his heart I understand exactly why he is voting that way- and I believe it is quite biblical. My internal struggle is over whether or not it is clear in scripture that we should vote the Law over those who do not believe it. For the most part it seems that even the early Christians experienced some autonomy under the Romans- and I don’t think (and I could be completely wrong) you see them forcing those who believe otherwise to follow the Law.  We could argue morality and justice and how God’s Law is written on the hearts of everyone- but I just don’t think its that black and white.

Regardless, I hope I provided some real fodder for you to chew on this election- and ultimately I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide your vote- however that looks like.

By now you must be wondering why I’ve titled my posts “Who will be your savior this November 4th?”- this is because I am very wary about the nature in which most political jargon has been used in this election. With speeches filled with the word “hope” I am in awe as to how a president’s candidacy has the capacity to turn into a secular religion. Again, I am not endorsing any candidate, but I think it would bode us well to discuss the manner in which most of our generation are viewing the candidates.

I had the privilege of attending a rally here at VCU where former President Bill Clinton made a speech endorsing Obama. Maybe its the nature of rallies in general (and I’m almost positive that McCain/Palin rallies are no different), but it bothers me how people react at them.  Literally, ear-shattering-orgasmic-sounds were coming from an elderly woman right next to me, and it was obvious from observing her during the whole event that her whole faith and trust were put into a sinful human being (we are all sinful, by the way).

Let me be the bearer of good news, there is a man who has come and died on our behalf and is calling each and everyone of us to put our faith in trust in Him, and he was sinless! He is our hope, and it is in Him we find salvation- and Him alone- not Barack Obama or John McCain. Neither Obama nor McCain can save our nation (and the irony is that I’ve heard this phrase used often!) only Christ Jesus can.

I think Paul Henderson said it best in his post, “My Beef with Barack:”

I have been asked am I a Democrat or Republican. “Who are you voting for Paul? Obama or McCain?” Yes, obviously I am a black man…but that is not the first thing that defines me…nor am I defined by some political party. You know, I found out a while ago that my identity is in Christ alone. What disgusts me is the pedestal on which some Christians will place Obama. “Change we can believe in” is one of the slogans I have seen…and I am actually starting to believe that people are actually believing in this man more than they believe in Jesus Christ. Last time I checked, Jesus Christ is the one who changed me and my situation. He is the one who washed my mind and changed my heart. When I think of change I can believe in, I think of my savior. Jesus Christ is the one who came down to this Earth and was persecuted and whipped and ultimately died so that I can live. I don’t know about you, but that is what I call change that you can believe in. Jesus Christ has never failed me…even though I have failed him time and time again (and I’m sure some of you have seen me fail…but I thank Jesus for His blood that has washed away all my sins). I cannot put any man on a pedestal…because just like he is put up…he can also fall down. It bothers me when people are so quick to ask you or even lecture or preach to you about Obama…when there are souls in the world that need to be saved. Last I checked, Matthew 28:18-20 tells us “Christians” this: “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” I do not see anywhere in that passage where this is saying that this is His commission to just pastors or evangelists. This is His commission to all who believe and as a community, I am seeing more “Christians” standing up for Barack Obama than standing up for Jesus Christ? What is our world coming to? Is Barack Obama just a fresh face and is all this Jesus stuff just getting old and boring? My main thing is people…please remember the one who died for you. Remember the one who loves you…even when you choke or mess up. Remember the one who has never and will never fail you. Man will always fail you, but Jesus Christ never has and will never fail you.

Jesus for President 08′:

Alright, so I know it seems like I’m endorsing Jesus and the reality is he’s not running. But, I think this post is necessary because there are many who don’t view the love and adoration they have towards a candidate as being borderline idol worship.  When as brothers and sisters in Christ we cannot love one another but end up arguing who the other person is voting for I think that says something about the nature to which we view our own candidate.  To put into perspective the reality of these candidates sinfulness and ultimately their depravity I think gives a legitimate view of the fact that they are creatures who were created by the Creator- and that anything less than Him is insufficient- this is the reality of a fallen world.

Additionally, I think its a bit arrogant to have anyone tell you they are going to “pray for you” or be “disappointed” regarding your political decisions.  I’m one of many Christians (I know of) who have been told that if they even consider voting for Obama they are pretty much endorsing the enemy. Let me exhort you, I have faith in the Holy Spirit in each and everyone of you- and I know (or at least hope) that Christ’s ideals inform many of your decisions (political and the other). As long as we recognize that we will eventually give an account for everything we’ve done on earth (including how we vote), I’m almost positive as a Christian your vote will be based on an aspect (or aspects) of God’s ideals. There is no need for me to feel disappointed in you - whether you vote for McCain, Obama, Nader, Barr, McKinney- because I know that most of you are voting based on what you think God’s heart is concerned about.

urban myth of christian politics #1: the Church must vote for a “Christian” president.

I have no idea where this came from and to be honest with you I’d like to spend the following post showing how unbiblical this view is. Romans 13:1b clearly states, “For there is NO authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, yes even Hitler were put into power by God himself. The implications of what Paul wrote are that God’s will is inevitable regardless of the outcome of this election. In fact, the outcome of this election is God’s will.  It is silly to think that suddenly in this point in history our votes should be based on the “Christian-ness” of our president. God has, throughout the centuries, put many a non-Christian into power- and all have brought about the outworking of His will.

Who is your Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus of Persia?

“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” [Jeremiah 43:10]

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ” ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.” [Ezra 1:2]

I don’t know who you consider a more godless candidate this election, and to be honest with you I don’t see much of a life surrendered to Christ in either of them. Regardless, Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus of Persia were both pagan leaders of two of the biggest empires in the Ancient Near East who God used to bring about His will.  Whether that was the brutal massacre inflicted on the Israelites by Nebuchadnezzar or the blessed decree by God for Cyrus to rebuild the temple- God’s will involves all of these things- and I’d like to think that God’s sovereignty can even be preeminent over Obama and McCain’s leadership.  I know that these two examples took place before Christ, but God does not change (Malachi 3:6), so why should His means?

I think when we believe that we must vote for a “Christian” president we have in mind that he is somehow incapable of sin or wrongdoing (as President Bush has clearly proven false)- in fact, we might think that God is on “his side”- and not the other candidate’s. Brothers and sisters, let me exhort you, let us be mindful whether or not we are on God’s side.  I don’t believe that Obama or McCain has God’s whole heart in mind with regards to their political platforms. I think both of them are lacking in different areas and I DO not think that EITHER party has a monopoly on morality. Abortion and gay marriage are not the only moral issues- and neither are stewardship of the earth and social justice.  And this is why I’m often left dumbfounded at how some Christians are so adamant about preaching that God’s will is for or towards one candidate and not the other.

So why vote if God’s will happens regardless?

That’s like asking why pray. I don’t have time to get into the depths as to why God wants us to pray aside from saying because He wants us to, and Jesus did- alot.  Without taking Jeremiah 29 too out of context, I’d like to exhort to you, as a citizen of heaven, to understand why it is important to vote.

“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” [Jeremiah 29:4-7]

Here we see Jeremiah preaching a very unpopular message. The Israelites needed to face the reality that God was sending them into exile, and that this would not be for a short time. Here we see God exhorting them to be concerned with the city where they’ve been placed- to not stay isolated, but instead “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which” they were carried.  Likewise, since our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), we too are in exile (to some degree). We too should seek the peace and prosperity of this nation, and what a blessing we have that we are given the opportunity to vote for our ideals and beliefs.

“For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” [Ecclesiastes 1:18]

In prayerfully considering the election this year my heart is left with feeling nothing more than the above verse.  I know that most people’s sentiments regarding this election started just a few months ago when Barack Obama and John McCain were given their party’s nominations- but for myself this election started almost a year and a half ago. After watching ALL the debates (primaries included), listening to countless NPR talk shows, and being tagged in half a dozen facebook posts by both Barack Obama supporters and John McCain supporters (all Christians, mind you) I’m still left with a blank as to who I’m going to pull the lever for this Tuesday.

If I am to be quite honest, my political sentiments were completely muddled in some religious-political ideology during the last election. I had only been a Christian for a few months at that time, and my zealousness coupled with being a puppet of the propaganda by the Religious Right left me with really bad theology and scripture being quoted out of context to back up why George W. Bush should be voted into office.

I’m not going to do that in this post.

If you are like me, you have repented from your sinfulness regarding the last election. No political ideology, gender, race, or political affiliation should be placed above your primary identity, being a follower of Christ.  This is one of the biggest traps I’ve seen my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ fall into this election and it leaves my heart grieved.

I want to address issues that have been circulating amongst Christians and non-Christians alike during this election. Both Barack Obama and John McCain are vying for our vote (why else would they have sat down with Rick Warren?)- and our vote matters (obviously, as the last election has shown). I will not endorse any candidate (these posts are not geared towards persuasion), instead I just hope to give you something to prayerfully consider before going into the voting booth this November 4th.

For my term paper in RELG 362: Religion and Its Critics, I (as mentioned in an earlier post) am writing about the controversy over Iowa State University’s decision to deny tenure to Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, who supports Intelligent Design. The paper will not (at least at the moment) come down on a particular side, but instead will discuss the relationship between intelligent design supporters, namely the Discovery Institute, and “modern” naturalistic science within academia.

Intelligent Design theory suggests that the biological aspects of life are too complex to have evolved randomly, but must have been produced by an unidentified (supernatural) intelligence. Contemporary Intelligent Design is an extension of the teleological argument for the existence of God, asserted by William Paley’ in his “watchmaker analogy” found in Natural Theology (1802).

The controversy–this potential “intellectual mccarthyism” (this is not my “official” stance on the situation, but an interesting statement that I have read recently)–does not merely stem from Dr. Gonzalez pro-ID stance, but also his expertise in his field of study, Astronomy. This would not be such an issue if Dr. Gonzalez was not so learned in the discipline. Dr. Gonzalez has the highest ranking among the entire I.S.U. faculty, according to the Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS), which calculates the scientific impact of scientists in astronomy. The ranking system is devised on how much a scientist impacts other colleagues’ research. The more times a person’s papers are cited in other scientific articles or research, the more weight that person receives. The citation index is normalized so there is a greater weight placed on papers that have a single author as opposed to several. Based on 2001-2007 publications, Dr. Gonzalez received a 143 on the normalized index. The next closest I.S.U. professor staff has a score of 103, and the next best tenured astronomer scored 68.

The Discovery Institutes website quotes Dr. John West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture (CSC) saying, “In other words, Iowa State denied tenure to a scientist whose impact on his field during the past six years outstripped all of the university’s existing tenured astronomers according to a prestigious Smithsonian/NASA database.”

Gonzalez, who has written 68 peer-reviewed journals (53 more than the 15 required by his department to meet its standard of excellence in research) does not teach ID in class, however, and that it is purely outside research.

Well, I previously mentioned that I would not come down on a particular side, but it seems that I have–with substantial empirical evidence of his contribution to astronomy.

On June 1, 2007, Gregory Geoffroy, President of Iowa State University, rejected Gonzalez’s appeal and upheld the denial of tenure. In making this decision, Geoffroy states that he “specifically considered refereed publications, [Gonzalez’s] level of success in attracting research funding and grants, the amount of telescope observing time he had been granted, the number of graduate students he had supervised, and most importantly, the overall evidence of future career promise in the field of astronomy” and that Gonzalez “simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy — one of our strongest academic programs.” Geoffroy noted, “Over the past 10 years, four of the 12 candidates who came up for review in the physics and astronomy department were not granted tenure.”Gonzalez appealed to the Iowa Board of Regents and the board affirmed the decision on February 7, 2008.

This should be an interesting situation to research…maybe I’ll post my final paper (due this Friday!!!).