Christianity vs. Christ

Christianity and Barack Obama. The challenge to this statement is something with which I greatly struggle.

For the past several years, I, as a strong believer in and follower of Jesus Christ, have become increasingly more put off by the institutionalized church. Evangelical Christianity and Christ's Gospel have become divergent messages, a glaring paradox very much mirroring the divide between the religious leaders and their temple on earth and the Kingdom that Jesus brought with his message...the same message that got him crucified.

Again, we are living at a time at which we are witnessing the slanderous killing of the message of the Gospel by the religious order in power. I never would have thought that I would see the day when the Evangelical Church would become the perpetrator of the evil of this present day.

I am reminded of Romans 2:17-24:

"You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God's law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God's law give you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don't you teach yourself? You tell others 'do not steal' but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the world blasphemes the name of God because of you." (NLT)

The secular population curses God because of what "Christians" have done. I think about how cynical Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann were yesterday as they played clippings of Palin declaring the war in Iraq as God's will...a pipeline as God's will...Alaska's role as a post-Rapture refuge as God's will...Her election as God's will...

God help us.

Because of the abuse of Christianity once again, we have a world that is hostile to the message we, as believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bring. And it's our own fault. I can't blame them for hating us. How those "Christians" justify their faith and their refusal to vote for a black man is astounding to me. I am honestly in shock at how "Christians" cannot see Jesus in his message...but then again, I'm not, because in the days of old the religious were so sealed in their self-righteousness and self-proclaimed holiness, they either missed the prophets or killed them, and they missed and killed Jesus. All because of their prejudices and their hunger for power. God sent messages through people who didn't fit stereotypes. And because they didn't come in the form or face expected by the majority, they were disparaged and ultimately dismissed.

Obama truly exemplifies the message Jesus brought to the world, exudes a humility that makes me ashamed of my own pride, is a man of integrity, he speaks truth, and he believes in a change that can bring healing to a nation, and beyond that, restore peace and reconciliation in the world. And he has done it all while refusing to compromise his values, by running a clean campaign, by holding to values and not budging, even in the face of pressure...and he happens to be black, a fact that is as difficult for this country to swallow as it was for people to believe that a carpenter from the ghetto town of Nazareth was the Messiah and King for which they had been waiting.

In drawing this analogy, I am not likening Obama to Jesus. But I am saying that what we learn from the past, in the words of the prophets, is that the voice of truth is usually the minority voice (in this case, pun intended). The truth is sharp and divisive and it forces darkness to expose itself. What this election race has awakened in this country are the powerful demons of hatred and racism that hold America in a headlock. The emergence of a figure like Obama is forcing people to confront what has been so easy to hide. Racism and prejudice are resurfacing, and we are seeing them for the nasty forces that they are. I believe that this election is also a supernatural battle - we are on the cusp of a defining moment in history - for us as Americans, and for Christians. If McCain and Palin win, they will surely declare that Jehovah was on their side in helping them "defeat evil." This statement will serve to then diminish us further in the eyes of an observant world that is weighing the American message of democracy and her actions of hypocrisy against each other. After that, I believe the secular world will be numb to anything remotely sounding like Christianity, and we will have seen one of the most flagrant acts of injustice committed in our age, and by Christians, of all people.

Conversely, Obama's election would be a moment that could redefine what it means to be a believer in a God who so loves the world - not just America, and not exalting one man above another. He would be a tool of uplift for all people and for black people, because they would no longer be able to walk throughout their lives with their heads bowed at their own insignificance. Children of color would have a reason to fight harder, and we as black people will be able to pause in history with a pride unmatched in time. As Americans, we could once again dream of being respected instead of hated and feared, And we as believers would be able to push back against the traditional definitions of "the church" as laid out by the demonic, hateful forces at work on the Evangelical Right. We could return to the example of the church in the book of Acts, that wasn't a building but a community of people, and whose message was simply about who Jesus was, what He said, and what He did.

We can believe God for peace, for a world of restoration, and for a way into people's hearts who would have otherwise been closed to the Gospel. It's an amazing an anxious time to witness; while I do not know what's in the future, I remind God of His word. I tell him that His name is very much at stake in this election, on both sides. God is going to have to show that He is God above all classification, abuse and definition, and that no principalities in heaven or on earth or amount of evil in the hearts of men can stop what He has set in motion. And I don't know God's will for Obama. But as my sister heard a pastor say last Sunday, "faith is the currency of the supernatural and with it miracles happen." The God of Gideon who defeated the Midianite army, as numerous as the sea, with 300 men, some trumpets, lamps and clay jars, is the same God believers serve today. Those of us who have made the choice not to subscribe to the religious label that is butchering faith in this country, but to take up our crosses and actually follow the rocky road in Jesus' footsteps, have to continue to fight for what we believe in, and trust that God will take our little bit and make it more than enough.