I struggle with politics. I really struggle with how my faith should inform my political decisions. I believe that my faith in Jesus Christ as Savior should inform my political decisions but I often fail to see how politics and faith can coexist.
This struggle was stirred up today as I read an interview with Barack Obama in regards to his faith (read it here). In the interview, Obama describes his as “a deep faith,” and “a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” But then he goes on to deny the existence of hell and says he is unsure he will go to heaven, says he’s comfortable with some of the teachings of the Bible and “isn’t so sure” about others, says that praying is talking to himself, and says that all religions worship the same God. For all intents and purposes, this isn’t Christianity at all but a syncretistic blend of secular humanism and universalism. I would submit that he is articulating the most prevalent worldview in America (and sadly, the Church). I believe that he will be our next president largely because of universal appeal, and our “American Idol”-crazed culture of popularity. This coupled with the fact that he is as “un-Bush” as you can get (this also is as popular as the latest fashion), he seems to be a formidable candidate for leader of the free world.
This obviously concerns me for a couple reasons. First, that he either has no backbone to articulate the faith represented in the Bible or worse, that he does not believe in faith in Jesus Christ as the means by which we are saved (from eternal hell). Second, his stance on faith seems as much to me a political football as his conservative/fundamentalist foes. This is the feeling I get whenever I hear a politician talk about their faith…either they are pounding the pulpit to pander to their conservative base or soothing the fears of religiously-gun-shy liberals (that wasn’t a reference to gun control). Both seem to be responding to the other rather than the issues.
This point is intensely upsetting. I adamantely believe that fundamentalists have hijacked faith and condensed all of our political decisions to two issues: abortion, and marriage; thereby ignoring all other aspects of civic life. It’s really frustrating because I believe those issues are of great importance but not at the expense of others (foreign policy, poverty issues, education, etc.). I believe that a lot of well-meaning Christians have pursued political office only to have their convictions compromised and their character corrupted. Further, my understanding of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God seems to fly in the face of political aspirations (he who desires greatness must become least). Thus, I am jaded to those who say that their desire to serve the country is based solely on altruism found in the Bible.
This all leads me to believe that “Hope for America” will never be found in a candidate…republican, democrat, or other. Too many American Christians believe that our response to the Gospel is simply to find a political leader to defend morality and hopefully change the culture. Jesus did not come as a political candidate (much to the chagrin of the people of Israel) but rather as a servant to the rejects and obscure. Can we take no cue from our Savior and say that perhaps the institution He came to establish, the Church, truly is the agent by which the world will be changed?

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