What Exactly Do We Owe the President?

In a post today entitled The Most Disobeyed Commandment in the Church, David Murray cites the Westsminster Larger Catechism (Answer 127) in outlining what we owe the President:

1. All due reverence in heart, word, and behavior
2. Prayer and thanksgiving for them
3. Imitation of their virtues and graces
4. Willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels
5. Due submission to their corrections
6. Fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority
7. Bearing with their infirmities
8. Covering them in love

I fear that many Christians I know (including at times myself) have failed miserably at these (especially numbers 1 & 8). I'll let you and the Holy Spirit be the judge at how well you specifically have done, but Murray puts it this way:

Many Christians have shattered this commandment in a thousand pieces over the last four months, perhaps even over the last four years.

Sure, we must defend the sanctity of life and of marriage, but we must not do so at the expense of the fifth commandment. Since when do we get to pick and choose which commandments are most important and which are irrelevant?

Serious moral errors in some areas of government policy and practice are no excuse for failing to obey this commandment in all other areas.

Thankfully and mercifully, God offers forgiveness for this sin too – if we repent of it and believe in Jesus.
 

Russell Moore on Honoring the President

After a long night (and a far longer campaign), Russell Moore's blog post this morning really resonated with me and reflected much of what I've tried to communicate to others throughout this election cycle. The whole post is certainly worth reading, but if you must only take a quick glance, try the following paragraph:

"Christians, above all people, should pray for and show respect for our President and all of our elected officials. After all, unlike those who see politics as ultimate, we recognize that our political structures are important, but temporal, before an inbreaking kingdom of Christ. We don’t then need to be fomented into the kind of faux outrage that passes for much of contemporary political discourse. And, unlike those who see history as impersonal or capricious, we see behind everything a God who is sovereign over his universe."

Should I Even Vote?

In a month, Americans will be beckoned to the polls to vote on (among other things) who should be President of the United States. While there are other candidates on the ballots in many states, for all practical purposes, it would seem that this is an election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the candidates of the two major parties.

I have friends who are Democrats who love President Obama. I also have friends who are Republicans who think Mitt Romney would make an incredible President. That being said, in all honesty, I have a hard time getting excited about either candidate.

Thabiti Anyabwile apparently shares this sentiment. He wrote a post on Wednesday as well as a follow-up post today in which he explained why he would not vote in next month's presidential election. I don't necessarily agree with all of Anyabwile's conclusions, but I found his thoughts to be (at the very least) thought-provoking as I consider my duty as I serve Christ in this election as well as others.

In his final paragraph today he writes:

It’s not rhetoric I want in my candidate, or invented lives and embellished pasts, faux images and focus-group-tailored soundbites. I want to elect a free man, someone who stands flat-footed and leans into the cross-current of moral drift with conviction and courage. If he’s out there, he has my vote. And if a two-party system denies a righteous man opportunity to stand for justice then the system itself is the evil we need to oppose.

You can read today's entire post by clicking here. I'd love to hear your feedback on this topic.

Comments from the Easter Prayer Breakfast

I was moved yesterday when I heard these words from President Obama, speaking at the 2nd Annual Easter Prayer Breakfast.  I found them worthy of passing along as I'm not sure I could have said it any better myself:

There is something about the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ that puts everything in perspective. We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work. And everybody in this room has weighty responsibilities, from leading churches and denominations, to helping to administer important government programs, to shaping our culture in various ways. And I admit that my plate has been full as well. The inbox keeps on accumulating.

But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we're reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world -- past, present and future -- and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.  In the words of the book Isaiah: 'But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.'

This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this amazing grace calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I've not shown grace to others, those times that I've fallen short. It calls me to praise God for the gift of his Son and our Savior.

(HT: Zach Bartels)

A Christian View of the President

Today President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, which caused me to consider how we Americans (and especially evangelical Christian Americans)  tend to handle our thoughts about the faith of our Presidents.  As I contemplated this, it occurred to me that either we're not being honest with others or we're not being honest with ourselves.

The Christian Right championed George W. Bush, largely because he publicly  proclaimed that he trusted in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  They then by-and-large gave him a pass when he said distinctly non-evangelical things like the Bible is not literally true, Muslims and Christians worship the same God, and we all go to heaven.

Yet when President Obama speaks (as he did today) about how, "I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and to embrace Him as my Lord and Savior," it is assumed by many of those same people who supported President Bush that President Obama must be lying about his faith.  And whenever he says anything that is even vaguely conciliatory toward Islam, he is branded as being a closet Muslim.

The purpose of this post is not to suggest what either man actually believes -- frankly, I have no idea.  Nor is its purpose to convince you that you should like Barack Obama's policies as President.  He certainly (like President Bush) has political positions to which I take great exception.

It is just to point out that perhaps we are too quick to claim someone is in our religious camp because he shares our political viewpoints, or to separate from them because they don't.  Perhaps a better attitude toward our Presidents (Democrat or Republican, Christian or non-Christian) would simply be to honor them (1 Peter 2:17), to submit to governing authorities, realizing that all authority comes from God (Romans 13:1) and to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for them (1 Timothy 2:1). That, I think, would be a truly Christian way to act.

Justice in the Public Square

Often we hear people make assertions that the separation of church and state demands that we not bring our personal morality or religious convictions into any discussion on public policies.  I'm currently reading Generous Justice by Tim Keller.  In his chapter entitled Doing Justice in the Public Square, Keller argues that Christians' work for justice should be marked both by "humble co-operation" with secularists as well as what he terms "respectful provocation."  By this he means, "Christians should not be strident and condemning in their language or attitude, but neither should they be silent about the Biblical roots of their passion for justice."

I especially appreciated this quote which was included in the chapter:

But what I am suggesting is this - secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King - indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history - were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their "personal morality" into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Oh yeah.  The quote was actually a citation of something said by President Obama.  Just thought that was interesting and I am happy to say I agree with him wholeheartedly.

President Obama Comments on His Faith

Much has been made of President Obama's religion.  In spite of his unwavering self-designation, one recent survey found that only one in three Americans identifies him as a Christian.  In light of this fact, I found the video below quite interesting. 

In my opinion, there is much that President Obama gets wrong in what he has to say here.  In the midst of all of it though, in the thirty seconds from 2:20 to 2:50, he gets one thing (and I might add, the most important thing) quite right.  Please leave your comments as I'd love to hear your thoughts.



(Please forgive the short commercial at the beginning of the video. I don't know how to make it disappear.)

President Obama's School Speech

President Obama is going to address school children across our nation on Tuesday. This has been met with some trepidation on the part of conservative Christians who fear that their children might have their impressionable young minds shaped by the smooth talking of a President who does not share their values.

Regardless of your political bent though, Doug Wolter has what I would consider some good thoughts for Christians regarding this topic.