1 – OBAMA & THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Some Christians are convulsing as if the end of the world has come now that Obama is our president elect. Although I am not suggesting Christians should stick their heads in the sand, I do encourage us to implement the 10 biblical guidelines that I wrote during the presidential campaign, but are just as relevant for us after the election.

1 – Don’t equate the biblical Kingdom of God with any human political party or nation. We must maintain the distinctiveness between God’s Kingdom and the kingdoms of this world. We must never fuse the two. (John 18:36; Matthew 6:33).

2 – Don’t elevate a politician to a messianic status. Because of our celebrity and entertainment culture, people often falsely think a politician can single-handedly produce supernatural social results. We have one Lord, and we must resist any attempt to exalt politicians to unrealisitic heights. (Matthew 7:15; 1 Peter 3:15).

3 – Don’t just vote, but pray for the leaders of all political parties. Christians can be tempted to bless the politician of their choice, and curse his or her opponent. Remember, we must pray even for our enemies. (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Matthew 5:44).

4 – Don’t forget your ultimate security is in the unshakeable kingdom of God. Many Christians often elevate the outcome of presidential elections to an apocalyptic status. If our presidential candidate does not win, we begin to see it as if the world will end. In so doing, we express an unbelief in the active sovereignty of God over human affairs. (Hebrews 12:26-29).

5 – Don’t bring the polarization of partisan politics into the family of God. Every Christian has freedom of conscience before God, we must guard against allowing political perspectives to divide the church. (Romans 16:17, 1 Corinthians 1:11-12).

6 – Don’t demonize anyone. Every person has been created in the image of God, and Christians must not dehumanize any person, whether we agree with them politically or not. (Colossians 3:8, James 4:12).

7 – Don’t engage in angry confrontational arguments, instead present your political convictions through civil debate and rational dialogue. Confrontational arguments demonstrate an ugly pride that demeans Jesus Christ. (James 1:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:14).

8 – Don’t allow yourself to become so intertwined with one political party that you forfeit your independence. When you do, you lose your voice to speak and clarify biblical truth to all politicians and political parties. (1 Timothy 3:15, Romans 3:4).

9 – Don’t allow yourself to support attempts to divide races, male and female, rich and poor, or young and old. Partisan politics often divides society into specific voting blocks, and separates our society instead of uniting it. Christians should function as peacemakers and reconcilers in the public square, and resist every temptation to join the game of dividing people for political gain. (Matthew 5:9, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

10 – Don’t simply curse the darkness, instead, constructively engage in our world as perserving salt and illuminating light. The cultural and missional mandate of kingdom Christians is not to curse the darkness, but to light more candles of God’s truth, and to act for the common welfare of our nation by overcoming evil by doing good. (Matthew 5:13-16).

I am aware that the outcome of the 2008 presidential election could have significant, and even negative, consequences for people’s lives, but in the larger scheme of history, Obama is our president for four years, but God is in control and is our King forever!

Dr. Andrew Jackson