It still amazes me the number of genuine Christians who are celebrating the election of Barack Obama to the White House. I wonder if they realise they were celebrating the election of the most pro-choice (pro-abortion) Democrat candidate in history? Whose first act as President, he claims, will be to sign the ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ which will “erase every federal and state restriction on abortion, no matter how modest” and would allow abortions freely? Did they know that Obama refused to protect the lives of babies born alive from unsuccessful abortions? Or did they also know that Obama wants to repeal the ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ which defines marriage as a life-long union between a man and a woman?
I want to be clear that I’m not saying I do not support the new President-Elect. I’m not saying that America got it wrong when they voted. I’m trying to understand why Christians seemed so eager to jump onto the Obama bandwagon without realising he stands against those things which affect Christians the most…?
I also want to be clear that I’m not promoting a single-issue type of voting. I want to say what John Piper says here so much more clearly – that though no single issue qualifies someone to be voted in as President, there are single issues which should disqualify someone from holding office. And in this case it’s abortion and same-sex marriage.
I also want to be clear that now that America has a new President-Elect, our job as Christians is helpfully spelled out by Justin Taylor here:
No matter who you voted for–or whether you voted at all–it’s important to remember that, as President, Barack Obama will have God-given authority to govern us, and that we should view him as a servant of God (Rom. 13:1, 4) to whom we should be subject (Rom. 13:1, 5; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).
- We are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
- We are to thank God for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
- We are to respect Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7).
- We are to honor Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17).
There are many qualifications to add to these exhortations–for example, see this excellent post by John Piper–but it’s still important to remember that these are requirements for all Bible-believing Christians.
Soli Deo Gloria
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Edit – Eric Redmond has guest posted over at Theologica Blogspot. His reflections are insightful.
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