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Voting Christian

"I won't tell you how to vote. Just vote Christian," the Midwestern mega-church pastor announced from the pulpit to his flock of thousands.

The year was 2004 and unease had begun to blanket the nation. Questions regarding the "axis of evil" rhetoric were being raised. Many were surprised to learn that other countries considered America itself to embody the label.

We had a pro-life president and found ourselves engaged in a tremendously complex war. Believers were faced with the dissonant feeling that, in some ways, the truth had been stretched and our patriotism had been exploited.

It was a time when many felt our faith became unnecessarily tangled (and mangled) in the political arena. Evangelical Christians were expected to vote Republican, leaving believers who preferred the Democratic candidate scratching their heads, wondering where they might fit.

Four years have passed, but it doesn't appear that much has changed.

Ever since presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama took to the stage at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, the airwaves have been buzzing. Faith is being battered around the political arena once again.

But it will be a little more difficult for the same pastor to encourage his congregation to "vote Christian" in this presidential election. This time around, the candidates are not easily packaged.

John McCain is a pro-life candidate who, for the most part, has kept his personal faith private. His church attendance appears to be nominal.

Barack Obama is an evangelical Christian who supports a woman's right to choose an abortion. His church attendance at Trinity United Church of Christ, under the controversial leadership of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has gotten Obama into some very hot water.

We all seem to be groping the proverbial elephant, deciding from our often limited perspectives what it means to be a person of faith. We latch onto issues and values we feel are most important and vote accordingly. But the issues ? like the candidates themselves ? are not easily categorized.

Many Christians use a candidate's stance on abortion as their religious/political "litmus test." While we should be deeply concerned about the choices women (and men) make regarding abortion, we need to consider other life-sustaining issues. We should be equally concerned about those throughout the world who ? because of poverty, war, ignorance, oppression or disease ? do not have access to health care, education or adequate nutrition.

Perhaps one of the reasons believers so often lack credibility in our society is that - when others examine us - so few find us to be different. We know the right things to say and repeat the Christian mantras to one another, but they ring hollow when too many of us live lives devoid of Christ's impact.

Let's not fool ourselves into believing that, by "voting Christian," we are somehow released from the personal responsibility to do what is right. We cannot expect our government to fix all our social ills.

If we - the Church - really believe Christ is the hope of the world, we need to start acting like it. Rather than hoping for social programs to provide for our poor and oppressed, perhaps we need to relinquish our fierce hold on personal consumption and wealth and provide for those who have nothing.

We should be appalled by our materialism and selfishness. It should shame us into action to realize that, if the rest of the world lived as lavishly as Americans, it would require several planets to sustain us all.

We need to step up to the plate and begin living sacrificially. While doing so, we must address some challenging questions:

? If Christians care so much about life, why do we fail to provide adequate support to women (and men) who make life and death choices, often in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances?

? How can we maintain a biblical perspective on war? If we believe war is a "necessary evil" to bring democracy and freedom to the oppressed, why does our government militaristically ignore the atrocities in countries where we have no economic interests?

? Can we agree that God is concerned with blessing and securing ALL nations, and not just our own?

? How can believers who give lip-service to issues of poverty, social justice and AIDS essentially continue to materialistically consume, charitably give and volunteer at the same level as non-believers?

As we face these and other complex questions, we must refuse to be enveloped by a partisan ideology or be swayed by its dialogue. We must not allow the term "evangelical" to once again get politically hijacked.

We need to carefully consider and pray for our political leaders, but we are the ones who will ultimately change the world. Christ with us - in us - through us can make the difference we too-often depend on our vote to create.

September26, 2008 at 11:06 AM

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