As the Religious Right stands firmly in support of John McCain, a new movement of young evangelicals rises to support Barack Obama. The movement stems from the change in ideologies that young evangelical Christians are embracing; namely, that Jesus came not just to take Christians to heaven at the end of a struggle to get through this horrible, evil world, but to change that world for the better along the way. Brian McLaren calls this being "blessed to be a blessing." It is the hope of the followers of Christ in my generation that we can make a difference for Christ in this world that doesn't mean simply going to heaven when you die (and taking along as many converts as you can convince along the way), but about bringing heaven to earth in the meantime; being a citizen of God's kingdom in the here and now.
Obama seems to embody the post-modernist's Christianity: that Jesus came as a social reformer, to bring justice and life into the world in the here and now. McCain, however, has the corner on being pro-life (in the case of abortions, anyway). As such, sincere followers of Jesus on both sides of the line are insisting that their way is the only "Christian" way to vote. Sincere followers of Jesus on both sides of the line are insisting that their brothers and sisters in Christ who disagree with them are not only "wrong," but also that they're "not true believers."
Sincerely believing that one political candidate or another will be better for this country is one thing, but you can have well-reasoned arguments for or against either candidate that resonate with the teachings of Jesus. In the grand scheme of things, though, we must all vote our consciences, and although we may all have the same Lord, we do not all have the same thought processes.
However we vote (and if we vote at all), we are citizens of another kingdom. The USA is only a temporary home for us, that we must strive personally to make better. That doesn't mean that voting for either political candidate will solve this nation's problems. "We must be the change we wish to see in the world," said Ghandi, and that's more than just casting a vote. That's living in the depths of peoples' hurt and suffering. That's coming alongside the teenage mother who can't afford to have a child, inviting her into your home and providing the means she needs to have that baby, instead of just telling her that abortion is unequivocally wrong and she shouldn't have one. That's travelling to a poverty-ravished country to provide aid to those who can't afford help. That's a million other creative ideas that we could bring to a world that needs hope - the same hope that we have in Jesus, not in any political candidate's ability to "change" things. |
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