I received an email this morning and felt the need to note a few important things that we all need to remember as Christians! 

We are all getting caught up in emotions and therefore people are standing in judgment of one another.  We are putting God in the middle of a man made issue; we are putting Him in the middle of our mess and speaking for Him based upon what we think!  In Isaiah 55 God declares that His thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways His ways.  1 Corinthians 3:18 - 20 reads "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." Yet we are stating who and how he is going to punish another Christian! 

Who are we to judge the merits of another Christian or to put words in the mouth of God? (Meditate on Matthew 7:1-6) Regardless of who I am voting for I am disturbed by the fact that Christians in America are acting like the many problem "churches" that are mentioned in the Bible.   Like the church of Corinth we are divided by our beliefs and like the church in Galatia we are worried about issues like abortion and homosexuality that was circumcision back then.  The issues are important but they are not meant to cause division among Christians!  That is simply a trick of the devil.  He is being allowed to cause division and steal the joy, the love, the peace and the unity that are among the very things that should mark Christians. 

My God can and has used whomever He pleases, whenever he pleases, however He pleases to get His message to the world.  If he can use Joseph who was a slave and make him the ruler of Egypt and if he turned Paul who was a persecutor of Christians into one of the best examples we have today then how can we stand in judgment of anyone else? 

We are all a member of one church and the members of the body are fighting.  We all have a choice to make and we will each make those choices based upon where we have been, where we are and where we are going.  The "conservatives" and even the "liberals" are judging one another based upon the "moral laws" that they feel must be upheld.  If you are saved you are no longer under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:14) There is nothing that you can do or say to change the love that God has for you if you have accepted His Son.  There is no sin that is greater than another sin but the greatest commandment is that we love one another (1 Corinthians 13).  God wants us to love one another.  We don't need to hate homosexuals, we need to show them the love of God.  We don't need to stand in judgment of that woman who has an abortion based on whatever circumstance she was in that made her come to that hard decision, we need to be there to show her the love of God.  We don't need to look down our noses at people who disagree with our personal perspective, we need to love!  We are to stand as beacons in a world of darkness but how can we stand as beacons when we are fighting one another more than those who are unsaved?

I also don't understand why all of a sudden that because a black (actually bi-racial) man is running for president that black people will vote for him because he is black.  Does that mean that white people will vote for McCain because he is white?  No!  Some people will fall back to that I am sure but I pray that most people are looking at the issues and not at the color of someones skin!  I am appalled every time I hear that.  Why is it that we feel people don't have enough sense to base their vote on anything else?

It is OK to stand up for what you believe but don't be haughty, don't stand in judgment of another person and think that you are speaking on behalf of all "Christians."  We have to keep focused on what is important today, to spread God's Word, to share God's love and to bring those who are unsaved to believe.  God says in Hebrews 13:5 that He would never leave us nor forsake us.  If you are a Christian you know that promise stands no matter who wins the presidency. 

We have a choice to make between Senators Obama and McCain.  Ask yourself who is more important here, God or Obama and McCain. We must stop associating who we are with who we associate with here on earth!  You are not a republican or a democrat - You are a Christian!  Let's not forget what that really means . . .

Kendra Yates

www.knowledge-seekers.org