The Blog of Photographer Jacob Vorpahl.
One of the great things about having a blog is you get your own, interrupted venue to say whatever you want to whoever you want (as long as you don’t violate any laws, of course). It gives you a certain sense of freedom. The problem with saying whatever you want, though, is that you tend to fracture the people reading your blog into groups and one group will probably end up getting alienated. Talking about politics on this kind of blog is something that would cause such a scenario, so I’ll refrain from doing that.
One thing I won’t refrain from doing, though, is speaking out about being a Christian. That’s one voice that I will not silence. I’m a believer in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I believe that I’m a sinner and that Christ died on the Cross to pay for my sins. I’ve accepted what he did as payment for my transgression and I’ll proudly declare that into my grave.
That said, many of my fellow Christians are quite disappointed at the results of last night’s election. They don’t believe in Barack Obama’s values and they don’t believe in Barack Obama the man. I’ll just say I didn’t vote for him either. But some people are taking their disappointment to new levels. I’ve seen comments on sites like Digg, Facebook, and other social networking sites by people kinda hoping someone goes loose canon and attempts to assassinate him. If not that, then they hope he at least falls flat on his face as a President and politician so Republicans can take back the White House in 2012.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to see your political party in office, but I do think something needs to be said about people who hope he just flat out fails. First, let’s look at this from a Biblical perspective and look at some scripture:
Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefor resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
As a Christian, I’m not supposed to be hoping for the downfall of my leaders. God placed them there, for whatever reason he saw fit, and it’s not my place to question that. In 2008, God saw fit to allow Barack Obama to be elected President of the United States of America. Like it or love, God allowed it to happen. Is it because we need it? Maybe Christians didn’t “get out the vote” enough? (I’m not insinuating that if you voted for Obama you’re not a Christian, it’s just that typically evangelical Christians vote conservative) Is God giving us something to test us? Who knows, I don’t. But in his infinite wisdom God has Obama as our President for four years. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to question God. So, from a Bible centered focus, not only should we not hope for his downfall, but according to 1 Tim. 2:1-2, we’re supposed to pray for him. Now, I don’t know how a prayer for his failure would come across to God, you could try it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Second, from a non-biblical perspective, consider this: he’s our president for four years: if he does bad, we’ll probably do bad too. Republican or Democrat, we should always want our president to do well. Otherwise, what makes us different from people in other countries hoping for America’s downfall? Our citizenship? Our location? What else? You’re by no means a terrorist, but how do you help our nation if you vehemently oppose the president to the point that you hope he’s unsuccessful at improving our country? That line of thinking is destructive, and in no way Christian.
So, give yourself a reality check and realize that Barack Obama is the President for the next four years. As Christians, we are to do two things: support him and pray for him, just like we did Bush, and just like we would have done for McCain. Anything less is biblically wrong.
Just wanted to drop a line and say how much I believe this is the stance we as Christians need to take on this issue. It does not change God’s plan one bit, and we sure do not need to take the stance of the bitter Republicans who just want anyone in the White House. Maybe it will open our eyes to start thinking about what we really need as a country, and what we need to focus on as communities and families. I support Obama, as far as he is a man who gets to make dicisions just as much as I do, and will answer for them just as much as I will. I will pray for him as he takes on this very difficult task of leading a nation (300 million people)which is no small task I’m sure. Take heart and be encouraged that God is still on the throne and there is still true repentance at the foot of the cross. God knows what is going on, even though we may not see it with our eyes.