I’ve been reading a spectacular biography on Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas, which I recommend for those of you who want some “light” reading (it’s 576 pages long, but it’s paperback, so it still counts, right?). I have noticed some very striking similarities between his day and ours.

First of all, I am NOT comparing President Obama to Hitler in ANY way. I do not think they are even remotely alike.

I do think that there are many who have placed messianic expectations on President Obama, just as there are also those who are looking for either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney to be the next Savior of the world. I do think it’s a very dangerous thing to put such high expectations on any human being, regardless of whether they are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat.

I think that just as in Bonhoeffer’s day, we as the Church are called to be outside the political process. We are to be the concience of this nation, to champion the cause of the outcast, downtrodden, and needy, and to speak the whole truth, regardless of whether or not it appeals to our conservative or liberal leanings.

I believe we are called, like John the Baptist was, to be a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the real Messiah, Jesus. We are to proclaim that salvation has come and deliverance is here, and that the hope for the world lies not in Washington, but in a Man born in a manger in Bethlehem.

Do vote for the people you think best qualified to be in office. Do fight for those values you hold dear. Don’t demonize those who have different opinions than you politically or otherwise. Don’t make your personal convictions to be the universal convictions for every single person out there. The standard that all people are called to live up to is God’s, not ours.

On an aside, it’s one thing to be pro-life, but if you’re going to fight for life, you shouldn’t pick and choose who gets to live and who doesn’t. Can you really be for life if you’re against abortion but for capital punishment and the death penalty? PS I’m just asking the question, not telling you what to think about this particular issue.

Remember that, as I heard it put so well today, regardless of who is elected in November, Jesus will be king. After that President and the next 50 after him are gone, Jesus will still be king.

I love the way Brennan Manning put it. I’ve used this quote before, but it speaks to what I’m trying to say very well:

“All religious and political systems, Right and Left alike, are the work of human beings. Abba’s children will not sell their birthright for any mess of pottage, conservative or liberal. They hold fast to their freedom in Christ to live the gospel-uncontaminated by cultural junk, political wreckage, and the complex hypocrisies of a bullying religion”