My President is not my Pastor

The 2012 election is almost upon us, and the various shades of Christians are becoming unveiled, masked behind a rhetoric of "policies". Ask anyone with half a bit of sense in him, and he will tell you he is concerned about the policies of the candidates. Probe further to see what his knowledge of the stance of the candidates are, and you will find that not many factually know. And they really cannot be blamed as the candidates seem to flip flop on their stance during their campaigning, debating and when they get in office. This is the face of new politics - say anything to convince me to get my vote.

My concern or issue is when we Christians begin to masquerade around, almost demanding whoever our president would be to almost replicate himself to act as our pastor. The president is not our pastor, so he cannot be expected to have the view points of a pastor. Even a pastor is empathetic to members in his church who may not have accepted his gospel message. It is clear that such individuals might as well be second class citizens in the church. Until they are a part of the belief system in that church, they might as well be background decor.
A president's office is completely different. His personal beliefs may be stringing along a certain tangent, but he is operating in an office requiring him to meet the rights of every tax paying citizen. The taxpayer could believe in some ridiculous notion but as long as he abides by the law, his rights cannot be denied him.

I've heard and seen Christians exalt one "issue" and label it as the breaking point, almost making it seem like it is the greatest sin on planet earth. Again, if we bring the concept of "sin" or issue from a biblical point of view, there is not a "greater" or "greatest" issue or "sin". Jesus himself said people attempt to demonize murderers, but anyone who hates his brother is just as guilty in the eyes of God. It doesn't make any sense to us, but to God the intent of the heart is just as guilty as the act. Both parties have their issues or "sins", and no party can lay claim to being more "Christian  or Faith oriented". They are both plagued with issues when viewed from a Christian point of view.

As Christians, our allegiance is not to a party, it is to the kingdom of God. Our vote should therefore be Spirit led, and not fueled by a mentality of thinking our president is our pastor. He is not. He is the president of a country of people with different belief systems who have a right to justice. He is elected into office to serve the citizens of the country, each and every one, regardless of what his personal faith is. Our job as Christians should be to pray, to get involved, and to vote. Finger pointing and vilifying like the world does is not the level we should reduce ourselves to. And using our platform of sharing the gospel to suddenly start marketing a political candidate is a travesty. That means we just alienated an unbeliever who sides with the opposing candidate from hearing our gospel message. The elections will pass, but our passionate actions based on personal politics and not the vision of God on our lives has consequences that will linger on.

Christians be wise in Christ