The Romney Vote

"Most Christians are going to vote for a cult leader to become President this November."

Well, there it is. The elephant in the room for this fall. Now, I know some of you are going to vote for Obama, but let's be honest MOST evangelical Christians are planning on voting for Romney this November (especially the white ones). I will have another post about Christians voting for Obama later.

I have been through the range of emotions, desires, and hopes this last year heading towards November. I have been praying and asking the Lord to help me understand how to use my God-given American right of a vote to bring Him glory this year. I have done a study on the "civil magistrate" in Scripture to see what the Bible says about the character and qualifications of a person who would seek to be a civil leader. And what has all that study gotten me? The fact listed at the top of this post.

Let me put this another way:
As a disciple of Jesus, who am I to represent when I am with my family? Jesus.
" " " " ", who am I to represent when I go to work? Jesus.
" " " " ", who am I to represent when I go shopping? Jesus.
" " " " ", who am I to represent when I go out to eat? Jesus.
" " " " ", who am I to represent when I go to church? Jesus.

OK. So, if all of those are true, then why is it that I answer this question differently:

As a disciple of Jesus, who am I to represent when I go to vote? My American self.

I mean, honestly, isn't that what we do? Because if we are being honest. I mean really honest. There is no way we could vote for a cult leader and be representing Jesus. There is no way we could read the Bible (any of it, Old or New Testaments) and see that taking place. But hear is what I hear:

We simply can't have 4 more years of Obama!
Obama is ruining this country!
But Mitt Romney is Pro-life, Pro-Marriage, and a good man.
I agree with Romney on everything but his faith.
We need a businessman in the white house to fix this mess.
etc.

So, let me ask you Christian (sorry but I am limiting this question to just those who claim the name of Jesus), are you really comfortable representing Jesus as you vote for a cult leader? Do you see how stark that question is? I mean wow, right?

You see, I have been trying to get around this thing to find a way to vote but if the Spirit of God is the one leading me and if I am to represent the Son of God on this earth as a Child of God, then I have to look at things this way. Even if it means that I put Jesus before what I think is best for America. It's what Isaiah 26:8 is all about.

And that dear reader is the uncomfortable and unspoken truth about the Romney vote.

You see, this isn't about policy. It isn't even about issues. It's about faith. And not just faith but who we as followers of Jesus are to put first in our lives. And honestly, it isn't even about Mitt Romney. It's about the deception that he is ensnared in. I imagine that if I sat down with Mitt Romney we could talk about a wide range of issues and agree about most of them, but are all of those agreements enough to make me overlook the one that should be most important?

I can already observe that blogging is very risky. Some of you are already reading between the lines and taking things a way I don't mean. Not because you are trying to...but because the written word fails at communicating our heart sometimes. I don't write this because I am angry. I don't write it because I am against Romney or Obama or for Romney or Obama. I write it because I am for Jesus and against a pragmatist choice that doesn't see the important thing. I write this because I believe the Church needs to hear this. If the backlash comes because of it, then I am honestly sorry for offending but (said with a resigned sigh) "here I stand and I can do no other."

With Unquenchable Joy,
Chris

(I am pretty sure that if this blog goes up and out people are going to flip out over this one...honestly not my intention)