Review-The Faith of Barack Obama (Stephen Mansfield) Pt. 4
Jesus for President?
Reading over the comments that this book has elicited on the Web, I am amazed at the number of Christians who, without reading the book, will so easily condemn it as a wholesale sell-out by Thomas Nelson to simply make a buck in an election year. What’s interesting is that when you think about it, they actually took quite a risk in publishing such a title. If the core audience for TFOBO is Evangelicals and a large segment of them won’t even touch such “trash”, then Nelson stands to lose big on this one. I tend to believe however that there are enough believers out there who are objective enough to be able to set aside their pre-conceived notions and approach this book with an open mind.
So of those folks I ask, does it really matter whether our President is a Christian or not? Must the President first sign off on the Apostle’s Creed before he or she can take the oath of office? If you look closely at what this book says about Obama’s theology he is very close to the Uniterian Universalist belief system. This is a group that doesn’t believe in essential Christian doctrines such as the Trinity and the divinity of Christ or the exclusivity of the cross as the only way to salvation. These are issues that many Christians are extremely concerned about, yet they fail to recognize that many of our former leaders have been of this very same theological stripe:
• John Adams (#2)
• Thomas Jefferson (#3)
• James Madison (#4)
• James Monroe (#5)
• John Quincy Adams (#6)
• Millard Fillmore (yes, he was a President) (#13)
• Howard Taft (#27)
Additionally, Abraham Lincoln (#16), arguably this nation’s greatest President, was somewhere between an Atheist and a Deist – as well as a Republican. We could certainly debate over each of these men and their contribution to this nation, but each one has played a part in God’s plan for America and that is an indisputable fact.
While I am not endorsing the idea that we should simply dismiss someone’s faith (or lack thereof), I tend to subscribe to the idea that God is the one who appoints rulers (Romans 13:1-2, 1 Peter 2:13-14), and that ultimately whatever good or evil they do will result in bringing glory to our king – similar to our own lives. We should vote our conscience, but we shouldn’t do so blindly or simply because of group think, we should really seek direction and ask for wisdom (because scripture tells us to), but ultimately we should trust that it all plays into God’s magnificent plan.
We live in a media-saturated world that feeds off of sound bytes. I am amazed at how many emails I have received with false claims about Barack’s faith – saying he’s a closet Muslim. Why are we so quick to take these rumors at face value and yet simply give those with an (R) behind their name a pass. I can’t count the number of Christians I have heard say “Obama doesn’t even believe that Jesus is the only path to salvation!” - as if this requirement is written somewhere into Article Two of the Constitution. Interestingly, as in love as Evangelicals have historically been with our current President, even he has made statements that sound eerily Universalist. Therefore, why are we so fascinated with whether or not the President of the United States believes, or says, all the same things we do?
Jesus never railed against those in positions of political power. When there were people employed by the corrupt and oppressive Roman Empire that were being baptized, John the baptizer simply encouraged them to treat people more fairly and to be content with their paycheck. We aren’t encouraged to overthrow those placed in positions of power, but to pray for them. The gospel is meant to be subversive, thus the reason for the scriptures about mustard seeds, salt, light and leaven. Our role as believers in society is to engage it by displaying the character of Christ – literally being a “sample” of who He is to the world around.
It’s this ambassadorship that gives believers the greatest opportunity to display the love of Christ. We are tasked with loving those who don’t love the gospel, with reaching out to those who don’t believe the same way we do. We are supposed to be the Red Cross, not the opposing forces to those who believe differently than us. And if there is a point that Stephen Mansfield was trying to make in this book, I think this might be it. While he never comes to any conclusions, he certainly seems to build a case that culminates with this phrase:
“Perhaps this is a call for all of us to be more Christian than Republican, more American than Democrat, more noble and righteous than crassly and callously political. Perhaps, too, this is an opportunity to hear truth from the mouths of our critics.” p. 136
To wrap this up, I haven’t decided for whom I am casting my vote (believe it or not, still praying and seeking wisdom). But this book has certainly helped me to understand how the faith of one man shapes his worldview and his politics. I am refreshed that the author didn’t sense the need to push me to accept any of his own opinions or to pay homage to any of his sacred cows (we all have them), he simply presented a fair and objective narrative that will help me to make a more informed decision.
