I really can’t wait until this election cycle is over, I really can’t.  I don’t understand why so many Christians are so gung-ho on McCain’s campain – a campaign that has a slogan, “Country First.”  Isn’t the fact that Christians didn’t put “country first” the type of thing that used get tossed into the Arena as lion bait?  I don’t understand why so many Christians talking about the Obama campaign like it was the second-coming and forgetting that fact that any power-structure is going to go against Jesus’ Kingdom at some point.  I certainly don’t understand how a people supposedly dedicated to the Truth can so eagerly spread the lies an fear-mongering smears that people are levelling against Senator Obama.  Consistency check, anyone?

I’m glad that folks in my Church don’t spend time trying to figure out who I’m voting for.  It’s a waste of their time and mine, and serves no purpose whatsoever.  I’m currently preaching a sermon series that is attempting to give people some tools to interact with politics in light of Jesus’ teaching . I don’t shy away from the fact that political struggle is part of the world in which we live, but I do want people to back away from confusing any political ideology with Jesus’ Kingdom.  We’re looking to be faithful to Jesus’ “third-way” of interacting with political realities.

If I had any doubt as to why I am dealing with political realities in the way that I do, they were squashed this morning as my wife and I were checking out at the super-market.  In the next check-out aisle, a woman was interrogating the check-out clerk about the coming election.  It went something like this, “I’m voting for Obama, who are you voting for?”  When the poor clerk said, “I don’t know” the Obama-ite pressed in, “Well you agree that we need change, right?  We can’t keep going the way we’re going and McCain is obviously not a change.  You should check out Obama’s web-site and see what he has to say, I think you’ll like Obama – you really should support him.”

I kid you not, I don’t think this Obama-ite took a single breath.  I was about to turn around and tell her to leave the poor clerk alone, as she was obviously not comfortable with the verbal assault she was suffering through, but before I could do so I heard the Obama-ite shout in my direction, “Hey, how about you over there?  Are you Obama?”  I think my brain had some trouble adjusting to someone who had broken just about every social-convention for the super-market aisle that our culture has in place, so I didn’t react to her question right away.  This made her shout again, “Hello?”  Finally I turned around and said, “I’m sorry?”  To which she said, “Are you Obama?”

I wish I could say I had a clever response.  In retrospect, I should have held out my hand and said, “No, actually my name is Wes.  And you are?”  I wish I would have said that, but my brain was so addled that all I could do is steel my gaze and say, “I don’t know.”  I get the feeling that the on my face could have frozen water, because the Obama-ite didn’t press me any further.  I’m glad, because I don’t think I would have done Jesus proud if she had.  Thankfully our clerk just looked at me and said, “Like it’s any of her business!”  I couldn’t have put it better myself.

So, to all my friends who are political “true believers” on the Left and Right, let me give you some free advice.  The people with whom you share your passionate political support with are human beings, not political poker chips to be won.  In your passion to have people hear your views, please try to remember that important point, OK?

Actually, this applies for Christian Evangelism as well.  If I ever hear someone pulling something like this to “win a soul” I will go all “OT Prophet” on them.  OK?