Barak Obama: Angel or Demon?

With all the talk that's been going around about Obama, and the economy, our society, the war? basically every significant thing that can happen to a nation; one question keeps prodding in my mind.

Why are Christians so reliant on/against our president?

On one hand, I see some clinging to him so tightly, in hopes that he will break the bonds of pain and suffering in their lives and bring them into a financial haven? On the other, I see terror stricken hearts, that are sure this is either the end of the world as we know it, or the beginning of a lifetime of pain and suffering?

Two observations I'd like to reflect on with you all (as I'm sure you're aware of the following facts).


1. Barak Obama isn't God.

He is not some majestic superhuman sent down from heaven to bring us happiness and fulfillment in our lives. He's not going to correct all our problems, not even the financial ones.

To make a very general paraphrase of how I view this area, I just want to say, remember that, in this world, life is simply not easy: you will always have to sacrifice in one area in order to gain in another; and nothing of value is ever gotten without someone, somewhere suffering for it.

In this case, it may very well be the guy living next to you, who is a rich, mean old man who is bitter at the government for taking his money and giving it to lazy do-nothings who sit at home watching TV while he sweats blood and tears. Actually, If he had known the lady living next to him had three young children she tries to take care of by herself after her boyfriend left her for someone less complicated to live with and next week the water is going to be shut off? because she can't pay her bills because she's been too sick to work? He probably would've given her the money anyway. People do things like that in America. I've seen people dish out money for all sorts of causes, from cancer victims to people who just want to go on vacation! They make me look like a greedy old scrooge. Maybe we should run to our neighbor's house instead of the government if we need more money.

Forgive the sarcasm, I think I got a bit carried away.

Actually, maybe we should first run to Jesus. Isn't it God who takes pity on us, and provides us with everything we need. Isn't it He who makes the rain fall and the sun shine and the crops grow and the seasons change? Aren't we blessed because God blesses us? Not because we live in a perfect nation with a perfect government. Didn't Jesus suffer for us so that He could give us everything! Not just to give us life, but to give us life "more abundantly". To be complete and entire, "wanting nothing".

The point is, if we are Christians (no, if we are humans) we should regard God as God and run to Him in time of trouble, recognizing that all things come from God and trust in God, not man, not even our president.


2. Barak Obama isn't Satan.

Whatever happens in our country, God is the one who is writing this chapter in history and is using our president (in part) to do it.

The main reason I wrote this note was because so many Christians I know are so critical of our president. They ridicule, make jokes about him, and sit back on their haunches waiting for him to fail and lead our country to ruins so they can say, "See, I told you he'd mess things up! that's why I didn't vote for him!"

Come on, people, Barak Obama is just a man, and we are being just as abominable defaming, and belittling him as we would be to worship him. Let's not forget who put him in office to begin with: God put him there. Not a bunch of confused, mixed up, emotionally wrecked people. God.

If we could argue that some men are good (though none are), I would venture to say, Our president is a good man. I do believe, that Our president's intentions are good: He wants to fix the economy, help people fulfill their dreams, live in peace and harmony with the nations around us, and please the majority (since he, obviously, can't please everybody). Now, will he be able to do all those things - If he could, is he going about it the right way, the best way? Probably not, but then neither would you if you were president. Would you?

Isn't it amazing how zealous we can be when holding on to our American ideal, and superior forms of government, such that ensure free enterprise, the pursuit of happiness and freedom of expression and the right to defend ourselves? and yet, we quickly forget the higher callings God has placed on us: to love and serve one another, to have peace and humility, to honor, love and pray for those in authority?

Our wonderful form of government, in all its brilliance and beauty, is simply, a man-made endeavor, full of faults and errors and incompetences. It encourages hard work, creativity and industrialism and can tend to reward greed, manipulation and power of the rich?

Socialism, which many fear our president is leading us toward, attempts to pull down the fortresses of the rich and powerful and accommodate the less fortunate... this tends to reward laziness, and incompetence. See, neither are without its faults, but it is easy to see why the first has gotten us where we are today (it has been both good and bad). Either would work, really, if we were all good people, but, unfortunately, we tend to go back and forth, trying different forms of government that end up revealing varying forms of our nature: which is, ultimately, greedy, selfish, and lazy.

My whole point is this: let's stop being so dependant on our president, government, lifestyle... and run to God. Let's stop being so critical of people in authority, when it's usually not items of Godliness that are being compromised but more so, preferences that we have; because we've made some things all too important and monumental in our lives.

(written by my friend Rachel Banura, 23-Apr-09)