Paul of Tarsus called them "false Christians". They were people who had infiltrated the church and distorted the gospel. They tried to fake it but didn't quite succeed.
Obama is one such "false Christian".
I hear you out there. You're screaming that I should not judge other people's Christianity. Why not? Paul did.
Obama walked down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ because he needed "a vessel for [his] beliefs." He says his faith "means that those sins that I have…hopefully will be washed away." He's not certain his sins have been forgiven, he only hopes they will be. And who could be certain if he'd been sitting under the ranting of Jeremiah Wright for 20 years?
In his "Call to Renewal" speech, Obama takes exception to those who "live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences." But isn't that what being a Christian is all about? I guess Obama must have missed Jesus' words, "If anyone would come after me [be my disciple], he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Obama says his favorite scripture passage is one that comes "at the end of the Sermon on the Mount." He calls it "that precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me." Actually, that passage occurs quite a bit farther back, near the end of the book, when Jesus is talking to his disciples about the last judgment. It is also worth noting that Jesus defined his brothers and sisters as "those who do the will of my Father."
Obama, on the other hand, interprets this passage as being "about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class." I don't think that's quite what Jesus had in mind, do you?
Obama complains, "Folks haven't been reading their Bibles"—but has Obama been reading his?
He asks, "Even if we did have only Christians in our midst…whose Christianity would we teach in the schools…James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" How about the gospel of Jesus Christ?
And he wonders if we should abide by the Old Testament dietary laws and those passages that "suggest slavery is okay." The man is obviously unaware that through the arrival of the Messiah, God instituted a new covenant with mankind which supersedes the old one and which nullifies the Law of Moses.
The New Testament also addresses slavery. In fact, Paul advises slaves to obey their masters "with respect and fear, with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ" and admonishes slave owners to treat their slaves with kindness. Paul tells believers to remain in whatever state they were when they became Christians. "Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so." Quite a different gospel from the one cited by Obama and preached by Jeremiah Wright, isn't it?
Obama says he believes marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman—but that he would not support a constitutional amendment to that effect. Rather, he believes we should allow "civil unions…for gay partners." He adds, "I don't think it should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state." Mere semantics. The Bible clearly considers homosexuality a perversion, not only in the Old Testament he dismisses, but in the New Testament, as well, where the apostle Paul calls such relationships "unnatural", yet Obama's so-called Christianity embraces them. According to Obama, his "core values" are strong enough to allow it. What core values??
Obama's sham-Christianity is not Christianity at all. It's merely an attempt to make himself palatable to American voters.
© 2008 by Libbi Adams. All rights reserved.
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