President-Elect Obama

America elected Barack Obama her 44th president last night. Whether or not you pulled the lever for him, Scripture is clear about your obligations to him: honor him (1 Peter 2:17), don’t speak evil of him (Acts 23:5), and pray for him (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

For about 30% of our church that will come easily, since you voted for Senator Obama. Many, however, will need to remember that, as Nathan Trice wrote in World magazine this week, “There’s nothing Christian about joining in on the national sport of lampooning the leaders you voted against.”

I did not vote for Senator Obama, but I went to bed last night filled with hope at the end of this historic election. Five reasons.

First, I am hopeful because I have a (guarded) admiration for Barack Obama himself. America has elected her first black president, a point especially dear to those old enough to remember racial segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr., looked into the future and saw him when in 1963 the Baptist preacher stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared, “I have a dream . . . .” Though not an evangelical, President-elect Obama has openly professed his faith in Christ. He is, by all accounts, an exemplary husband and father of an intact family. Those who know him describe him as a disciplined man in a time when we need some real discipline in government. If he governs like he campaigned (an important "if"), he will build consensus, listen to all sides, and resist the leftist forces of his party. While some of his most enthusiastic supporters need a reminder that America has not elected the Messiah, neither has she chosen the Antichrist.

Second, I am hopeful because of the diversity among congressional Democrats. It does not appear that the Democrats took the 60 seats needed to make the Senate filibuster-proof. This means that some bipartisan negotiations will have to take place to get things done. What’s more, look for the influence of the so-called “blue dog” Democrats in the months and years ahead--a breed mostly from the South, fiscally conservative and even pro-life. Politically-active evangelicals should build relationships with these potential allies.

Third, I am hopeful because of the soul-searching this election will summon. Conservatives in general--and conservative Christians in particular--should ask what can be learned from this election defeat. Has our agenda been too narrow, our rhetoric too polarizing? Have we mongered fear to a country more hungry for hope? Is there a better way to frame the convictions we know are good for our country so our country can see them as good?

Fourth, I am hopeful because I have the long view when it comes to building a culture of life. My greatest concern about Senator Obama’s candidacy has always been his atrocious voting record on abortion. I do not know if he will keep his promise to Planned Parenthood to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. I do not know what kind of judges he will put on the Supreme Court and other federal benches. But I do know that justice sometimes takes a long time to come to full flower. William Wilberforce struggled for decades before England brought the evil of slave trading to an end. Even a two-term presidency is less than one of those decades Wilberforce endured. The fragile culture of life we’ve slowly been building may likely suffer the next few years, but justice for God’s little ones will ultimately prevail.

Finally, and most important, I am hopeful because God is on his throne. A couple of days ago I read an intriguing article in Time by David Van Biema. One day in New York City he saw bright red words scrolling across the electronic ticker high above the street. The words demanded immediate attention about the state of the market, the status of the election, the latest on the war and so on. And yet Van Biema wrote that at street level, “a cheery twentysomething Evangelical with red hair and a discreet nose stud is concerned with more timeless words.” She was part of a unique promotional effort connected with the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible. Zondervan, the publisher of the NIV, has sent two young couples around the country in a donated RV to enlist Americans to copy all 31,173 Bible verses, one verse at a time, in their own hand-writing. (The RV will be in Austin December 19.)

A fascinating image: Below a big electronic ticker urgently demanding attention to the news of the day, at street level were two young evangelical couples turning attention to the eternal Word of God.

And that, in the end, is why Hillcrest exists at the corner of Steck and Greenslope in the heart of Austin. The task hasn’t changed since Isaiah heard it millennia ago (40:6-8):

A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."

As fellow believer and UT professor J. Budziszewski reminds us, “Citizenship is an obligation of the faith, therefore the Christian will not abstain from the politics of the nation-state. But his primary mode of politics must always be witness.”