propheticmoments

Let me say at the outset that I am disappointed. I could have voted for Huckabee. But there are reasons he lost and will not now be the Republican nominee. To be brief, the reasons are two (at least), and both of them center on his identification as the candidate of the evangelical Christian segment of the electorate:

1 - Evangelicals in this country have consistently presented a hate face. The nation knows all about what we hate and very little of what we love. The world still expects judgment from the church rather than love. We have earned that reputation and we need to own up to it. It would serve us well to study how Jesus dealt with the woman taken in adultery or with Zaccheus, the hated, cheating, turncoat tax-collector. He didn't approve of their sin, but His love certainly came out in a way that broke their hearts. This has not been true of evangelical Christians in America, especially in the political arena.

2 - The huge round of moral failures and excesses on the part of major evangelical charismatic leaders in this nation has broken the power of the evangelical Christian appeal to voters in this nation. Start with the Ted Haggard scandal and move to the Grassley investigation of lavish lifestyles on the part of many of our most prominent Christian leaders. Across my own city we have experienced a long season of moral and ethical failures on the part of a number of evangelical/charismatic leaders of mega-ministries and my city is not unique.

The prophetic word? It will be a very long time before Christians again have a major impact on the electorate in America, if we ever again regain it. I long for the day when once again "Christian" becomes synonymous with "integrity" in the eyes of the world. I have said it before and I will say it again: We need a massive movement of heartfelt repentance among believers in this nation. Only then can we recover what has been lost to the public shame brought upon us by our leaders and by the sins of average everyday believers.

John McCain will almost certainly be the Republican candidate for president. Whether the Democratic candidate is Clinton or Obama, it will take a miracle for a Republican candidate to win this election and much of the reason for that can be laid at the door of the evangelical/charismatic Christians and our failures in love and integrity. This has allowed the Democratic party to position itself as the party of compassion, in spite of their support of abortion and a host of other moral issues that spell abomination to Bible- believing Christians. And I am NOT identifying the Republican party as the party for Christians - only that more Republicans adopt moral positions favorable to Christians than do Democrats (on abortion, gay rights, etc.).

Lord, teach us Your ways in love, mercy and compassion. Teach us the heart of Your integrity. Your sacrifice. Your selflessness. Let us recover all that has been lost. And have mercy on our nation.