It’s time for my evangelical friends to stop hating President Obama. Hey you. Do I have your attention? Stop it. Just stop the hate. I for one am really tired of it.
Immediately some will object to the use of the word “hate.” I can hear the words reverberate through the internet: “How dare you say I hate Obama!” Yes, in the evangelical community we would never admit to hating the President of the United States. And, I will concede, you might not hate him but you just really, really dislike him. I get it.
But hang on. Do what I did just a few moments ago. Stop reading (that’s right, stop reading) and Google this: “evangelical hatred of Obama.” Scan through the hits. Here’s a few that I saw:
-“Hating President Obama in Jesus’s Name”
-“Obama Wins: So Christians, Will It Be More Hate or Jesus?” Huffington Post 2012
-“Christian right ‘hates Obama’ more than they love Jesus” Jon Stewart
I’m not suggesting that the Evangelical community needs to love our President. But when you can Google the concept and see that even people like John Stewart are talking about our hatred instead of our love, we have a very big problem. And the problem is not really Obama. The problem is bigger than that. The problem is us.
Have I made you mad? Good. At least I have your attention. Keep reading. Now is NOT the time to stop reading. Please take a moment and read 5 reason why it’s time for you to stop hating President Obama.
1. The Bible tells us that God has placed the leaders over us in authority.
Romans 13:1 is often ignored by those who attack Obama. In case you haven’t read it lately: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
I admit this verse is so thought provoking that it might keep you awake at night. But if we believe what it says then we need to trust that God knows what He’s doing. God has placed the key players of the world in power to accomplish His unknowable Divine purposes.
2. There are examples in the Bible of God using even the most sinful leaders of the day to accomplish His purposes.
Recently I spoke from Ezra Chapter 3. In that book God’s children are being set free to return to the Holy Land to rebuild. His people had been held captives in Babylon. God spoke to the pagan King Cyrus of Persia and told him to attack Babylon. The King obeys, conquers Babylon, and then sets the people of God free.
Did you see that? God used even a pagan King to accomplish His Divine purposes. Even if you think President Obama is the anti-Christ you ought to relax. God really is in control. He really will accomplish His purposes in spite of the leaders that reign.
When it comes to world events, and leaders deemed unworthy, we ought to remind ourselves God can use even them.
3. The Bible clearly teaches us to love our enemies and to pray for them.
This is such a clear tenant of Christian faith that I am almost reluctant to point it out. We should know and practice this precept without being convinced we need to do it. There are so many verses in the Bible that teach loving our enemies but let me share just one: “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…” (Luke 6:27)
Do I really need to say more about this?
4. Your hatred of President Obama is driving many younger people out of the church and away from Christ.
I have no hard data on this but I am certain the pollsters will affirm that statement. You can be very sure that the younger crowd, many of whom voted for Obama, take note of how Christians speak of their President. And I personally know a thirty-something that is disillusioned with conservative Christians bashing him.
This must stop. If your funny Obama cartoons, condescending Facebook posts, your smirky Twitter posts, and conversations at work are driving young people from the church and Christ then you will need to answer to God for your actions.
5. Hatred is a counter-productive emotion.
President Obama will never feel the impact of your anger. The only way you can express your displeasure of him is to not vote for him. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t go to bed at night crying himself to sleep because people in the Christian Evangelical community don’t seem to like him.
When it comes to hatred here’s what you need to remember. You are only hurting yourself. When you watch the talking heads on Fox News suggest that Obama is a poor leader, and you become upset, it only raises your blood pressure. You are the one who suffers when you decide to hold on to anger.
So do all of us a favor. Go ahead and dislike the policies of the President. Think what you will about his politics. But will you please just stop personally attacking him and his family?
Call me crazy but I’ve decided that if I am going to be wrong on this issue I will at least error on the side of love.
Do you think the Christians you know hate President Obama?
great post. Very timely.
Interesting very timely post! Today I was talking to a dear Christian friend who bashes Obama on a fairly regular basis & seems bent on convincing me how awful he is. I had just said to hubby JB, “she sounds like she hates him”!! Then I was scrolling thru my FB & found your link about Spiderman’s obit & then saw this. I totally agree with your post & wondered myself what we are telling our world as Christ’s followers when we talk so negative & yes hateful about our leaders. Sobering thoughts!
Peggy, thanks for your comment. This whole idea of loving our enemies seems to be new to some Christians!
Good words! It is so difficult to separate the din from the sinner. Few people were won to the Lord by hatred ( I can’t imagine any but God can do anything), Thanks for reminding us us the our call is to love.
Lots to think about Randy. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your comment!
The other day I remarked about this post, “Lots to think about. Thanks for sharing.” I sincerely meant that. And I’ve been thinking about your thoughts for a couple of days which led me to a couple of observations…
1) For seven years now I’ve been told that if I disagree with President Obama, it’s because I’m a racist. I flat out rebel agains that assertion. I don’t care what color he is, or what color you are. If I disagree with you, I disagree with you; it has nothing to do with skin color. Why is that important? In your post you seem to come very close to saying that if I disagree with President Obama, or if I don’t like his policies, or if I find fault with his politics, I hate him. I don’t think you said that… but it feels like you come very close to it. And that’s a problem for me. It sounds very much like, “If you disagree with President Obama, it’s because you’re a racist.” Again, I don’t think you said that, but the tone sounded eerily familiar. I think that President Barak Obama is the worst president in my lifetime. BUT I don’t hate him. I think he’s a horrible President but I don’t hate him at all. And I don’t think my assertions should be cast into that category.
2) In your post, you refer to Jon Stewart’s comments about evangelicals as proof that they hate President Obama. I like Jon Stewart; I think he’s incredibly funny. And I believe with you that there are too many evangelical Christians that probably harbor hatred for our President (a reason I rarely like to identify myself as either an evangelical or a Christian). However, I’m not sure his comedic schtick should be used as a “proof” of anything. In other words, I’m not sure Mr. Stewart is the bastion of responsible journalism and should be used as an evidence for a particular argument.
Just some thoughts… just a couple of observations. Thanks, Randy, for causing me to think. It’s been good. And I look forward to doing that some more. Keep writing.
Hi Dave. Thanks for your response. This is what I like about blogging: it starts a conversation. Let me clarify my position. First, I had no idea that I was conveying the idea that to hate Obama someone might be a racist. Rather, I was attempting to convey that if you hate Obama you might not be a Christian; or at the least living like Christ taught us to live. Looks like I missed the mark on that one. Second, my use of Jon Stewart was not to “prove” anything other than to make the point that people outside of the church, like Stewart, are noticing that many Evangelical Christian are NOT demonstrating love when it comes to Obama. Again, I appreciate your thoughtful comments.
Well said. On both those assertions I would wholeheartedly agree. Thanks for letting respond. God bless!!