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Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Obama Discipled?

Okay, I just had a revelation. I've been trying to figure out who Barack Obama is. His walk doesn't seem to match his talk. I couldn't figure out why. The man has said he is a follower of Christ. I know what that means. I just didn't see it in Obama's behavior. I was looking for the fruits of the Spirit - and not seeming to find them.

I've prayed about this issue. Specifically, I've asked God to show me what He sees in Barack Obama. I was stunned by the revelation He gave me. The poor man may have made a decision for Christ - but he has not been taught what it means to follow Christ. It's called discipling. It seems to me now that Mr. Obama has never been properly discipled, or taught the ways of Christ.

Barack's family background is dicey. His mother went through two marriages. He moved around a lot. Between his mother, father and step-father, we have Muslim, atheist, agnostic - or just indifferent at best. Certainly no one there was teaching Barack who Christ is and what His followers really look like.
(http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2007/dec/20/chain-email-gets-obama-religion-wrong/)


Given the fact that Obama's encounter with Christ and profession of belief in Christ as the Messiah didn't occur until adulthood, he would have to look at his adulthood for that teaching.

Jeremiah Wright, Jr., the long-time pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago was the man that Obama credits for his conversion to Christianity. After that conversion, Obama sat and listened to Rev. Wright and his teachings. This would be discipleship. At least one would hope that to be the case.

Now not everyone is really discipled by the pastor of their church. Some find spiritual mentors and teachers whom they can spend more quality time with. Some won't listen to their pastors. Some of the pastors in churches today see themselves as the "senior preachers" instead of senior pastors ... and do no discipling themselves.

But everyone born into God's family, as followers of Christ, must learn the ways of Christ. They must acquire the mind of Christ. If they don't, then they aren't. They may be "saved," as the evangelicals call it. But they remain ignorant of Christ's ways and don't produce what the Bible calls fruits of the Spirit.

So I'm looking at Mr. Obama's life. He's tried to be as open as possible about his personal life. (That's a good thing.) But the only spiritual father I see in his life is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. And I'm afraid he doesn't look too good. Why? Look at his teachings. Hatred. Racism. Divisiveness. Blame. Judgement.

This man even claims that the U.S. government "invented AIDS" to wipe out the black race! So we can add flawed, deluded thinking to his list of character defects. It may be that Mr. Wright is a charismatic speaker and has a lot of people attending his church. But it is clear from his teaching that the man doesn't really know who God is. It is even more clear that he is not someone who could effectively disciple a Christian leader.

Barack Obama has not been taught the importance of tithing. He has not been shown the close relationship between humility and leadership. He has not been taught how to live a life above reproach. It may be clear that Obama has become a Christian and that he lives his life to his best understanding of what that means. It is becoming increasingly clear that his knowledge of what it means to follow Christ (or his willingness to obey Christ) are lacking.

So if we elect Barack Obama as our next U.S. president, how are we going to get this man discipled?

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