Pray Obama failsPosted: January 19, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
2009
Many American Christians believe, as an article of faith, that we are to pray for the success of our leaders.
It has become a sort of conventional wisdom among soft-minded
believers. The biblical proof-text for this misguided way of thinking
is Romans 13:1-4:
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
"Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and
thou shalt have praise of the same: "For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou
do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain:
for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him
that doeth evil."
What could be more clear-cut? At face value, it would seem the
Bible is telling us government is a God-ordained good and that we are
not to resist its terrors.
Many a coward has been bolstered in his conviction against
challenging tyranny by not reading too deeply into the Scriptures. Yet,
nowhere does the Bible ever suggest evil rulers are to be obeyed. When
the rule of men conflicts with the commands of God, the Bible leaves no
doubt about where we should stand.
That's why I do not hesitate today in calling on godly
Americans to pray that Barack Hussein Obama fail in his efforts to
change our country from one anchored on self-governance and
constitutional republicanism to one based on the raw and unlimited
power of the central state.
It would be folly to pray for his success in such an evil campaign.
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I want Obama to fail because his agenda is 100 percent at odds with
God's. Pretending it is not simply makes a mockery of God's
straightforward Commandments.
So you will not see me joining in the ritual of affirming Obama
and his mission in public or private prayer this week – or any other
week.
Instead, I uphold the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:14: "Let
them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." And I take warning from
Isaiah 9:16: "For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and
they that are led of them are destroyed."
And please don't tell me about "rendering unto Caesar."
It's important to consider the circumstances and the audience
behind Jesus' instructions to "render unto Caesar." The Sadducees were
attempting to trap Jesus into advocating open contempt for Caesar. He
recognized their wicked and hypocritical little game and answered them
with a totally truthful response that astonished everyone. But think about it. There are two components to Jesus' words.
We are to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," but we are
also to "render unto God the things that are God's." Well, everything
ultimately belongs to God. But, most of all, this injunction by Jesus
instructs us that government laws cannot trump God's laws – ever. If government commands you to do evil, as a Christian you must
resist. There is no alternative. Citing the "render unto Caesar" line
is an apologetic for accountability to God – nothing more, nothing
less. Furthermore, it needs to be pointed out that in America we
don't have a Caesar. Never have, never will. You see, our system of
government is called a free republic, and it is based on the concept of
constitutional self-government. We have no "rulers" in America – except
ourselves and our God. We believe in the rule of law, not the rule of
men. This is an important distinction, not a semantic one.
Nowhere in the Bible does it teach us to obey evil rulers. Nowhere.
This is a time for principled biblical resistance, not phony Christian appeasement.