Two Wrongs

This is dumb:

http://ricksanchez.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/28/threats-to-obama-up-400-and-a-pastor-hates-obama/

From two sides.

The first side is preaching hate from the pulpit and preaching politics from the pulpit. This was more hate than politics, but neither should ever be done. This pastor can hate Obama all he wants, but that is not what he is supposed to do. Yes, Obama is wrong regarding abortion. Very wrong. That's a no-brainer. A lot of other people are wrong too. But that doesn't mean we hate them. Having hate in our hearts is sinful just as murder is sinful. No, we are called to love others even if we hate what they do and what they promote. Our God loves everyone. He doesn't love them because of what they do or who they are, but because of who He is. If His love was contingent on our actions, he wouldn't love anybody.

This pastor tries to use the Bible to defend his hate, but he is wrong. God loved David. Adulterer. Murderer. God loved Matthew. Back-stabbing tax collector. God loved Saul. Christian-killer. Jesus died on the cross to save everyone and even asked for forgiveness for those who nailed him to it. Is that not love? The fact of the matter is that we are all sinners that God still loves. To be saved, we all need to come to repentance and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Obama included.

The second side is what the world does with stupid preaching like this. The media is all to eager to eat it up, blow it up, and make it into an example. We know this. They take anything that is a little off the wall, pump steroids into it, and make it into the entertainment for the day. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the antics of a puppy or the rampage of the latest serial killer. when either hits the news, its entertainment.

The problem here is that stupid news clips are what some unbelievers form their opinions of Christianity with. So when someone goes around shooting his mouth of under the label "Christian", it builds a wall up between the people that eat it up and the people trying to reach them, making this a double-travesty and making it harder to reach them.

So I say we should stand on the third side. The side that says pray for our nation's, and the world's, leaders so that they may come to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ and lead looking through that worldview. The side that says also to pray for preachers so that they may preach the love of God and Christ crucified, rather than hate and politics.

Grace and Peace