Thursday, November 20, 2008

Taking Out the Trash

Over the past few months I have been flooded with email messages, from friends and acquaintances, stating how they feel about presidential candidate, and now President-Elect, Barak Obama. Actually, in some cases that's phrasing it mildly and kindly. Some messages were possibly libelous, but certainly mean-spirited . . . and, as I see it, un-Christian. I'm referring to such messages as the one with a watermelon under a box, which was propped up on one end with a stick with a string attached to it, captioned "Plot to Trap Obama." And the one featuring a man riding a motorcycle, wearing a tee shirt with "Nigger, please . . . It’s a White House" on the back. And the one I received this morning with the subject line "The Black Widow," referring to Michelle Obama. I have no problem with people expressing their opposition to a political candidate or public official; I have no problem with Christians engaging in such expression. In fact, I believe that Christians, in the prophetic tradition, can contribute to holding such people accountable. [Perhaps that's part of what we're to be about in the world as "salt" and "light."] However, when Christians do speak out, we should do so with integrity, not with what appears to be a the-end-justifies-the-means attitude. Brothers and sisters, let's speak the truth in love, and take out the trash.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Right on, Craig! As Edwin McCain sings in "What Matters" ...
"Let's forget about the notion that we're not the same
My blood runs as red as yours
We all get angry, we've all been scared
We've all made big mistakes that can never be repaired
It ain't about the money, it ain't about the time
It ain't about the love you lost or the things you think you left behind ...
What matters is the heart
Look me in the eye and take my hand
We can make a difference I know we can"

PS - good ta cya bloggin' beard ... yer_hometown_boy

bseals said...

Keep on blogging my brother. God uses your voice to go to many places and be heard by many people.
B.