President-Elect Barack Obama

This blog does not usually contain editorial fare, but on the morning after Barack Obama’s election as the next President of the United States, I have set aside what I was planning to write so that I can comment on some implications of this historic event. Healthy Liberal Christianity follows the lead of Jesus in an attempt to break down the artificial barriers of prejudice that divide people into hostile camps. Last night, when I was watching the sea of humanity that had gathered in Chicago to celebrate Obama’s win, I was moved by the make-up of the diverse crowd even more than the enormity of the moment. Obama addressed diversity in his speech when he articulated some answers to those who questioned if the dream of the founding fathers or the power of democracy still existed. Even though he couched his remarks in the language of politics (he is a politician, after all), I heard loudly and clearly his call to the values of diversity, tolerance, and togetherness. He said:
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled, and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states: we are and always will be the United States of America.

He might just as well have said: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here!” But the welcome voiced by the President-elect must go far beyond hospitality. The welcome does not invite people into the house just as long as they don’t change or move anything. He echoes the United Church of Christ by affirming that we are not simply honored guests. We are family! We are connected! We are valuable participants in the process. We are one! “United” is the word that he used and it is the word we find in the name of our denomination.

It seems perfectly appropriate to me that Barack Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ. That is not to say that he will elevate the United Church of Christ above other groups; nor should he. Elevation is not the goal. Breaking through the barriers that divide people is the goal, and the crowd gathered to celebrate with him last night stood as living evidence that at least some of our embedded barriers are, in fact, falling.

During the campaign, his opponent intimated that Obama saw himself as a Messiah – one who has come to save the world. It is clear to me that he does not see himself that way, and while we’re on the subject, I don’t think Jesus saw himself that way either! Consider how many times in the Gospels we read that Jesus admonished those around him not to make him special and not to but him in between themselves and God. He affirmed the power of their faith as the real healing force. He admonished them to take their own relationship with God seriously. He called them to embody the Realm of God – not in their worship, their rituals, or their dogmas, but in their very ordinary lives. He called upon them to love one another – friend, family, alien, and even the enemy.

Barack Obama is not the Messiah. Rather he is a welcome symbol of hope and reconciliation. He has been elected to high office, but he can’t save us (and thank God, he seems to know that!). He can only inspire us to work out our own salvation as we learn to live as a wonderfully diverse nation in a wonderfully diverse world.

He is right to remind us that we have lots of work yet to do. The problems we face in our culture are enormous, but the challenges we face in our families, congregations, and local communities are no less daunting. We will need all our faith to continue working toward the promise of the Realm of God.

I want to make one final distinction. I have been writing about where Obama’s symbolic hope and the Gospel message as understood by Healthy Liberal Christianity overlap. While some similarities are clearly present, there is also a vast difference between the objectives of government and the objectives of the Realm of God.

Our most central Christian position is that we love God and that we love our neighbor (in all our neighbors’ diversity, and including our enemy) as ourselves. The goal of government is peace and prosperity. Sometimes they work together but prosperity and community always live in some tension.

That said, I add my congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama and I invite blessings upon him and his work.

Wayne Gustafson
“No matter who you are, or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here!”
The United Church___of Christ