He says yes. He converted through the ministry of Jeremiah Wright. “But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”
The White House says yes. He is devout. He receives a daily devotion and has a time of prayer each day. He has a circle of pastors he meets with for counsel.
The emails arriving daily in the inboxes of like-minded individuals say no. They say he is a secret Muslim slowly seeking to bring Islam to prominence in this country. They have the quotes, the audio, and the video to support their claim. Just click here.
Various proponents of traditionally held Christian beliefs say no. Pro-choice. Pro-Gay Rights. Anti-Christ they say.
America says, “Not Sure.” Some are certain it is so. Others think for sure not. Most are not sure ultimately. And why? Oh the theories abound. And no doubt all theories contain some part of the answer. Some think it was because Obama was born to Muslim parents. Other says it is because he rarely if ever invokes the name of Jesus publicly. Still others say it is his welcoming political stance towards Muslim nations.
But may I suggest that their is truly another reason for the confusion. And what is that reason?
Well, exactly who is a Christian? How do we determine if anyone is a Christian? Some say that a person is a Christian if they say they are. While this seems most consistent with the fact that we can not ultimately judge the heart, does it yield anything helpful? If this is how we judge, then David Koresh was a Christian. Lady GaGa too. Hitler perhaps. Others says that we can judge someone a Christian as long as they have some association with Jesus in their history or present. But to that concept, Jesus words speak loudly, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
I would suggest that traditionally the Church, following the scriptures, has used three means to make such a determination:
- First, their attention towards the means of grace, to the word and sacraments. I do not mean the kind of determination which can be made by entering attendance records into an excel document and comparing an individuals statistics to the mean. I mean the general question of if one shows in their actions and words that their life in sustained by these things. (Philippians 2:14-16)
- Second, their holding to the teachings of historic Christianity. For a long time, this was quickly judged by subscription to the ecumenical creeds. Anyone holding to a heretical teaching was assured that they stood outside the faith. (Titus 1:9)
- Third, the fruit in their life. Now I know some of my Lutheran friends who are reading this might be suspicious of this statement. But a few scriptures wil suffice:
- Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- 1 John 2:4-5 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
Until we return to these ways, we have no way to speak of who is or is not a Christian. Without such guides we are left to say, “Is Obama a Christian? Am I?” “Not sure.”
Americans uncertain about Obama’s faith
WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five Americans incorrectly say President Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% last year, according to a Pew Research Center poll released today.
In the survey, about one-third of Americans correctly say Obama is a Christian, down from 48% who said so last year. In all, 43% say they do not know what religion Obama practices.
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Phil,
Honestly, why should I or anyone else care? Too many Christians, and I include myself in this, are too worried about whether someone is “christian” or even “christian enough” for their standards. Even Martin Luther said (and I’m paraphrasing) that he would rather be ruled by a virtuous pagan than a tyrannical Christian. Now I don’t think Obama virtuous or his defense of ideologies which devalue persons into categories to be protected or not protected by human law. Such is sickening. But, again, who cares? Maybe once we’ve worked out our OWN salvation with fear and trembling, as St. Paul instructs us, then maybe we can worry about his Christianity or lack of it. Christ himself that their will be wolves in sheep’s clothing. But, by their deeds, we will recognize them. And once we recognize them, then we should steer clear and concentrate on our own salvation.
Chris
Pastor-
you knew i probably had a thought or two on this topic. I get very frustrated with people saying obama is a “muslim.” I happen to think that a lot of these people, I won’t say all, but a lot of people harbor this thought out of discrimination. It is sad to say but I truly think that if obama was white, and born to a white father, he would not get this kind of treatment.
i do not agree with obama on several issues. however, i don’t attack him or his family personally. people need to be happy that we have a president who vows to be a Christian and acts a lot more like one than many people we encounter every day.
Chris-
I agree that our first concern is about how he governs and not his faith. Although I struggle more now than before with the strict division Lutherans make between the two kingdoms. Maybe a blog on this later. I hope you understand that my point in this post is really not to address Obamas faith at all, but to urge the Church to define itself more boldly and publicly.
Kelvi-
Awesome to see your comments. I agree in general that Obama does get judged more harshly because he is not white on issues like this. I am not sure it is pure racism, or at least not racism like in the past. But it would be a hard case to make that a white skinned president is a Muslim. It is much easier with a man who looks more like an Arab that your typical president. Again, I used the recent discussion about Obama as an example to illustrate a larger point that the church has lost is ability to even consider this question. Keep commenting 🙂