Funny how these things work. I knew it was coming, but I wasn’t sure of the time or manner. This afternoon I went to gym, came home and showered. Then, just as I had dried off and put on my shirt, the world changed. Delegate voices sang from the TV in the background as I walked into the bedroom. The great state of Illinois yielded to New York. Ceremonious oratory and flowery introductions raised emotions and expectations to the very top of the Pepsi Center in Denver and spilled over into the world.
Finally, the microphone passed to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton who, amidst more drama, moved that the roll call vote be suspended and that Barack Obama be proclaimed the Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party by acclamation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi put the motion up for a second and was met with united cheers. Then she called for the vote - even louder cheers. Fireworks went off; people screamed and cheered; people wept openly - the world changed, never to return to the way it was. Barack Obama became the first African-American Presidential candidate of a major party in the 232 year history of the United States of America.
This post is not about politics. I want to talk about the world changing. First, a bit of historical perspective.
Though far from voting age, the first Presidential election I remember with clarity was when John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the thirty-fifth President in 1961. He was the first Roman Catholic President. There was no Internet, blogs, or instant global communication, but I still remember the hushed grownup gossip. Some people were convinced that JFK was part of a Catholic conspiracy to take over the country. If elected President, the Pope would take control. Kennedy had already met with him and it was set up, they said. Other religions and denominations would be outlawed or subject to stringent laws. Others were convinced he was a “card-carrying communist.” The real problem, some said, is that he was owned by the Mafia. Those of you who are younger would be surprised to know just how many such rumors were out there. More level-headed people were concerned that he was far too young and inexperienced to be President of the United States. You know the rest.
Now, what’s all this about the world changing? Here are some thoughts running through my mind. Whether Obama wins the Presidency or not, the world has changed.
The world has changed because non-white Americans can now legitimately dream of growing up to become President. A door has been opened. A threshold has been crossed. This may not seem like a big deal, or you may think that the Presidency has always been available to all - unless you happen to be a non-white American. The world has changed because, in the view of many, a legitimate candidate for President finally “gets it” when it comes to change and dealing with the “real issues.” No, this is not about change in health care, foreign policy or taxation. Stop asking for “specifics.”
That is so yesterday. This is a change of paradigm, worldview and spirit. Agree or not, Obama has tapped into the imagination of many of the emerging generation of Americans and a great deal of the rest of the world.
Read the transcript of his speech in Berlin if you still don’t “get it.” To increasing numbers of youth this is not about choosing between conservative and liberal, but about blazing new trails, even if you don’t agree on all the particulars. The world has changed because Obama is neither black or white. You undoubtedly know that Senator Obama is of a white mother and a Kenyan father. Some older African-Americans have complained that he is not “black enough.” Some older Caucasian Americans have complained that he is too black and too connected to that radical black preacher Jeremiah Wright. Precisely. He is neither. Obama is the future.
Win or lose, Republican or Democrat, it makes no difference. Read my lips. Obama is the future. Just a couple of weeks ago we learned that according to current trends non-Latino Caucasians in the United States will be a minority by 2043. African-Americans percentages should not change that much. Obama is the future. You may not like it, but you won’t change it. Obama is the future even if he loses by a landslide. To many younger Americans, black or white, this is not an election about race, but ideas.
They are looking for someone to crush the “good old boy club” on BOTH sides of the aisle. Whether Obama will or can do that remains to be seen. Whether the way he proposes to do it or not lines up with your thinking is not the issue. Someday soon someone WILL change the way we do many key elements of the political process. We have been put on notice.
This is what you must see. The world has changed because the rest of the world has hope that there may someday be a President of the United States who is truly global in perspective. Again, I am just reporting, not saying this is right or wrong. Unless you travel extensively, read obsessively or have an incredible network of international friends, it will be difficult to understand just how much many in the rest of the world who love America and
Americans genuinely despise the current state of political affairs in this country. To many people, just the fact that someone like Obama has made it far as he has restores their faith in America whether or not they agree with all his policies and ideas. Even genuine born again, evangelical believers in other countries are appalled by what they perceive to the be the arrogance and insensitivity of the current administration. They can’t understand why the current adminstration seems to be clueless to even understand, care about or communicate the “real issues,” as they perceive the world. Many people in other countries are following this election closer than some of you, because they understand that what happens here in the world’s only superpower does affect them in real time. When asked, I have seen true shock on the faces of believers in other countries when I tell them that I think George Bush is a genuine believer and a fundamentally decent individual regardless of what you think of his politics. On the first Tuesday of November members of our church will go to the polls and they will vote for McCain, Obama or someone else. Some won’t vote at all. This is America. Those are the options available to us. As Christians we can openly disagree about politics. There is no “Christian candidate.” There may be, though, candidates who are Christians. Conceivably, a candidate who is a genuine Christian may not be the best political candidate in your opinion or mine. That’s the American way of life. It’s always been like that. This is the part that hasn’t changed, thank God!
Here’s what I think we should consider - our mission is not to elect a “Christian candidate” as President of the United States. Christians will disagree about partisan politics - always have. Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ among all the peoples of the world. Consider, pray and vote your conscience. Then, consider how the world has changed and how that affects our mission.
However you cast your vote, or not, here’s what we should be able to agree upon.
The world is different now than two decades ago. It’s not going to go back to the way it was. How can we effectively carry out the mission God has entrusted to us? We are not God-appointed custodians of the way it used to be; we are God-appointed agents of transformation.
What are the issues and questions that are being asked by the emerging generation and by people in other parts of the world? What does the Bible instruct regarding those issues and questions? Our country (and much of the world) is becoming increasingly diversified by globalization. How should the church model the world as it should be according to the Bible? At a time when diversity is fast becoming a reality, should the church lead the way in promoting suspicion, distrust, prejudice and segregation, or should the church model Paul’s description of the church in Ephesians 2 as breaking down walls of separation? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life lamenting how the world is not like it used to be. Regardless of what happens politically, we live in a world that presents opportunities to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a degree unheard of since the First Century. I want to embrace the reality of God’s world as it stands and the opportunities it affords.
____________________________________
Dr. Jeff Adams is Senior Pastor of the Kansas City Baptist Temple and founder/director of The Shepherd's School of the Ministry, founder/director of Que Dice La Biblia, off-campus by video Bible School for Hispanic Pastors around the world. Jeff ministered for ten years in Central America, becoming Senior Pastor of Miramonte Baptist Church in San Salvador, El Salvador, during the height of their bloody civil war. (http://www.kcbt.org/)
.JPG)
