When I was a teenager a Christian hospital near Washington D.C. refused to admit black people. They would treat them in the emergency room and then transport them to the nearby county hospital. Today I had an opportunity to vote for an African American for president of the United States. When I first began in the ministry of a Christian church I was shocked to discover the church would not pay women the same as men even if they did similar tasks like teaching. Today I had an opportunity to vote for a woman to be the vice-president of the United States. Today I was pleased to know in my lifetime just how much has changed. We as a people have come a long way. Unfortunately as a church I am not sure if we made much progress because the church was forced to do the right thing by the law of the land.
Why is it that the church so often is not the moral leader but the tail that slowly comes along or worse has to be forced by the civil government to do right? I wish I knew the answer. But I do have to say there was a real joy in my heart today as I stood in the voting booth with pen in hand knowing I had such choices. So often we think the world is morally deteriorating butin some arenas we aren’t doing so badly.
To stand for right, to speak for the oppressed, to want for all the rights and privileges we have, should be the heart of the moral compass of all who follow Jesus, who never hesitated to defend the poor and abused. The reason He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem was because the establishment was abusing the weak. Jesus is my Hero.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 4, 2008
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