What now?

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Well, the election is over and we have a new president-elect: Barack Obama.

As a conservative, I did everything in my power and within my sphere of influence to fight against his presidency and for McCain’s victory. My focus, especially, in the final weeks, was very narrow and concentrated on the person and character of Obama.

But that person is now elected to office.

So what will this conservative Christian do now?

I will concentrate on ideas. I really don’t want to become a bitter contrarian who only criticizes, analyzes, and tears apart every word, action, and motive of the guy I didn’t support. He’s president now (technically, not until January 20th, but you know what I mean). In every way that does not contradict my conscience, I will endeavor to respect and support the President.

However, I will continue to focus on trying to persuade, broadcast, and propagate both conservative and Christian ideas. I personally believe there is a great deal of overlap between the two and I hope to expound upon the links between conservative thought and Christian thought. Even though I don’t have it all thought out, my gut leads me to think that conservative thought is actually a natural extension of Christian thought. I would very much like to explore that theory.

As such, my primary audience is other Christians with whom I do not agree. I’m really interested in how our Christian beliefs get translated into political beliefs and actions and why they are so often on divergent paths. I hope to trace those paths and pinpoint the area(s) of divergence and camp out at those very spots.

My hope is that by concentrating on that area, we can discover more deeply what the truth is. In areas where I feel I am correct, I hope to be able to persuade and clearly articulate my views and bring others to those ideas as well. In the places where I am incorrect, I want to be as open and honest and receptive to change and growth as I can be. Just as I am painfully aware of how difficult it is for me to acknowledge my faults and change my thinking, I am aware of that tendency in others as well. There is no illusion here of a wholesale migration of “liberal Christians” to the conservative Christian viewpoint. Neither should there be an illusion of my swift and painless movement to more liberal ideas.

But, I do believe that this is a worthy discussion to have. I do believe that there is hope for greater unity among Christians in all areas of life, including political. That is my particular focus. This unity is not achieved through blind adherence to ideas. It’s achieved through deliberation, discussion, debate, and dialogue. I also believe that personal and world events will contribute their fair share of persuasion to the discussion.

In the end, my vision is for a body of Christ that is in much more agreement on a much wider and deeper scale than what we currently see. That, contrary to what our culture may say, is a good thing. When the Church is in greater agreement, we are then in a much better place to make a positive impact on our culture at large. That is really what this is all about. I’m not out just to prove that "I’m right and you’re wrong." I’m out to bring about greater unity, not through avoiding conflict, but through embracing it as the path to a hard-fought unity based on a firm foundation of truth discovered and articulated through our sweat and blood.

Please, whether you agree with me or not, join me on this mission. I’d love your company.
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