Obama's Pastor

I watched the evening news last night and saw Senator Obama's Pastor screaming and yelling at the top of his voice. He was condemning the nation over it's pre-occupation with war and racism. It's very difficult to watch him because the anger in his preaching style takes precedence over his message. I would think that his tirade is going to be very damaging to the Obama campaign. The senator has been a member of this man's church for 20 years and so many people are going to wonder about Senator Obama's involvement in this church.

After watching this video recording of the pastor several times I began to see the reality of the bitter resentment in the black community. I am sure that there are many churches that use the pulpit for political purposes and I'm sure that there are many predominantly black churches using the pulpit the same way. Angry people are usually hurt people. I know that when I am hurt deeply that I too can get enraged. Obama's Pastor does give some kind of satisfaction to the members of his church. His ranting is for all of them. His anger is a spanking from all of his hurt parishoners. Many of the church members were interviewed about Pastor Wright's angry preaching but they see him as a pioneer of freedom and a necessary voice for the black community. Senator Obama said that the anger was counter productive but that it is real.

I don't have a political agenda about all of this but I do see another part of the human race deeply wounded and hurting. I can't understand the hurt that exists among African Americans. I would have to be born a black American to really understand all of that. I do understand what it is like to be betrayed and how it makes you suspicious and infects your mind. Behind all of these deep wounds and personal pain is the root of all evil and it is not money. I never really understood the hate that God has for sin. God only hates one thing and that one thing is sin. Sin is the human disease that separates us from Him and leads us into all of this tragedy.

We don't often recognize it as sin but we all hate sin for the same reason that God hates sin. When we are lied to, we hate it. If someone steals from us we hate it. If someone rapes one of our own, we hate it. We hate to be slandered. We hate to be made fun of and we hate to be used and manipulated. Sin is the venom for all of this behavior. Reverend Wright looks like a man possessed with anger when you watch those TV re-runs of him. This is not a racial issue to me. This is nothing more than typical behavior of mankind when separated from God. The by-product of that can be racism along with a thousand other hurtful sins.

Politics and Religion..... Those two can really stir the pot. I really don't think that the Lord is going to use politics or religion to clean up the mess we have made. His solution is going to run much deeper into the human soul. The apparent problems that exist in the world are just symptoms of our separation from God. All of the kingdoms that we have built will have to fall someday and when they do then His Kingdom will come and His rule will come to establish real peace on earth. Until then, we will continue to live in this turmoil.