The Episcopal church the Obamas attended on Easter Sunday in Washington DC did not deliver the typical resurrection message that should be true to the tradition of Jesus rising from the grave and offering believers hope. The message focused on political drum beating.
Instead Rev. Louis Leon of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC unleashed a diatribe against conservatives who had right wing positions on issues as being anti-black, anti-immigration, anti-women and ant- gay. It was a less than loving message.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/March/Obama-wishes-a-joyful-Easter/
The Episcopalians have a history of being quite liberal since the denomination ordains gay clergy and have accepted gay marriage into its doctrinal standards. The anti-conservative message clearly was influenced by the Obamas being present in the service, and Rev. Leon clearly got carried away with being much more political than spiritual.
The Episcopal Church has compromised many of the traditional standards that separated the Protestant denomination from the Catholic Church which has very strict traditional values more consistent with Biblical teaching. The deviations from much of the Protestant doctrines are putting the Episcopalians in jeopardy of not being classified as a Christian organization. Some Episcopalians have gone to the extreme of claiming that the Bible is flawed and that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. The Bible warns of those not following sound doctrine.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57469931/episcopal-church-now-largest-with-gay-blessing/
Protestant theology places emphasis on the private interpretation of the Bible instead of using the Pope or Catholic priests as the spiritual authority of the religion. The danger of private interpretation is you can easily generate deviations from sound doctrine, thus you have countless categories of the Protestant religion currently. You can even use the podium of the church for a personal sounding board instead of the edicts of God.
President Obama received teaching from another controversial figure in Pastor Jeremiah Wright who seemed quite political than spiritual on many pulpit messages. One would wonder how much influence this had on solidifying the truth of the Bible's message than being political for the era.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright_controversy
Using the church as a bully pulpit against a political perspective on Easter Sunday points to a preacher who has lost his way on a variety of categories because it is a fallacy to place a focus on what separates us as oppose to a message that unifies us. Blasting other points of view is hardly worthy of the message concerning the love of Christ. Preaching against sin is one thing, attempting to equate conservatives to evil is quite another.
The Bible is clear about not making silly disputes of questionable matters and railing against the “religious right” is both counterproductive and insulting to those that are merely members of a political party. What is Obama’s pastor trying to imply? If you’re conservative you are going to hell? Or if you are liberal you have all the right answers? Attempting to assign righteousness based on a party affiliation is beyond silly and dogmatically erroneous.
Pontificating personal preferences instead of the word of God on one of the most highly revered Christian holidays dreadfully misses the mark. Deflecting the focus to political points of view instead of the redeeming blood in Jesus Christ is not only a disservice to the congregation, but a waste of time generalizing that the “right wing” is off on a tangent against common sense. There are just as many liberals off as there are conservatives.
No political group has a monopoly on being correct and it’s a shame Rev. Leon did not take that into consideration before unloading on the conservative right wing as liberals enjoy doing. Using secular standards as a club and using the church more like a political action committee than the house of God is distasteful, especially on an Easter Sunday. God shares His glory with nobody.
God would not be pleased.
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