This is good, and goes right along with my contention, made with annoying regularity, that Christians shouldn’t give their allegiance to a political party. I contend that political parties are man-made patterns of this world, and in Romans we are commanded, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.”

This black minister isn’t telling blacks to not vote for Obama. He’s just telling them to quit being bound to the Democratic party. Bravo!

In the same way, white evangelicals have tightly identified with the Republican Party, and will too often rationalize whatever the Republican Party wants to do. I agree strongly with some Republican stands. I also disagree strongly with some stands on which I find more affinity among Democrats. Though I spent most of my life as a loyal Republican, I can’t see myself ever feeling at home in either party.

So whether it’s black Christians unbinding themselves from blind loyalty to the Democratic party, or white evangelicals refusing to be blindly loyal to the Republican party–I approve.

I still want Christians, as citizens, to pull a lever in the voting booth. To hold your nose and make a decision. Whether you choose Romney or Obama, it will mean picking somebody who holds views in conflict with some biblical values. But don’t pick a candidate merely because that’s supposed to be “your” party. And don’t insist, just because a certain issue is paramount in your own conscience, that all other Christians must share that same priority and vote like you do.

God didn’t create any political party. He didn’t dish out the issues: “You take abortion and heterosexual marriage, and you take the poor, social justice, and the environment.” Both parties champion issues which Christians should champion. As Christians, we SHOULD view ourselves as a separate people, as caught somewhere between the systems of this world. Because we are citizens first of the Kingdom of God, not of any earthly kingdom.