The Osama Bin Laden of Christianity?

[Commentary by Greg Albrecht - Plain Truth Ministries]

On the "700 Club" television program last week Pat Robertson said that Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, should be assassinated before he turns his nation into a safe haven for Communists and Muslim extremists. Robertson said that removing Chavez would be "a whole lot cheaper than starting a war…and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop."
Reaction from virtually all quarters has been overwhelmingly negative to Robertson’s latest outburst, though a few ministries have remained silent. According to the latest reports spokespersons for ministries that are politically active to the point of resembling political action committees have said that they were too busy to comment. Robertson did back into an apology by saying that he also said that the United States should "take out" Chavez, and that "taking out" did not necessarily mean murder (he explained that kidnapping might be part of what he meant by "taking out").
The vast majority of the Christian world expressed shock, and distanced itself from Mr. Robertson’s comments. Some are concerned about the safety of Christian missionaries (as well as Americans in general) in Venezuela.
Many have asked how a Christian leader can apparently have little regard for the teachings of Jesus. As Newsweek columnist Patti Davis asks, "Shouldn’t people like Pat Robertson just go start their own religion and leave Jesus out of it?" It’s another black eye for Christianity – as those of us who believe in the Jesus of the Bible and the authentic Christianity he preached must again explain what we do not believe before we are allowed to express what we do.
It’s another field day for those who lampoon Christians in general and for those who look for any reason to excuse themselves from the moral imperatives of New Testament Christianity. One political cartoonist depicted Pat Robertson’s car with a "WWJA" bumper sticker – Who Would Jesus Assassinate?
One of the lessons we can learn from this sad episode is that not only should we thank God that religion is protected from the state, but we can be thankful that the state is protected from religion. For several decades an increasing number of leaders within Christendom have seen themselves in a role somewhat like Old Testament prophets. That was Old Testament Judaism – that was then, Christianity is now. For almost 2,000 years Christian attempts to convert the state have generally left Christianity besmirched and sullied by the process (the book of Revelation offers commentary in this regard).
Christian leaders are not elected or selected for their foreign policy expertise. Christian leaders should avoid the trap of offering political commentary – they possess neither training nor information to render wise judgment about geo-political matters (the track record makes this point abundantly clear). We search in vain for any commission from Jesus telling his followers to be as politically outspoken and polarized that some Christians seem to believe they must be.
PTM believes that Jesus is being left out of many parts of Christendom. The authentic, fundamental Christ-centered faith taught by Jesus seems to have been minimized, ignored, or perhaps even overwhelmed by religion – indeed, Bad News Religion is a reality within Christendom. The last thing Christianity needs is a counterpart to Osama bin Laden – the world is troubled enough with the suffering and misery instigated by the original Osama and his followers. We need more Jesus and less religion.

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