Hail to the.... Lord.

You know, as I was doing a quick browse-through of facebook statuses this morning, I was amazed by the bipolarity of emotions represented... everything from "This spells the demise of the world" and "I'm moving to Canada" to "This is the best day of my life" and "For the first time, I'm proud to be an American." Really, it shouldn't have shocked me... but at the same time, it did startle me to see the vehemence of the reactions... allow me to explain:

See, I knew that at the end of the day, we would elect a new president. It might or might not be the one that I wanted (or that you wanted). And, in January, he or she would be officially inaugurated into office. And he or she would enact policies with the attempt of making America a better nation. And he or she would have a combination of successes and failures, really good policies and really lousy ones. These are givens, regardless of which candidate ended up trumping the vote at the end of the day. That's the job of a president.

But, for many people, the election was not merely about electing a president, a political figurehead, who would make decisions through the secular political machinery, through their own human wisdom (and that of their wiser advisers) determining the pivotal next steps for the nation... for many people, this election was about "a hope for the future," "a savior for the nation," "redeeming the American reputation," and finding "the answer to our prayers."

I think President-Elect Obama should paraphrase the words of Coach Herman Boone in the 2000 film, "Remember the Titans,"

"No wait. I’m not the answer to your prayers. I’m not a saviour or Jesus Christ or Martin Luther King or the Easter Bunny. I’m just your [President] that’s all.”

As of November 5, 2008, we have a President-Elect. His name is Barack Obama. And as members of the nation, we should stand behind him, as a bipartisan electorate, committed to bettering the nation through democratic process, which includes disagreement. Hatred and disengagement gets us nowhere.

We also have a Savior for the nation. They are not one and the same. But neither is his name John McCain. And until we look to Jesus for our hope for the future, to be the Savior of the nation, the answer to our prayers, and the redemption of America, we will always be disappointed.

Can we just reassign roles? Here's my suggestion:

Let's call Barack Obama "President" and let's call Jesus "Savior."