When I was in the sixth grade, Dwight Eisenhower became president, defeating Estes Kefauver. After the election one of my friends said, “We all must be for Eisenhower now.” I have remembered his comment because of the wisdom he displayed. Regardless of whether we have a President McCain or President Obama, we must be for him. To be otherwise is to be obstructionist.

If our candidate becomes president we must acknowledge that our hopes will not be realized in the programs that result from his leadership. He will have to deal with the realities of the public and of the international situation. Our personal views may not coincide with the political center of the country. With the leadership qualities we can hope for, the president may be able to affect our sense of optimism or trust in the political system. But there is little reason to expect any real change in the political realities.

Based on my own experience of many years in intentional Christian community, I am very skeptical of our ability, as people of faith, to produce an ideal political climate. Although we may try to heed the warnings of Jesus regarding the log in our own eye, our human failings are painfully obvious in our attempts to create perfection.

Jesus claimed that we are the salt of the earth. Where we are, things should simply be more flavorful, which is the practical purpose of salt? To be the salt of the earth we do not need first to transform the world around us. In Jesus’ claim we do, however, have a gauge of whether or not we are being his disciples. If we bring conflict and bitterness, even though we may believe in a principle, we have lost our saltiness. If we are no longer identified as Jesus’ disciples because we do not love one another and aren’t the salt of the earth, then we are failing as Christians irrespective of any proclaimed faith.

To proclaim faith is not a panacea. To act on our faith, by being the salt of the earth, and to walk humbly with God, I think are important. Anything resembling political victory is not.