BARACK OBAMA, the 44th president of the United States heralds the promise of a new beginning for America. With reckless abandon President Obama is telling us that this is a new day; that a new dawn of positive change is upon us no matter how challenging the times are. Though I don’t think any politician can make good on the kind of future President Obama is promising, I gotta be honest—I love the way it sounds!

Something in me loves the language of hope and change. There is such innocence about it. And I love innocence. Innocence is purity without corruption. It’s jammed with trust and curiosity, without ever considering the possible positive or negative outcomes of its position. A toddler running out into the street, chasing a butterfly is an example of innocence at work. There is a raw, wonderful quality about being willing to chase butterflies without thought as to where you will end up. I get that innocence can get you into trouble…chasing butterflies into the street can ruin a perfectly good day. But that being said, being overly cautious and viewing life through the lenses of gloom and doom will cause you to never even notice the butterflies. Then every day turns out to be a bad one.

It probably won’t be long before the hope President Obama is touting starts yielding diminishing returns. Political power and maneuvering just aren’t powerful enough to really fix all that ails the human community. Those of us who are Christians should get that. We know the “fix” we need isn’t the result of human effort or national resolve; it’s the stuff of God’s kingdom. And that kingdom is still on the come—it’s here a little, but not yet fully. And it won’t be here fully until Jesus arrives. That means that this side of eternity all human systems are broken to some degree, though some more broken than others.

I’m hoping the Obama administration will give us the best possible version of a broken political system. Hopefully, caution, wisdom, accountability and the like, will shape the decision-making process of the new administration. But in the process, I refuse to watchdog their every move as an over-reactionary, fear-generating purveyor of woe and danger. I want to believe.

Just hours after the November election an old minister friend of mine sent out an email warning of the evils that were sure to come as a result of an Obama administration. He claimed the economy was going to spin into a “major depression”; that our military was going to be “emasculated” and forced into a “shameful retreat”; that millions are going to be tortured and murdered around the world by ”emboldened jihadists”; that there would be open persecution of Christians; that the Obama administration will create “coerced” community service programs that will force people to work for free; that new laws will “outlaw home and private schooling”; and that there will be a “silencing of opposition voices through the reenactment of the Fairness Doctrine."

Dude. I wanted to move to Canada after I read his thoughts.

Paul instructed Christ-followers: “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (Rom. 16:19). The challenge here is that believers need to focus on good more than we do on evil. That doesn’t mean we are unaware of evil—we are just not to major on it. Life is sweeter when we live that way. But my preacher friend was not being innocent about evil; it was his total focus. There wasn’t a single word about any possible good that could come out of an Obama administration.

Ideologically and philosophically, I don’t stand toe to toe with Barak Obama (I don’t like his position on abortion, science and ethics, size of government, etc.). But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to chase butterflies with him. If President Obama turns out to be a huge disappointment or a complete disaster, there will be another election in four years. If an oncoming delivery truck hits us as a nation while we’re chasing butterflies with him, we’ll recover. Truth is, whether you like it or not, we’re in this together, so you might as well enjoy being an innocent butterfly chaser instead of a negative, cynical naysayer.

As a teaching pastor, I always urge folks to fight to maintain their innocence. Whether they are in social work, law enforcement, medicine, retail, or wherever, I implore them to use their faith to stay hopeful and idealistic. Often it is only the newbies on the job who come across that way. After efforts produce little fruit and ideals run smack into manipulative agendas, folks get jaded and cynical and lose their innocence. I don’t think Christ-followers should yield. True, things may not turn out the way we had hoped, but some change will come and some change is always better than none. That focus keeps you on board as a butterfly chaser.

You may not like our president or you may think his rhetoric of hope is a delusion, but you don’t have to be jaded and cynical. Decide to pray for our new president. At the very least, God’s promises, “The Lord can control a king's mind as he controls a river; he can direct it as he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1, New Century Version). We should look expectantly for the good God is going to be working through this new leader. Keep in mind that historically God has used leaders the likes of King Nebuchadnezzar to forward his agenda. Neb was the Bible king-guy who built a statue of himself and made people worship him! (He had issues.) But God still worked through him. God still uses people who are not as right as we think they should be.

As we begin this new journey with President Obama at the helm of our country, I dare you to open up to the idea and hope that American can change for the better under his leadership. I am. Though I’m not a card-carrying Democrat, I’m smiling as I yell with reckless abandon, “YES WE CAN!”

Me thinks that butterfly can fly.


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