No, it’s not Barack Obama or John McCain. The American Savior is a new book by Roland Merullo that paints the unlikely scenario of Jesus Christ coming back to earth to run for president of the United States.

USA Today says this about the book:”Merullo gently satizes the media and politics in this thoughtful commentary on the role religion plays in America. The book showcases Merullo’s convictions that Christ’s real message about treating others with kindness is being warped by those who believe they alone understand the messiah..”

No doubt, the author develops an interesting premise of Jesus running for a political office. Nevertheless, if the truth be told—Jesus – if you examine the positions he took on various issues from the Bible-- would never be elected president. Let me give you four reasons:

1) Jesus would not be gender exclusive or misogynist. Jesus was radical in his day as it relates to the treatment of woman . In Jesus’ day it was considered politically incorrect for a Jewish man to speak to a woman alone. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus is shown in dialogue with a five time divorcee, who was not only gave up on marriage and was “shacking-up,” but belonged to the despised ethnic group of his day: The Samaritans. Women were apart of his evangelistic entourage(Luke 8:1-3). Jesus’ position would not be a politically correct one in the face of a country that still struggles with sexism.

2)Jesus would take a stronger stand against racism that most Americans would be comfortable with. Jesus attacked the racism in this day like a pit bull. He often associated with Samaritans, the hated mixed race people of his day(John 4:39-40).He assailed the unconscious racism in the hearts of his hearers, by answering the question:” Who is my Neighbor?” in Luke 10:29-36, making the loathed Samaritans the hero of the story. Jesus himself was called a Samaritan (John 8:48), the equivalent of being called “the n-word,” or some other racial epithet. When 3 out of 10 Americans say they struggle with racism , Jesus would make us shamed of our racial problems.

3) Jesus would not be popular with the Religious Right of his day. Presidential politicians are often concerned with the appasesement of Evangelicals for the purpose of gaining a tactical edge. Jesus didn’t care about votes- he was concerned about character- especially those who claimed to be God’s representatives. The scathing bombast he gave the religious leaders in Matthew 23, lets me know that Jesus did not care about political correctness. Jesus saw the religious establishment in his day as Tartuffe and power hungry.

4) Jesus would be passionately against modern day hedonism. Jesus was careful to warn those who would misinterpret his message by gaining the world at the expense of losing their soul(Matthew 16:26). He rebuked sexual immorality( Matthew 5:27-30), serial divorce(Matthew 5:31-32), and defined marriage in a culture of rampant homosexuality as between a male and female (Matthew 19:1-6).

5) Jesus would not be a good model of bi-partisan leadership. He called Herod, the most powerful politician in Galilee “a fox”(Luke 13:31-32) and ignored Pilate, the governor of Judea (Matthew 27:13-14).

It is quite reasonable to believe from the study of Biblical evidence, that Jesus by his behavior would be deemed a political liability. Jesus would have never been popular in a nation that wants their politicians to be Sisyphean and milque- toast.

A matter of fact, Jesus did not resort to politics, because it was his stern belief that social change is not a matter of legislation but inner transformation ( John 3:3-7).

Well, so much for an American Savior.
In the House,
KJ