C'Mon Mr. President Get the Faith Piece Right

It was painful to watch and listen.

Last week, President Bush fumbled badly his interview on ABC's Nightline. When asked to explain his faith, he got torturous. In typical Bush-ese, the President wandered off track and into the swamp: "It gave me strength and—strength and understanding. There's love, universal love. My faith at this point in my life has enabled me to accept people's prayers and this made a huge difference in my life. There's a lot of dramatic moments and pressure. There are calm moments. How do you know? It's about prayer. For many people, it's a crutch, but for me it is—it's the realization of a power of a universal God, and recognition that this God became manifested in human. And then died for sins."

Later in the interview, the President articulated his doubts about the validity of the Bible and his belief in evolution as the transforming, biological agent of change in our world. Those comments alone cast doubt upon this President's thoughtfulness on faith.

Faith in Jesus Christ and an ensuing consistent worldview is hugely important today. Its not something that you sort of believe in or that you vaguely hold to because it gives you comfort. We live in a world in which so many people have become synchronistic, blending partial biblical beliefs with their own pop psychology to suit their own means. Flip on Oprah and the mental mush oozes out. Our nation is awash in spiritual relativism. Many Christians are unable to articulate their faith, much like the President. As a result their witness to a sinful world diminishes.

My hope and prayer as we move forward into 2009 is that President Bush's successor will bring a better handle on the importance of faith and the the ability to call Americans to it.