Today Barack Obama took to the New Testament when talking about the bleak economic outlook his policies are helping create. Obama said, “There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was soon destroyed when the storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when “…the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” It was founded upon a rock.”

In fact, the title of the White House blog post is “The House Upon A Rock.” There’s just one problem. That “rock” Christ was talking about is Himself. In fact, while the King James Version of the Bible uses the phrase “a rock”, a more accurate rendering, which other versions of the Bible get right is “the rock.” Here’s the story in Christ’s own words:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

The “rock” is Christ and the Word. The “sand” is this reality — the one where Barack Obama is the secular messiah.

Barack Obama can claim to be a transformative leader. He can even steal Christ’s own words and repackage them for his own purposes. But he will fail. His policies will fail.

Barack Obama, in his actions and rhetoric, rejects Christ’s teachings — though he claims some kinship to the social gospel via social justice policies, which are just a bastardization of what Christ actually taught. The left loves the Sermon on the Mount, but chooses to ignore its deeper meaning — a meaning one cannot appreciate without first accepting the Risen Lord as the one path to salvation.

This Tuesday after Easter let me skip a bunch of paragraphs and get right to the point: Christ either died on the cross and rose again or he did not. If you believe he did not, you can go on about your business. If you believe he did, and you would be right, then you must reorder your life to put Him first. And putting Christ first means you value a culture of life over a culture of death. You value the labor of every man in each man’s own life. You value, at the core, Christ.

What you don’t do is repurpose Christ’s message to advance policies that hurt individuals, spread poverty through undermining individual initiatives for success, and obfuscate what Christ meant. The message is, after all, about Christ, not Barack Obama.

We don’t tend to get theological on the front page of RedState, but if Barack Obama wants to take from the Sermon on the Mount, let’s give him some too:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are(HA) ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Matt. 7:15-20 (ESV)