John Mark Reynolds Says "No Messiah Running"

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute and Professor of Philosophy at Biola University. He's posted an article on the First Things blog titled No Messiah Running.

Listed below are several excellent excerpts from Reynolds' blog post...

• We are not electing a prom date, but looking for someone who will wear well as the leader of the Republic for four years.
• The messiah came and until He returns, there will be no perfect ruler whether one looks in New Jersey, Florida, Texas, or Washington D.C.
• Ideological purity usually comes with the intellectual inflexibility that makes a man unfit for changing conditions.
• Each candidate from the incumbent to the Republicans will represent a compromise for a Christian voter, but that is a virtue.
• A Christian embraces political compromise when he must, because he knows that politics is generally safest when it is not dominated by rigid ideologies.
• We would die for the faith, but nobody should die for the Republican or Democratic Party platforms.
• There are, of course, a few issues where compromise is not possible, because our knowledge of the good is too complete. We cannot compromise the life of our fellow citizens, including the unborn. We cannot compromise on the freedom to practice our faith as God would wish us to do so. We cannot condone any right to vice.
• May we never face an election where either side, especially the winning side, thinks earthly paradise is possible and utopia is a vote away. 

While Reynolds article is focused on the Presidency, I believe many of his suggestions should apply to other elected officials as well.