Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, are living demonstrations of the theological diversity of the SBC. The former is an example of cultural captivity, the latter of biblical fidelity.

On Sunday, Moore posted on his blog a thoughtful and provocative piece on professing Mormon Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall the previous day. In it, he decried American evangelicals’ dearth of discernment that has led them to embrace Beck’s potpourri of religio-nationalistic rhetoric at the expense of the gospel.

On Monday, Land was interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered explaining why he spoke at the rally. He admitted that most evangelicals would not consider Mormonism a Christian faith and noted that he probably has more in common theologically with Barack Obama than with Glenn Beck.

But his most interesting statement came later in the interview when he noted, “I think perhaps the most charitable way for an evangelical Christian to look at Mormonism is to look at Mormonism as the fourth Abrahamic faith.”

This was Land’s way of connecting the historical roots of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Mormonism, but it’s worth noting that neither Jesus nor the Apostle Paul share his view. According to them, there is one Abrahamic faith, unified under one common denominator (see Matthew 3:9, John 8:38-40, Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:7-9, Galatians 3:16-17).

I’ve become convinced that Mormon radio personality Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and others are part of a moralist cabal, who drape their political goals in the language of religious revival, spiritual awakening and moral reform. I was reminded of this vividly while watching parts of Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the Washington Mall yesterday.

While this recent fervor has been orchestrated by a host of well-meaning Christians, Mormons and pagans of shared political views, the true “Organizer” for any campaign of societal moral improvement would be easily identified by Dana Carvey’s Church Lady.

An ongoing theme throughout C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is the more experienced demon’s advice to his nephew to tempt his victim with the prospect of moralism, both personally and in society—all, of course, at the exclusion of and distraction from the gospel.

“We want very much to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means to their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to anything—even to social justice,” Screwtape writes to Wormwood. “… The Enemy [God] will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop.”

Some of the causes trumpeted by the conservative movement in America are noble ones and worth advancing in the political sphere. But Christians must be careful not to confuse the advancement of political conservatism with authentic spiritual renewal. This conflation of causes leads to the use of the Christian faith to advance an agenda.

At its heart, the gospel is political, but not in any sense that would be comforting to those who put their faith in democracy. After all, the gospel announces the ultimate overthrow of human government and the rise of a monarchy led by a King who does not share His power.

As I read this article about formerly supportive religious leaders now experiencing disappointment with President Barack Obama, I was struck by the similarity of these leaders with the first-century disciples who unknowingly encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

The so-called “religious left” in America is increasingly frustrated that Obama has failed to deliver on the theologically tinged promises of his campaign. The moral outrage he expressed at Guantanamo, the Iraq War, health care, corporate corruption and poverty has become tempered by the seedy reality of the Oval Office. Those who put their faith in him, expecting that he would restore their ideal of morality and justice to America, are seeing that their dreams were as elusive as the clouds of tobacco in the smoke-filled rooms where decisions really get made in Washington.

Similarly, the disciples on the road to Emmaus expressed their disappointment with Jesus to the mysterious Stranger who accompanied them: “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). The mighty warrior on a stallion they were expecting had been a peasant carpenter on a donkey, who couldn’t keep his mouth shut and got himself killed by a religious establishment in league with the Roman government.

Unlike the leaders of our day, with their unrealistic expectations of a human president, the disciples’ expectations were set far too low. This unlikely hero had no intention of meeting their meager demands for national restoration. Instead, he would not be satisfied until he had conquered death and offered salvation to all of humanity.

In regard to Obama, any expectations are probably too high. In regard to Jesus, we cannot set our expectations high enough.

Note: Lest you think I’m just picking on Obama, if the McCain/Palin ticket had won, I predict we would be hearing similar whining from the religious right, as that dynamic duo miserably failed to restore morality and righteousness to this country in its first term.