Barack Obama, our sitting president, has finally produced a birth certificate. More than halfway through his first term, he has, at long last, moved to squelch the continuing controversy over whether or not he was even qualified to campaign for the presidency, much less be elected to the White House and serve in its Oval Office.

It is beyond me why our president refused to respond to the so-called “birthers” by producing his birth certificate the first time this issue arose. Oh, I know the explanation being spun on the White House’s political loom. We’re told to attribute Mr. Obama’s refusal to produce his birth certificate to his shrewd political savvy. Knowing that the mainstream media would exonerate him and excoriate his detractors for raising such a preposterous issue, President Obama refused to divulge what the public had ever right to know in order to allow the press to paint up “birthers” as peabrains.

Although today’s mainstream media would undoubtedly condemn a conservative politician for refusing to publicly divulge the color of his/her skivvies, it fights for the right of the present occupant of the Oval Office to conceal from the public any number of things, even proof of his qualifications for high office. If you doubt this, just consider the fact that our president recently received an award for transparency and openness in government at a private meeting held behind closed doors. Not only was the public uninvited, but no media coverage was allowed.

What I would really like to see from this president is his spiritual “birth certificate,” which he has also kept close to the vest and refused to show to the public. I would like for him to once and for all prove his Christian profession by publicly sharing his personal testimony, something that he has consistently refused to do, even though the Bible teaches that every Christian should be ever-ready to do it (1 Peter 3:15).

Granted, President Obama claims to be a Christian. Yet, he refuses to tell his conversion experience. When it comes to his personal encounter and experience with Christ, he insists that it is a personal and private matter. Contrary to Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Mr. Obama insists that his Christian faith is “nontransferable to others” and therefore precludes all attempts “to evangelize and proselytize.”

To me, President Obama’s faith doesn’t sound anything like “the faith once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). Could the reason be that he has never been spiritually “born again” (John 3:1-8)? In 2008, Christianity Today asked Mr. Obama the pinpointed question, “Do you consider yourself born again?” In response, he provided an ambiguous answer in which he admitted, “I didn’t fall out in church.” He went on to add, however, that he had experienced “a very strong awakening” that convinced him of the importance of “feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful.”

Although his answer may have helped to further his political career, getting him elected to the White House, it is hard to see how it furthered the cause of Christ, getting places prepared for God’s elect in the Father’s House (John 14:2). While winning elections may be important, it is far more important to win souls. The former is temporal and of secondary importance, but the latter is eternal and should be the primary concern of all Christians!

In a recent interview with Christianity Today, Franklin Graham shared how he once asked Barack Obama, “How did you come to faith in Christ? What is your testimony?” According to Graham, Obama answered, “I was organizing a community in the South Side of Chicago. The community said, ‛What church do you go to?’ I told them I didn't go to church. If you're going to organize a community, you're going to have to join a church.” Consequently, Obama joined Jeremiah Wright's church. “That's the testimony he told me,” said Graham, “word for word.”

After relating Obama’s testimony, Graham made a couple of poignantly observations. First, “nobody knows” if Barack Obama is a Christian. Second, “church membership cannot save” anyone, not even the President of the United States. Let’s be honest, if this is truly the extent of our president’s Christian testimony, then, it is devoid of any evidence that he has ever had a life transforming and eternal destiny altering encounter with Jesus Christ! Although he may have joined a church, there is no evidence here that he has ever come to Christ.

Many may argue that our politically savvy president is simply withholding his spiritual “birth certificate” for the same reason he withheld his physical birth certificate; namely, so that “second birthers” like me can be painted up as peabrains. However, such an argument is made untenable by our Lord’s promise to “confess before [His] Father” all who “confess [Him] before men” and to refuse to confess “before [His] Father” all who refuse to confess Him “before men” (Matthew 10:32-33). There is simply no way a true Christian would ever do such a thing, not for any reason, political or otherwise!

Call me a “second birther” if you like, but what I want to see is our president’s spiritual “birth certificate.” I’m sorry, but as long as he refuses to show it, I’ll remain suspicious of his spirituality. After all, why would any Christian refuse to prove his/her profession of faith in Christ by publicly sharing their personal testimony?