'God is Watching' the Budget Debate in Congress

"God is Watching," reads the headline for a full page ad Sojourners ran in this morning's Politico. It is the latest in a series of radio, print, and online ads we have put out on the budget debate and default crisis. On Tuesday, we launched radio ads in Kentucky, Nevada, and Ohio that were recorded by local pastors who lifted up the moral issues at stake in the debate.

Furthermore, our work in the past few weeks and the Circle of Protection meeting with the president has been covered by the Washington Post (and here), CNN (and here), MSNBC, Politico, Roll Call, and many local outlets from across the country. Behind all the ads and the press is the muscle -- and that muscle is you.

So far this year, Sojourners supporters have sent more than 150,000 emails to Congress about the budget; nearly 5,000 pastors signed an open letter to Congress; and just a few months ago, a broad coalition united more than 30,000 people in a fast for a moral budget.

The talk in Washington, D.C. about the default crisis is turning more and more from a policy debate to a moral one. The ad we are running today reminds us all that the "who" that is watching the debate in Congress might determine who wins. The ad reads in part:

The markets are watching, the Republicans are watching, the Democrats are watching, the media are watching, the pollsters and pundits are watching.

But God is watching too.

The Bible teaches that God is watching to see how the poor fare under the decisions of the politically powerful (Isaiah 10). What happens to low-income people, families, and kids -- at home and around the world -- will be of keen interest to God, according to scripture.

(Click here to see the full ad in Politico.)

If you haven't already, join the Circle of Protection, and let Congress know that Christians are watching out for the poor and vulnerable. And if you have already signed, tell your friends.

Tim King is communications director at Sojourners. Follow Tim on Twitter @TMKing.