In case you missed the back and forth between Dr. Dobson and Sen. McCain it went something like this – Dr. Dobson said on a radio show that he wouldn’t ever support Sen. McCain for president. More details on what he said and on his wrath with McCain can be found in this story.

This afternoon, Sen. McCain said he really hoped that he could sit down with Dr. Dobson to iron things out, “I’m obviously disappointed and I’d like to continue and have a dialogue with Dr. Dobson and other members of the community.”

There are two ways to look at this – politically and spiritually.

Politically – McCain is desperate for evangelical votes. He knows he needs them to win the primary and is working hard to court evangelical leaders in hopes that their flocks will follow him. Dr. Dobson is intent on ensuring the social conservative agenda has a true champion in 2008. This makes the whole thing a great big yawner – typical political positioning for 2008.

Spiritually – This whole thing does nothing more than hurt the name of Jesus because it is Jesus that is being bartered and sold here. McCain wants Jesus so he can get votes. He thinks Jesus is found with the religious conservative vote. Dobson wants to give the illusion he controls Jesus so that he can achieve his political ends. All of this sends a single message to the world – Jesus’ main significanc these days is to serve people’s political ends.

It is time for Jesus’ followers to stand up to political power brokers in office and out of office and say that their votes cannot be bought and sold, that Jesus cannot be bought and sold, and that politicians and “Christian” political leaders who insist on trying should be tossed out on their ears.