Most people have probably never heard of Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. before a month ago.  Now it seems you cannot turn on the news without seeing something about this man.  Rev. Wright has said some very foolish statements.  Two comments specifically are “instead of God bless America, it should be God damn America.”  He also said Hillary Clinton ain’t never been called a nigger.”  Alluding to the fact that just because she is a woman, doesn’t mean she understands what it is to be a minority.

Why is this such a big deal? I mean there are thousands of people who say stupid comments everyday and yet they never appear in the news.  It is because of whose pastor Mr. Wright is.  Since Barack Obama is running for President of the United States and Rev. Wright has been his pastor for 17years, then folks are saying you cannot vote for Barack because of his associations. 

Now, I am not here to sway you to vote for or against Obama, but this does bring up a good spiritual principal.  We must realize that the actions of those around us directly affect what others think of us.  Every time an athlete gets into trouble for beating his wife, the public then lumps that stereotype onto all athletes.  So you have to be careful and realize that the company you keep is very important.  Even though you cannot control what the people around you do, you can still be held responsible for their actions.  Barack is finding this lesson out first hand. 

 1 Corinthians 15:33  Bad company corrupts good character.