In case you haven’t heard, President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” In particular, The Nobel committee recognized Obama’s efforts to solve complex global problems including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons, according to this CNN article.
Obviously, such a prestigious prize being awarded to the President is creating quite a stir, particularly because of the fact that it is his effort that is being recognized, not the successful outcome of his effort as has been the case in previous years.
Nevertheless, if works-in-progress deserve prestigious awards, then the Church should top the list.
The Church is in a constant state of struggle: against sin, evil, complacency, irrelevance, etc. Such struggle is inherent to our common cause of serving Christ who is, himself, the embodiment of the human and divine struggle. Still, there are some churches who embrace such struggles more than others and they deserve to be mentioned:
- Props to those churches who have left their buildings in search of authentic community and radical commitment to Christ
- Props to those churches who take the unconventional and difficult route of making disciples instead of putting on a show
- Props to those churches who refuse to let their members remain comfortable in their sin
- Props to those churches who present the whole gospel: of redeeming humanity from our sins, as well as redeeming humanity from the effects thereof
- Props to those churches who advocate for a faith characterized by love and holiness as opposed to legalistic living and condemnation for sinners
- Props to those churches who exist for the benefit of their non-members
- Props to those churches who embrace the least of these: the drug dealers, prostitutes, rapists, homeless, thieves, child molesters, single moms, homosexuals, and terrorists – all with the goal of introducing them to the redeeming love of Jesus Christ
- Props to those churches who refuse to blame the problems of the world on secular culture looking instead to remove the logs from their own eyes
Your efforts are being used by God to build his kingdom. One day, you’ll hear those sweet words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
There is no greater reward.
Wow, I love blog posts that have stark truth. Thank you for this.
For me, I found myself being critical of President Obama’s efforts by posting conservative news stories to my Twitter and Facebook accounts but never doing the one thing often that I could do: pray for him.
As Christians, we’re called to pray for our leaders. Lately, I’ve wondered if Conservative Christians have spent more time complaining about President Obama and his Administration and not praying for them…and prayer for ways Christ can use us.
After all, what good are policies, healthcare, and other reforms…if we’re not loving our neighbor?
I started obamaprayers.blogspot.com as a means to focus my interests and energies. While the format changed from featured links to posts, the focus may need some tweaking.
Any feedback is welcomed…
By: Rick Garner on December 5, 2009
at 2:48 PM