President Obama On Religious Transformation

6 posted on February 6, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Church, Social Justice

President Barack Obama spoke at yesterday’s National Prayer breakfast about when he received his calling. Regardless of your opinions of him or his decisions I think you’ll find this interesting. (ht: Kassie Jahr)

I was not raised in a particularly religious household. I had a father who was born a Muslim but became an atheist, grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptists, and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion, even as she was the kindest, most spiritual person I’ve ever known. She was the one who taught me as a child to love, and to understand, and to do unto others as I would want done.

I didn’t become a Christian until many years later, when I moved to the South Side of Chicago after college. It happened not because of indoctrination or a sudden revelation, but because I spent month after month working with church folks who simply wanted to help neighbors who were down on their luck – no matter what they looked like, or where they came from, or who they prayed to. It was on those streets, in those neighborhoods, that I first heard God’s spirit beckon me. It was there that I felt called to a higher purpose – His purpose.

It’s obvious that “helping neighbors who are down on their luck” is an important thing for President Obama since he spent time working with them in Chicago and organized a service day on Martin Luther King day.

But let’s take it out of the political arena. What is worth noting here is that his exposure to Christianity came in the form or working alongside churches who were serving in their neighborhoods. Churches who helped their neighbors regardless of “what they looked like, where they came from, or who they prayed to.”

How are you and your church making a difference in your neighborhood? I really believe that there our greatest strength as a church isn’t in our buildings, music, books or sermons but in our mandate to serve the “least of these.” I believe there are some people we will never reach with our sermons but will win over instead with our service.

Could it be that the church is most like the church that Jesus imagined, not when they meet on Sunday mornings, but when they’re serving soup on Tuesday afternoon?

Your thoughts?

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1 themisfit said:

I know that the church Jesus imagined is exactly that, helping the poor, taking care of the widows and the orphans. That theme runs through the entire Old Testament. I am amazed that it has taken the church as a whole to realize that, but I am glad that more and more we are moving towards Jesus view of Christianity.

I had a conversation one day with and atheist and a Buddhist, about spiritual things. At the end of the conversation the Buddhist said, “we just had church.” I was shocked. But it was true, church is more than our Sunday gatherings.

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February 6, 2009

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2 Dean said:

I had written up a bunch in response to this but realized it was more of a criticism of American church than anything. So I deleted it and want to say this bit of encouragement:

I am thankful that the Holy Spirit used members of the body of Christ to “witness” to our now President. Let us all pray for the humility to publicly declare Christ in our actions and that the Holy Spirit would move in others to see Christ in each of us.

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3 Nick said:

I truly believe there is a lot of power in giving people the opportunity to live out the Gospel rather than simply teaching it to them. Sure, they need to be taught, but when they actually get to experience it, I think that’s when it starts to transform their lives.

I believe “Serving” has as much to do with spiritual growth as does reading, and memorizing, and listening. As the President spoke about, I believe it can show someone the truth of the scripture when they observe others living it out and when they live it out themselves.

I don’t believe we can call ourselves “the church” unless we are “doing” the things Christ called us to do. We’re simply posers.

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4 Curtis Honeycutt said:

I feel like the church where I work does a good job reaching out to the least of these. I work on the Outreach team and our team tries to get our congregation involved in launching people into God’s kingdom revolution with acts of service and justice.
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5 John said:

James was really clear when he wrote about true, pure religion. Helping those in need is what being a Christian is all about. That’s what Jesus did. We all had/have needs and Jesus is there to meet those needs.

Praise God that Obama was exposed to Christians who used service to their fellow man as a means to reach out to them. But if that’s all you’re doing, if you’re not giving them the Bread of Life, all you’ve done is delayed their entrance to eternity.

I pray for Mr. Obama and his administration. I pray that he will not be blinded by power or politics.

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6 Brad Ruggles said:

@themisfit – Very interesting conversation!

@Dean – I think it’s easy to get frustrated with how churches are missing it. But it’s so much better to praise good examples where and when we see them.

@Nick – Well said my friend

@Curtis – You guys do a great job. I think you guys set a pretty high bar for churches and non-profits in the area.

@John – I love that passage from James. And yes, you’re right that there is more than just serving those who are hurting. But what an awesome door-opener when we can truly be God’s hands and feet to them and let them see Jesus through us?
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7 joseph said:

GREAT post Brad.

We, at BCC in Nashville, just did a community day where we had 400+ volunteers go out and work on 50+ projects.
It was amazing how we connected with those we were working hand in hand with and how much good will it spread.
I have since seen some of those we helped walk in our doors.

This type of thing is what being a Christian is all about.

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8 Aaron said:

When we were church shopping, we attended the Methodist church on the corner down the street from us. The pastor asked a very poignant question–what would the community miss if we shut our doors?

The church sponsors a free family-style dinner open to the public about once a month as an outreach to help feed the needy. They come around our neighborhood every couple of weeks collecting cans for missions trips or local outreach programs. They run canned food drives, host a free “family fun day” with inflatable toys and food in the summer, and participate in local parades with face-painting and balloon tying. The list goes on. They’re dedicated to the community in a way that not a lot of churches are, and in these hard economic times, they just turn it up. Even though we don’t attend there, it’s still exciting to see all of the things they do to help.

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