CNN belief blog reports about what it perceives is the self-conscious Christian content of Barack Obama’s recent remarks about Christmas and the essence of the Christian message.
Under the title: Obama delivers very Christian message at Christmas tree lighting, the following was attributed to the current US President (excerpted from the article):
President Barack Obama delivered an unusually stark Christian message at the White House Christmas tree lighting Thursday night, saying Christ’s message “lies at the heart of my Christian faith and that of millions of Americans.”
“More than 2,000 years ago, a child was born to two faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among the cattle and the sheep,” Obama said at the tree lighting ceremony, a longstanding White House tradition.“But this was not just any child,” Obama continued. “Christ’s birth made the angels rejoice and attracted shepherds and kings from afar. He was a manifestation of God’s love for us.”
In his remarks at Thursday’s tree lighting, Obama said that Jesus “grew up to become a leader with a servant’s heart who taught us a message as simple as it is powerful: that we should love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves.”
“So long as the gifts and the parties are happening, it’s important for us to keep in mind the central message of this season,” he said, “and keep Christ’s words not only in our thoughts, but also in our deeds.”
Problem is, this particular summary of the Christian message simply confirms the mistaken idea held by many that Christianity is all about keeping rules and living a good life. That it’s about what we do, instead of what Christ has done for us.
The focus of the incarnation is God making peace with humanity by coming Himself to be the sacrificial offering to atone for our sin.
It would be easy for any Christian to mistakenly convey this message, because part of becoming a child of God is living God’s way. This post is not so much about what Obama’s comments reveal about his faith, as it is CNN’s glowing endorsement of them as ‘very Christian’ or ‘unusually stark’. There may or may not have been more content in these remarks, but this is what CNN chose to pick up on.
It is not helpful when the Gospel is portrayed as: Live a good life, and not: Surrender and accept the life which Christ has lived for you.
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