National Prayer Breakfast Breakdown, Part 3: Obama on a Faith of Action

By Matthew Santoro

This is Part 3 of an three-part series on President Barack Obama's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Read Part 1 and Part 2 now.

President Obama speaking at a church,
Source: Reuters/Faithworld

Part of President Obama's enthusiasm for a role for faith in public life is no doubt rooted in his understanding of Christian responsibility. Let's return briefly to the Biblical passage with that concluded Sunday's blog post (and from which Obama quotes in his speech):

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. —1 John 3:16-18 (NRSV, emphasis added)

Doers of the Word

For Christians, our knowledge of God's love compels us to have compassion for those in need. In quoting 1 John, Obama demonstrates the Biblical basis for Christian compassion that surpasses intellectual concern and becoming a compelling force for action. Through faith, its intended that Christians will become active stewards of their community and their world.

This sentiment is famously reflected in the second chapter of James:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. —James 2:14-17 (NRSV)

Note: James is not here speaking of the supremacy of "works" over "faith." Instead he's challenging the fundamental notion that faith can exist in the absence of the works. Faith without works is simply, well... not faith.

President Obama shares James's outlook. Quoting another passage the epistle, he explains commitment to active faith to the National Prayer Breakfast:

The Bible teaches us to 'be doers of the word and not merely hearers' [James 1:22]. We're required to have a living, breathing, active faith in our own lives. And each of us is called on to give something of ourselves for the betterment of others -- and to live the truth of our faith not just with words, but with deeds.

Jesus and his followers were people of action, many of them dropping everything in their lives to support a ministry focused almost exclusively on the society's most underprivileged and vulnerable. It should come as no shock, then, that Christians like Obama believe that social activism is an essential part of authentic Biblical faith.

God's Kingdom and the Social Gospel

If Obama's theology seems a bit peculiar to you, it may be because the missional elements of Christianity have taken a Sunday sabbatical from many American pulpits. As detailed by theologian Richard Beck, American Christianity has largely come to redefine itself in terms that have little or nothing to do with how one treats his or her neighbors:

"Christianity" has essentially become a mechanism for allowing millions of people to replace being a decent human being with something else, an endorsed "spiritual" substitute.

Having a "relationship with God," Beck argues, has been stripped of its connection to our moral responsibilities to one another.  How can can this be in a religion where God tells us, "just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40)?

Obama's Prayer Breakfast address gives ascendancy to a different approach to forming a relationship with God: the Social Gospel.

What differentiates Social Gospellers from many contemporary conservative Christians is their understanding of what Jesus meant when he spoke of the "Kingdom of God" (the "Kingdom of Heaven" in Matthew).

For many Christian conservatives, the Kingdom of God is a future occurrence that will be brought about by Christ's Second Coming to earth, during which time evil and evildoers will be expunged.

For Social Gospellers, the Kingdom of God was initiated with the Incarnation in Christ.  The Second Coming will only be realized when people rid the world of social evils through human effort. By living a Christian life and by becoming "doers of the Word," we thereby help bring about fulfillment God's Kingdom.

Obama directly invokes this theological concept, putting his support for the Social Gospel on full display:

As a loving husband, or a supportive parent, or a good neighbor, or a helpful colleague -- in each of these roles, we help bring His kingdom to Earth.

Obama describes a faith that is lived, not merely believed. It's a faith expressed through roles and responsibilities, through sacrifice and works, not a faith of pious posturing and dogmatic purity.

The Limit's of Religion's Role in Government

So President Obama not only argues for that faith can play a valuable role in public life, he also describes the manner in which his own faith plays an almost compulsory role in shaping his personal approach to certain public policies.

Yet in describing a role for faith in public life, he also acknowledges government's limitations in addressing the many social problems that religion attempts to address:

[As] important as government policy may be in shaping our world, we are reminded that it's the cumulative acts of kindness and courage and charity and love, it's the respect we show each other and the generosity that we share with each other that in our everyday lives will somehow sustain us during these challenging times.

If we are fully to meet the challenges of this world, it cannot be government alone that takes up the challenge changing our world. The values of kindness, courage, charity, and love must guide Christian lives and Christian ministries as we act as Christ's ongoing presence in this world.

The President is absolutely right, and thankfully we're starting to see a change in Christian churches across the nation. Perhaps they're taking Richard Beck's criticisms more seriously. Perhaps they're responding to the dwindling number of self-identified young Christians choosing to attend church. Perhaps the Bible is simply speaking to a new generation in a new way.

No matter the cause, traditionally conservative Christian organizations are adopting elements of the Social Gospel once consider the sole purview of the theologically liberal. Christians are mobilizing for social justice with a fervor some might have considered impossible even ten years ago, embracing causes ranging from comprehensive immigration reform to environmental stewardship to human trafficking.

Conclusion


Whether in our private lives or public affairs, Obama believes there is an important role for the values of faith.

Drawing on the theology of James, Obama envisions faith as inherently inseparable from the social justice principles to which it is tied. If Christianity rooted in a deep love for and responsibility to one's neighbor, there is no element faith that can exist independently of that love and responsibility. So too can no action taken on account of this love and responsibility be truly separate of Christian faith.

Faith is love. Faith is responsibility. Faith is action. And from these values derive the Christian politics of President Obama:

Treating others as you want to be treated. Requiring much from those who have been given so much. Living by the principle that we are our brother's keeper. Caring for the poor and those in need. These values are old. They can be found in many denominations and many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers. And they are values that have always made this country great -- when we live up to them; when we don't just give lip service to them; when we don't just talk about them one day a year. And they're the ones that have defined my own faith journey.