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Four Commitments to Barack Obama

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishing, today offers these four commitments to our new president:
  1. I will pray for him and our country.
  2. I will assume his motives are good, giving him the benefit
    of the doubt.
  3. I will not speak ill of him, even if I don’t always agree with him.
  4. I will cast off the spirit of cynicism, and be a positive force for good.
I applaud Michael for presenting such great thoughts. I will join him in this commitment and hope that many other people of faith will follow his example.
Posted:

22 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 5, 2008 at 12:36:00 PM CST

    Good stuff! Me too!

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  2. UnknownNovember 5, 2008 at 12:47:00 PM CST

    Utterly astonishing and wonderful. May we all do this for our leaders. I felt just this way under George Bush, in fact.

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  3. AmberNovember 5, 2008 at 1:06:00 PM CST

    Very good! I agree and will make the same commitments

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  4. Mark MainNovember 5, 2008 at 2:15:00 PM CST

    I very much agree with your list there. For me I will have to add one more.

    I pray he is the first president since Reagan that is his own person. Whether I agree with everything he does or not I can support someone that at least does them on their own.

    We haven't had a president in a very long time that wasn't controlled by outside influences.

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  5. photowannabeNovember 5, 2008 at 2:15:00 PM CST

    Its my commitment too.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 5, 2008 at 2:55:00 PM CST

    Good words.

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  7. AnonymousNovember 5, 2008 at 4:00:00 PM CST

    These are commitments I wish the Xn community had embraced DURING the election rather than a spirit of fear and divisiveness.

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  8. stephanieNovember 5, 2008 at 4:07:00 PM CST

    Amen, Michael. Amen.

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  9. jrchaardNovember 5, 2008 at 4:11:00 PM CST

    I'm out

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  10. Bar L.November 5, 2008 at 10:05:00 PM CST

    Im going to print this out and put it on the fridge at work ;)

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  11. UnknownNovember 5, 2008 at 10:25:00 PM CST

    The first and fourth commitments are good.

    I need to think about the second commitment. Offhand, it seems inconsequential. How will making that commitment affect my behavior? It does no good to have the right motive if you are horribly wrong in substance. It is substance that we will all be concerned about.

    The third commitment is not one I can make. There may come a time (perhaps soon) where it will become necessary to speak ill of Barack Obama in order to stand up for Truth. Making that commitment may conflict with what the Bible commands us to do in a particular situation.

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  12. Mark (under construction)November 6, 2008 at 5:17:00 AM CST

    AMEN BROTHER - I concur.

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  13. karenNovember 6, 2008 at 8:39:00 AM CST

    Ditto, Jason.

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  14. kc bobNovember 6, 2008 at 9:51:00 AM CST

    Thanks all for your comments and your perspectives.

    I am wondering about this Jason:

    "There may come a time (perhaps soon) where it will become necessary to speak ill of Barack Obama in order to stand up for Truth."

    Is it necessary to speak ill of a person when we don't agree with their views? Does truth require us to speak ill of them as a person? Or can we just speak ill of their views?

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  15. UnknownNovember 6, 2008 at 11:07:00 AM CST

    Bob -- On what basis do we separate the views of a person from the person? Are not a person's views a part of them? To the extent they are, how could we speak ill of views without also impliedly saying something about the person?

    In any event, Jesus spoke ill of people quite a bit. See, e.g., Matt. 12:34; Matt. 15:7; Matt. 16:3-4.

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  16. kc bobNovember 6, 2008 at 12:09:00 PM CST

    Interesting scriptures Jason.. brood of vipers, evil and hypocrites.. wow.. I don't think that there is anything that I could say that would change your mind.. but it is interesting that Jesus never really said those things about governmental officials but only to the narrow-minded and unloving religious leaders.

    What ever happened to the idea of hating the sin (or their views) and loving the sinner? Do we really love a person when we speak ill of them?

    For me.. I choose to believe the best about people that I disagree with.. even when I disagree strongly. I am not Jesus and really don't know anyone at a heart level.

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  17. MissyNovember 6, 2008 at 12:22:00 PM CST

    I don't think the DOW has agreed to any of this. :)

    These are the words I would have said for either candidate (and, unlike many, I still would say for Bush):

    I will pray for the President. I always try to be open-minded to the possiblity of good motives in everyone but I won't commit to being naive. I won't speak ill of HIM, but I might speak ill of his policies - it's a right I will commit to using tactfully. And, I will try my best to cast off a spirit of cynicism and have hope.

    (KB, I like the new profile pic!)

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  18. UnknownNovember 6, 2008 at 12:31:00 PM CST

    it is interesting that Jesus never really said those things about governmental officials

    I don't see how the distinction matters. Additionally, among the Jews at the time, civil and religious authority overlapped. Moreover, to find examples of speaking ill of government officials, all we have to do is read I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles. It's on just about every page.

    What ever happened to the idea of hating the sin (or their views) and loving the sinner?

    That's a different question than the 3rd commitment. I can love a person and speak ill of that person.

    Do we really love a person when we speak ill of them?

    Sometimes, yes. An obvious example is presenting God's plan of salvation. The very first thing a person must understand to be saved is their sinful nature and thus their need to be saved. I must tell them that they are a sinner. That is speaking ill of them.

    We should not confuse love with tolerance or nonjudgmentalism.

    I choose to believe the best about people that I disagree with

    That really goes to commitment #2, not #3. Moreover, sometimes people do not leave it open to us to think that their best is any good.

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  19. kc bobNovember 6, 2008 at 4:39:00 PM CST

    Thanks for the dialog Jason.. about..

    "I can love a person and speak ill of that person."

    Maybe.. but you would have to speak it directly to them or it would just enter into the realm of gossip. It all goes to motive.. if you love someone you would first speak directly to them as Jesus did to the religious leaders.

    Think about it.. how many so-called "prayer requests" have you heard that were cloaked that way? IMO, it is just judgmental gossip and we should stay away from this kind of ill-speaking.

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  20. AnonymousNovember 6, 2008 at 5:57:00 PM CST

    I can agree with you post mostly, like Jason I'm not so sure about #2. I think initially I will. It will really depend on what his first steps are.

    So I'll give him his honeymoon ;), how long it lasts will be up to him.

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  21. Ed G.November 7, 2008 at 7:29:00 AM CST

    I like the new look over here Kansas Bob -- fresh and forward looking. Guess that promise of change is already becoming a reality!

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  22. Cheryl RussellNovember 17, 2008 at 6:22:00 PM CST

    Bob, I forgot to tell you how much I appreciated this post!

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