Obama's Nobel Peace Prize and our Hatred of Grace
There has sure been a lot of people all rankled over the fact that President Obama was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Usually the Nobel prize is given to a person after they have done something rather remarkable in their given field. This year, for instance, three men each shared the nobel prize in Physics for their achievements in the capture and transmission of light particles. The award wasn't given to them because of some future achievement, it was a reward for hard work. In contrast Obama hasn't even finished a single year of his presidency, his stratospheric demeanor of hope has been seemingly brought back down by the realities of two ongoing wars, a shaky economy, and a democratic congress that is more concerned with re-election in conservative states than in effecting a rash of progressively liberal legislation.
So the question then is, why in the world does he deserve a Nobel Prize? The answer is, he doesn't. But then neither do the physicists, chemists, doctors, and authors that receive one. They did not receive the prize because they deserved it, they received it because the academy which judges the potential recipient's showed grace. All of the men and woman involved are all very talented in some way, and would continue to be so even if they had not been awarded; however they were each chosen for whatever reasons to be highlighted with gift of the award. There is no way to apply for the award, to fill in a series of check boxes that prove your merit and ensure that you will get one. The Nobel prize's are as close as we can get in our human systems to reflecting the nature of grace.
Grace ticks people off, especially when we live in a legalistic mindset that is always judging our position relative to those around us. The minute someone receives grace, that we don't believe should, we react in that sinful way that is called envy. People are furious because Obama is clearly the recipient of grace, and in their minds grace is not free, it must be earned at a price. This is the kind of thinking that kept the pharisees ignorant of Jesus' words. They were envious of the grace that God was enacting through Jesus and his followers upon a people that did not 'deserve' it.
So, if this whole Obama/Peace Prize thing has you so riled up, just ask yourself what you are so mad about. Grace is by it's nature seemingly unfair to those outside of it's bounds. That's what makes God's grace so wonderful for those that have accepted it's gift, and seemingly so foolish for those that would rather try and earn their way into heaven via some kind of bell-curve grading process.
Christianity, Politics 
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Reader Comments (1)
Man, it's good to see another person out there with basically the same thought. I posted this yeaterday on my Facebook, then ran across your blog.
I, too, believe that we can draw inspiration from this event in Obama's life. He was offered a free gift of great value, having done nothing to earn it, and would have been foolish to turn it down. His gift was offered by a committee in Oslo; all he had to do to receive it was to accept it.
There is a greater gift offered not by wise men, but given freely by God - of course, that would be his son, the Prince of Peace. Much like Obama's Nobel prize, the gift God offers is free, we've done nothing to earn it, and we'd be exceedingly foolish to reject it. To receive it, all we need do is accept it.... See More
Obama's award is paper, parchment, metal and the laudings of men. The gift God offers is eternal Salvation and the right to be in the company of the true saints.
Perhaps we should thank the Nobel committee for demonstrating, however inadvertently, an aspect of God's love and grace. And perhaps we should thank President Obama for showing us how to accept an undeserved, unmerited gift - with humility, thankfulness and an awareness of his own shortcomings.
How appropriate for this time of year.