Amnesty International, Desmond Tutu, Doctors Without Borders, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, and . . . Barack Obama?

Today, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama for “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

So now you get the award for efforts? I’m sorry, I mean extraordinary efforts?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Obama has potential. I may or may not have voted for him. But I think this is all a little ridiculous and presumptuous. I tend to agree with The Guardian, who said “The reality is that the prize appears to have been awarded to Barack Obama for what he is not. For not being George W Bush.” It’s also interesting to point out that nominations for the prize closed 11 days into Obama’s presidency.

I think what I have been learning the most out of life the last few months is that we have a big problem with expectations. Our anger or tension with God tends to be because of unmet or unrealistic expectations. Our anger or tension with family and friends tends to be because of unmet or unrealistic expectations.

Do we (or, rather, advocates of President Obama) have unrealistic expectations? I am afraid that we’re setting the man up for failure. The expectation is he will solve the healthcare crisis, which is complicated. The expectation (now backed by his prize) is he will calm international relations, which is way more complicated than healthcare. He rode into office on the promise of change, but change is hard and change is slow.

Have we put too much hope into one man? At the very least, I think we put too much hope in the wrong man. We need you, Jesus.

It’s a historic day in America. The thing is, I don’t really care that our president elect is (kind of) black, or that he won states that democrats haven’t won in decades. In my opinion there’s a much larger story below the surface.

This year, 136.6 million Americans voted. That’s 14.3 million more than in 2004. Pretty amazing considering Obama beat McCain in the popular vote by a little over 7 million. What if those 14.3 million more voters hadn’t turned out?

I really believe the reason we had so many more voters this year than four years ago is not just that the issues are more pressing (sure, we’re losing our houses, 401k’s, jobs, etc.), but Barack Obama rallied a people that wanted to be moved by something. His intitial platform of “change” – though somewhat diluted; full of promise, yet not much substance – gave people who wanted to believe in something, something to believe in. It was bigger than themselves, and they caught the vision.

Just think, how many people called you, knocked on your door, emailed you, perhaps harassed you, on account of trying to gain your support for Obama?

A lot.

Now how many for McCain?

Not nearly as many.

It amazes me how many people gave so much time, money, and energy trying to get your attention and your support of something that will last, at worst not even past November 4, and at best 8 years. Wow.

Now what if we spent as much time, money, and energy on something that mattered so much more than a presidential election? What if we spent as much time researching and arguing the issues of eternal significance as we did researching and arguing the issues of this election?

Love him or hate him, Obama will be gone in 4 – 8 years. We’ll do this whole song and dance again every four years, but does it really matter? I’m telling you (I’m not sure who you are, but I’m telling you) right now, it doesn’t. There is something so much greater, so much more powerful, and One who will actually deliver 100% on His promise.

So who’s stumping for Jesus?