An attitude of service for 2010
By Peter Elliott | Contributing Editor of Everyday Christian
Posted 4:00 pm on December 30, 2009
As we’ve blogged on and linked to before, The Washington Post has a thoughtful weekly debate amongst religious panelists who respond to a “question of the week” format with its On Faith blog.
One of the responses to this week’s question of “What was the most important religion story of 2009?” caught my eye. It came from author and pastor Brian McLaren who took an interesting alternative take.
In his view the most important stories were the ones that didn’t make the headlines. It wasn’t the marital infidelities of self-proclaimed people of faith or wrangling from both ends of the political spectrum over the drawn-out health care debate. To summarize, it was the efforts of people far beyond the spotlight serving their churches and communities in ways small on the surface but great in local needs.
In other words, putting faith in motion to do something for the greater good, whether it’s donating to a food pantry or volunteering for a worthwhile project, is the kind of quiet application of belief where the rubber can meet the road.
Not that losing weight or quitting smoking aren’t important goals, but this is a resolution worth keeping.
Tags: Brian McLaren, New Years resolutions, On Faith, pastors, service, giving
Peter Elliott is a veteran news and sports journalist. He enjoys interviewing others about how God works in their lives and sharing that with readers. He is also a lifelong, long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan. He resides in Indianapolis with his wife and three sons.
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