Praying for Those Liberals

I remember being instructed as a new Christian many years ago to pray for influential Hollywood people.  I did as I was instructed and I still remember praying for numerous stars including Tom Cruise … umm, I should have prayed more. So, I kind of chuckled when I saw this article recently from The Christian Post titled, "Prayerful Americans Called to 'Adopt a Liberal'."

I've been called lots of different names and labeled with different words including the 'liberal' word. I've also been called a 'narrow-minded fundy,' 'wanna be progressive', 'classic conservative', 'christian communist,' and the list goes on.

The positive about being labeled is that I might actually make it on someone's prayer list -- and who doesn't want prayer?  :)

I'm a fan of prayer. I'm a fan of civility. I understand the nature and necessity of politics. I don't really like some of the views of the folks on the list but I also don't know them as people -- personally. And I know that we're instructed to pray for our 'leaders,' but the 'adopt a liberal' thing sure seems weird.  How long before we get an "Adopt a Conservative" initiative? And thus, the perpetuation of the "otherizing" and worse, "demonizing" of others. Which leads us to the big picture question:

Is there another way?  What is the "follower of Christ" way?

Enough of me. What do you think?

Here's the article:

A Christian legal group has introduced a new initiative to encourage prayerful Americans to "adopt" liberal leaders.

Fla.-based Liberty Counsel's "Adopt a Liberal" program, inspired by the exhortation of the Apostle Paul, as recorded in 1 Timothy 2:1-3, invites prayerful conservatives to pick out a liberal or two who is in a position of authority to be the target of "regular, intense prayer in accord with St. Paul's admonition to his disciple, Timothy."

"Prayer is powerful! It allows God to change the minds of those for whom we are praying. In fact, we fully expect that many of our adoptees will 'graduate' from this prayer program with vivid testimonies of God having changed their lives and worldviews," Liberty Counsel stated.

While the legal group admitted that there is a certain amount of tongue-and-cheek humor associated with their new program, they said they do want it to conform with the biblical passage in Paul's letter and for it to move liberal leaders and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."

[original link]

Eugene Cho, a second-generation Korean-American, is the founder and lead pastor of Quest Church in Seattle and the executive director of Q Cafe, an innovative nonprofit neighborhood café and music venue. He and his wife are also launching a grassroots movement, One Day's Wages, to fight extreme global poverty. You can stalk him at his blog or follow him on Twitter.