Defending the Faith – The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis
Interestingly, my pastor recently asked the question in our small group, “Today, who’s defending the faith?” The first name that came to my mind was Jim Wallis, but I knew my pastor and no one in the room other than my wife were familiar with Jim so I blurted out Billy Graham.
I never mentioned Jim Wallis during our small group discussion; however, he is an unwavering biblically-based and progressive evangelical that is defending our faith. I first discovered Jim Wallis and his commentary during the ’04 Presidential election cycle as I stumbled upon the Sojourners website, and shortly after, I bought Jim’s book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.
I read some parts from Jim’s upcoming book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. Dr. Richard Land of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission summed up Jim’s efforts nicely: “Despite our significant public policy differences, I commend Jim Wallis for advocating religious belief as an invaluable resource in addressing the urgent moral and social crises of our time.”
The book, The Great Awakening, walks the reader through past spiritual revivals and explains how revival creates both inward spiritual change and outward public change for justice and compassion. The book recalls leaders of previous revivals such as John Newton. John Newton wrote the words we all know, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” Well, Newton was a slave trader or a wretch in his own words, and his life was transformed by Jesus Christ. John Newton’s spiritual conversion eventually helped to end slavery in England. The great awakening for John Newton was personal but helped to produce national social and political change.
So I titled this post “Defending the Faith.” The Great Awakening contains a chapter called, "How to Change the World, and Why". Included in this chapter is a very thought provoking sentence which reads, “Faithfulness comes before effectiveness.” In other words, 'what would Jesus do?' does matter. Jim Wallis often quotes Martin Luther King, Jr., and he paraphrases King to support his statement, “those being faithful to their convictions are more crucial to a society than those who conform to the culture in order to be more ‘effective’”. Our faith matters, and it is the faith of a mustard seed that moves mountains. Guess what? We have some big mountains to move.
You can read more about the book, The Great Awakening, at www.sojo.net/greatawakening.
Continue reading Comments (0) Jan.17.2008.
Obama (he *is* a Christian), Huckabee, and Chuck Norris
At our church small group, we talked a little about politics in a casual setting. I made a confession that if John Edwards and Barack Obama run out of steam, I could see myself supporting Republican Mike Huckabee. However, my small group leader quickly said, “Obama? He can’t win he’s a Muslim.” I quickly corrected and informed him that Senator Obama is openly a Christian. In fact, the magazine, The Christian Century wrote, “One of the brightest points in Barack Obama's rising political star has been his ability to talk about Jesus without faking it.”Now back to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. I like Huckabee for several reasons. First, he’s got a very genuine quality to him with his pastoral background. Also, he’s probably the only Republican not afraid to raise taxes to maintain a viable government. Finally, I like the fact that he’s from the South like Edwards. Bonus reason: Chuck Norris (Click on the YouTube video above).
Continue reading Comments (0) Nov.27.2007.
The Greed of Lower Taxes
I find it strange that so many religious Republicans support lowering taxes. They seem to feel that taxes promote a sense of entitlement in the poor, and they most commonly use 2 Thessalonians 3:10 as their support. This verse reads, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." The letters to the Thessalonians were written by Paul circa 51 AD. Around 12 years later circa 63 AD, Luke in Acts describes a much different Christian society than we live today. Acts 4:34-35 says, “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” So obviously the early Christians were not living in a capitalist society like us. They were all working for the common good not individual wealth creation like today.
I counter that the blind support for lowering taxes and the resulting decreased benefits to our society can also be considered a sin called greed. In fact, greed is one of the seven deadly sins. Take into account that many religious Republicans will also say, “the government should keep their hands out of my wallet.” I think this statement is an indicator of the potential greed. The Bible clearly teaches us that our money is not ours, but that it is God’s. “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours” (1 Chronicles 29:11). Also, the Bible says much about giving to the poor especially in the New Testament. However, here is a great example from the Old Testament, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God (Leviticus 23:22).
Some would still argue that individual generosity is the ideal approach to giving. I agree we should give as individuals, but is that enough? Today, we don’t have individuals harvesting the fields. Instead we have huge corporations such as ADM and Cargill harvesting the fields. Likewise, we can’t depend on individual contributions for our transportation and defense. Therefore, how could we possibly think that individual contributions are enough to address the needs of the poor today?
Many of my fellow Christians talk about the downfall of our society. However, these same people continue to undercut that society by reducing the services provided. Undoubtedly our society’s morals are reflected in our tax system. I agree that we should focus on efficiency, and I support lowering taxes if we can maintain the level of services provided to the under-privileged. My concern is that as public funds diminish we simply sacrifice compassion. As a result, the efforts to lower taxes appear to be greedy and not socially just.
Continue reading Comments (3) Apr.22.2007.
Republican Presidential Candidates
I don't see a strong presidential contender for the Republican ticket...
- Romney will be labeled flip-flopper. Tons of video showing him pro-choice, and now he claims to be pro-life.
- Giuliani would be the most liberal Republican ever to seek the Oval office.
- McCain has had quarrels with the "Religous-Right."
I see Senator Brownback emerging from the pack. While he could win the nomination, I doubt he will have the mass appeal to win the independent votes in a general election.
In summary, the Democratic nominee would have to blunder big to not win in 2008. I hope that John Edwards can gain traction. However, I'm preparing to support Obama if Edwards runs out-of-steam.
Continue reading Comments (1) Feb.26.2007.