Jim Wallis' Great Awakening
I went to hear Jim Wallis last night at Westmont College. He came to talk about his new book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post Religious Right America (Harper One, 2008). Wallis is fun to watch, even if much of what he said I'd either heard or read before -- including two jokes he told to open the night that he'd told the last time he was in Santa Barbara.
He talked about the important relationship that exists between faith and politics -- that faith belongs in the public square. He spoke of a continuum that begins with faith, which leads to hope, which leads to action, which leads to change. If you noticed two words in there that are key components of the Barack Obama campaign, you're not alone. Although Wallis calls for Christians to not become captive to political parties or agendas, you can't help noticing the similarity of the rhetoric. Wallis isn't as smooth or as captivating as Obama, but at points I thought I was in a more subdued Obama rally. Now, for me that's not a problem.
I'm curious about others who have heard Jim or have read the book (something I've yet to do) think about his proposal that religious revival can be (and has been in the past) the impetus for social justice. That is, people like William Wilberforce and Charles Finney combined evangelism and social concern in dynamic and world altering ways.
Comments
That's not to say that Great Awakening doesn't have value. I just think that I'm a part of the choir that's being preached to. Wallis seems to be doing a good job letting people know that not all Christians are part of the religious right, and that many of the religious right's views on things are probably not what Christ's views would be. That's an important message, and Wallis preaches it well.
Thanks for the report on the book. I think he's a good evangelist for his message, but his books are derivative. I read about 1/2 of God's Politics and got the message.
And to Wes,
I think that we need to try to give faith and government a certain amount of space, but certainly our faith professions have political implications and if one is a person of faith it's difficult to keep the totally separate. The question is how to do this in a way that doesn't become coercive toward the other!