We must labor at biting our tongue when we want to lash out. Civility can make us weary. But we do not tire easily of insults. I say this, because I’ve spent time studying honor and shame in social settings and political discourse. My doctoral dissertation from Harvard was on the rhetorical use of insults …
Not Civility Alone Not that civility is the be-all and end-all of life. We will not solve all our problems simply by becoming more civil people. There are times when it is appropriate to manifest some very uncivil feelings. “Passionate intensity” is not always out of place. If I am going to be a more …
Take the political demagogue who shakes all the right hands, the church pastor whose outward charms mask inner demons, the neighborly churchgoer whom Martin Luther King famously labeled the “white moderate.” Too often, civility is a ploy by the powerful to defend an unhealthy or unjust status quo. American evangelicalism is not immune from this …
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announced the coming of God’s kingdom and invited his followers to rethink their thinking in light of the remarkable opportunity to live under the rule of God. Those who follow the way of Jesus find their relationships transformed as they learn to love, serve and forgive even those …
From an outsider’s perspective, the heightened partisan divide in America is disturbing. Some will dismiss this as an American issue and not the business of those beyond its borders. However, we live in a global village; when Americans sneeze, the rest of the world catches a cold! Media reporting on U.S. evangelicalism has an impact …
“The divisive nature of our current political climate is hard to ignore. In some contexts, evangelical leaders have found this to be an obstacle to gaining a hearing for the gospel, while in many settings it has become a bridge to evangelism,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Brian Eckhardt, …
NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today’s Conversation, where you’ll hear John share: His assessment of the state of First Amendment law and religious freedom; How premises of “inclusion” and “dissent” provide a framework for current conflicts; What led him to speak and write about how Christians ought to engage with those whom they deeply disagree; …
Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), said, “In general, evangelical leaders value relationships over political positions. They do have opinions, and they seek to maintain both positions and relationships. It is also clear that evangelical leaders seek to be publicly nonpartisan.” Many of the evangelical leaders surveyed noted that with the …
In this podcast, Galen Carey, NAE’s policy expert and advocate on Capitol Hill, covers: What the proper place of politics is for the Christian’s mind and experience; How to work in Washington when there is palpable division; Practical ideas to model civility; and What evangelical policy issues are most countercultural. Read a Portion of the …
These days there is little need to make that case. Evangelicals are active in the public square — even notoriously so. But we have not engaged in our activism in a manner that has endeared us to others. Some polls show that even our own younger generation of evangelicals see the white evangelical movement as …
