Jim Wallis Interview

Christianity Today posted a four-page interview with Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and author of numerous books about Christianity and the public square, most notably God’s Politics, which is also the name of his blog.

I don’t think it would be an overstatement that Wallis’ work has been pivotal in opening a broader conversation in the current presidential debates about the importance of religion. Wallis has helped to move religion and faith beyond a Republican owned domain, forcing Democratic candidates to engage with religion in ways they haven’t for at least 20 years. (See my post about the Compassion Forum for an example of how this is happening.)

He has authored a new book entitled The Great Awakening which applies that title to a new movement within evangelicalism (a typically conservative movement) to engage with social issues (a typically liberal domain).

Wallis says that he’s not a liberal at all, but is a biblical Christian. His greatest critique against the church today is that we have succumbed to a throwaway culture that does not have a wholistic ‘pro-life’ ethic.

This is one of the things that I greatly appreciate about Jim Wallis. He challenges us to be coherent in our approach to issues within the public square. How can conservatives say they are pro-life when they are for the death penalty or turn a blind eye to euthanasia? How can liberals say they are for life in terms of the death penalty but not in terms of abortion?

While we may not agree with all of Wallis’ conclusions, it is voices like his which become a prophetic challenge to us today. It is important to hear those voices and engage with the challenges and questions they ask of us.