ballot boxes and the ends of christianity
midterms are coming. people of faith must move.
For the better part of my working life, I have made a living in places where faith and public life meet.
From founding a short-lived center focused on Christian expressions of empathy to building an LLC that produces scholarship around ‘religion and society’ to this very newsletter, I am always thinking about spaces where religion and public life meet.
While this work takes many forms across numerous topics, at the heart of my work I aim to engage with complex and nuanced issues of religious and social life today through beautiful and compelling theology that emphasizes the nuanced lived reality of Christians and is modeled after the concrete person of Jesus Christ. In this work, I hope to help others do the same.
While the past several years have not made this easy by any stretch of the imagination, there is an additional weight felt during election seasons. As we quickly approach midterms, our society is saturated with political propaganda from all angles of the political spectrum.
While I (like most people) want to bury my head in the sand and wilfully ignore the woeful state of American politics, I believe the Christian faith takes us through the heart of these issues at the forefront of our nation—from concerns around inflation and the cost of living to the exercise of constitutional rights and freedoms to the conservation and protection of our ecosystems.
To be sure, expressions of faith in the public square are vast. For example, you likely will not find me writing about legislation and policy or endorsing a political candidate. For those topics, I lean on friends like Michael Wear and Asma Uddin who are far more attuned to what is happening on Capitol Hill. Neither will you see me building an institution from the ground up—although I cherish opportunities to learn from colleagues like Eboo Patel and Heath Carter.
Personally, faith in the public square looks like finding ways to radically love my neighbors as we collectively search for common ground. While this places me in conversation with the folks mentioned above and within numerous institutions who support and advance my work, I feel called to seek out faith as it manifests on the streets and in the pews and intersects with those pressing issues of our public life. As I stated earlier, I am interested in the nuanced, lived reality of Christians and how faith is applied in their lives.
In other words, while I am always interested in rich theological study, I am more curious about the ends of these theologies and doctrines.
As we approach midterms, the ends of our faith will soon be on full display for the world to see. The question for those of us who claim the Christian faith is how our faith positions us as we approach the ballot box these midterms. Will we come with our heads freshly pulled from the sand just long enough to check a few partisan boxes or will we prayerfully discern before the Lord how God may be calling us out of our homes and in-groups and into a larger shared life?
In the months leading up to election season, I encourage you all to do the complex (and daunting) work of discerning what the ends of your Christian beliefs are and asking for wisdom in discerning how we may use the democratic and electoral systems in our country to work towards such goals.
Reading:
loneliness - Yanan Melo (Sacred Sonder)
“In my experience, moving brings a kind of sorrow that reminds me of my displacement from the Philippines”
Teach Your Students to Be Builders, Not Critics - Eboo Patel (Inside Higher Ed)
“After all, the goal of social change is not a more ferocious revolution. It is a more beautiful social order.”
Watching:
Succession (HBO Max).
House of the Dragon (HBO Max).
Listening:
Palm Trees - Often
“I'll be waving somewhere by the palm trees. A little sand kicking up serendipity”
The Heart & the Tongue - Chance the Rapper
“Remember Pontius Pilate hung a God and justified it.”
Love this 🙌🏽