BOOK REVIEW: THE FUTURE OF FAITH IN AMERICAN POLITICS: THE PUBLIC WITNESS OF THE EVANGELICAL CENTER[1]
Introduction
Across the political landscape of the United States of America, the ideological divisions that exist between political persuasions are growing wider and deeper. Unfortunately, the divisions are just a deep among evangelicals and becoming wider, especially in how evangelicals engage in the influence of public policy. Is there a biblical answer for the direction of political influence for evangelicals? Should evangelicals delve into the development and application of public policy at all? In The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center, David P. Gushee examines the spectrum of political involvement by evangelicals and proposes a “centrist” solution to provide a healthy, public witness. The purpose of this paper is to explore, interpret, and apply Gushee’s work.
Understanding the Book
Future of Faith is a religion book that describes the relationship of evangelical Christianity and politics in the United States of America. Gushee describes the major ideological divisions between evangelicals across the political landscape and describes the major influences within specific political camps. Furthermore, he argues for the existence of, and encourages the growth of, a new evangelical voice – the “evangelical center” – that better captures the range of issues on which evangelicals should be focusing. He insists that this evangelical voice in the world of public policy is critically important, not just for evangelicalism, but also for the future of the United States (p. xvii). Thus, his goal is to “ . . . stake a claim to an emerging evangelical center in American public life and to describe the public moral witness of that evangelical center by contrasting it with its right-leaning and left-leaning alternatives” (p. 3).
There are three major themes that guide Gushee’s arguments. First, there is a theological theme that threads its way through all of his arguments – the sanctity of all human life. Inherent in all of the issues for which evangelicals should take a stand, the sanctify of and respect for God’s creation, especially humans, should be the focus. Whether arguing against torture, discussing marriage and family issues, climate control, or war, Gushee maintains that the sanctity of human life should be the “default” theological principle of evangelicals to influence the formation of public policy. Second, Gushee argues for the importance of political involvement from evangelicals, not avoidance. Third, he wants to introduce the evangelical center, provide a description of the characteristics of the center, and propose a broader evangelical agenda for public engagement.
There are three main problems that Gushee seeks to solve. The first problem he seeks to solve is the perception that being an evangelical is equated with the evangelical right (or Republican) (p. 24). He makes this clarification for those tend to lump all evangelicals into this camp. He attempts to solve this problem by providing a description of the evangelical right, left, and the emerging evangelical center (pp. 3-117). For each camp, he gives a description of their major influences, concise history, and agendas.
Second, he argues that when engaging the public arena, evangelicals need a “ . . . biblically grounded rethinking of Christianity’s entire engagement with American culture” (p. xvii). He insists that to even use the terms right, left, and center is borrowed from secular culture and proves troublesome. Perhaps he suggests this because many, especially on the evangelical right, have equated being a part of a particular political party with Christianity. Instead, he maintains:
. . . What matters for Christians is not that we be right, left, or center but that we be faithful to our Lord. No evangelical Christian would or should go to the wall to defend centrist (or rightist or leftist) evangelicalism. Heaven forbid. These categories are provisional and in many ways unsatisfactory. No, we seek to follow Jesus, who was not and could never be confined within our ideological categories or political loyalties. He is our Lord, and in the end his is the only vote that matters (p. 221).
The third problem that makes this book necessary is the shrill, antagonistic voices heard across the political spectrum. It seems that political camps have become so entrenched and polarized that achieving common goals seem too difficult to reach. In fact, these political, ideological differences are significantly affecting relationships in the Church of Jesus Christ, as well. There are “ . . . fellowship-threatening ideological cleavages [that] have surfaced within the evangelical world” (p. 217).
Furthermore, Gushee describes four indisputable facts that he feels necessitates an emerging evangelical center (pp. xviii-xix). First, “Conservative evangelical [evangelical right] political activism is evoking a heated backlash.” Across the political arena, many are reacting to what they perceive as combative activism by the evangelical right and responding in kind. Second, “Battles over evangelical right involvement with politics are merging into the broader ‘culture wars’ environment that is tearing our country apart.” He accurately says that it is becoming difficult to distinguish between the evangelical right and the secular conservative agenda. Furthermore, it is becoming more difficult to identify a pure, evangelical voice. Within those that identify themselves as evangelicals, there is increasing diversity on the political issues that they should be addressing. In fact, Gushee insists, “The screeching tone of the argument (it is not a conversation) is contributing to the depressing, even dangerous, polarization of American society and the loss of a sensible center…” (p. xviii). Third, “Many sense that our culture is in crisis but see the churches as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.” With all of the real problems that our country is facing, the Church seems to have aligned herself with a political part and participating in a “culture war” instead of fulfilling its true mission. Fourth, “A growing number of visible evangelicals, including the ‘evangelical pope,’ Billy Graham, are disillusioned with politics, especially with conservative engagement in politics.”
Interpretation
Before attempting to solve the problems associated with the relationship of evangelicals with American politics, he addresses philosophical “obstacles” that he believes would prevent a clear presentation of an evangelical “centrist” perspective. The first obstacle is “the secularist obstacle,” which suggests, “Christians are theocrats who should stay out of politics” (p. 4). He maintains that “Citizens who care about politics and public life are an asset to a democracy, certainly by contrast with the many free riders . . . who enjoy the benefits of democratic life without making any contribution to it whatsoever” (p. 5). He argues that any Christian that is serious about being a responsible citizen should be celebrated, not scorned. The second obstacle that he overcomes is “the sectarian obstacle: the Church is all the politics Christians need” (pp. 7-16). There are those in evangelical circles that insist that we should stay out of politics for various reasons. He argues from an imminent kingdom perspective that it is our responsibility as the Church of Jesus Christ to project the kingdom of God on politics. Third, he attempts to remove “the technical problem: definitional problems” by exploring the various ways in which evangelicals are defined and the problems associated with each definition.
Gushee attempts to solve these problems descriptively and prescriptively. First, he describes the various evangelical voices attempting to influence politics in the United States. Second, he prescribes an agenda for a witness of the evangelical center that emphasizes principles that are pro-human, pro-creation (what the evangelical center is for) by reframing the argument with the biblical principle of the sanctity of human life. In other words, he attempts to expand the political agenda of evangelicals to focus on principles that we should be for rather than what we are against: “I argue that the emerging evangelical center offers a more faithful and more fruitful rendering of Christian convictions in the public arena than that which can be found elsewhere” (p. 4).
Gushee identifies three distinct evangelical “voices” that are pressing their agendas in Washington – right, left, and now the center (p. 217). He borrows these terms from the secular political world to describe these voices. It is important to understand how he identifies and defines these evangelical voices before interpreting his propositions.
First, he describes the “evangelical right.” Organizationally, they are “ . . . a network independent but interconnected churches and parachurch organizations” (p. 25) that are typically formed around a charismatic leader. He presents ten conservative, activist groups, and their leaders, that have grown to represent the most influential for the evangelical right. Some of the most notable and recognizable are Focus on the Family led by James Dobson, Christian Coalition led by Roberta Combs, the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) led by Richard Land, and the Moral Majority Coalition. For each of these groups, he provides a brief history and major points of their agendas. Furthermore, he expands his discussion to include prominent black and latino leaders and organizations on the evangelical right.
Gushee defines the general agenda of the evangelical right as “the narrative of decline, defense, and combat” (p. 41). First, he suggests that the agenda of the evangelical right is a reaction to the loss of a previous way of life. They are bemoaning the loss of the “traditional values” of the United States. Second, they are adamant about protecting the United States from attack from foreign countries. He describes them as “anti-internationalist” and “isolationist” in their foreign policy (p. 43). They are very patriotic and have a “God and country” mentality. Third, he describes the evangelical right as having a “defensive and angry tone”; thus, they seem combative in how they press their agenda (p. 43).
Then, Gushee provides his points of agreement and points of critique of the right (pp. 44-55). He commends the right for their activist passion and concern for the direction of the nation. Their patriotism and respect for American constitutional democracy is to be admired. He identifies specific points of agreement with the evangelical right, such as the “deterioration and deinstitutionalization of marriage,” abortion, and concerns about secular media (p. 46). Gushee’s critique of the evangelical right is summarized by “ . . . four primary concerns: partisanship, agenda, mood, and ecclesiology (understanding the church)” (p. 47). According to Gushee, the evangelical right has become so closely associated with the secular, conservative right that functionally it has become “ . . . a political bloc within the Republican Party in the United States, just as organized labor has functioned within the Democratic Party” (p. 47). However, it is impossible to “ . . . represent ‘the church’ and to function as a bloc with a national political party” (p. 48). He claims that the evangelical right has fundamentally aligned itself with a political party instead of Jesus Christ (p. 49).
Gushee then describes the evangelical left (pp. 57-85). The evangelical left is a values-centered presentation of the Christian faith. Theologically, the evangelical left will identify remarkably well with other evangelicals. However, the significant differences lie in the application of biblical principles. Whereas the political agenda of the evangelical right is narrow in its scope of issues, the evangelical left is narrow with its selection of biblical sources. “They tend to be explicitly Jesus-centered in their use of scripture and their rhetoric” (p. 10). Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, and Brian McClaren are the three voices that the author suggests are the main influences among white, evangelical leftists with Jesse Jackson and Obery Hendricks representing the black community.
As with the right, the author presents those qualities of the evangelical left that should be admired and those qualities that should be critiqued (pp. 75-85). The most significant quality that should be admired is its “ . . . indigenous agenda – what it is for, rather than what it is against” (p. 75). He identifies as one of their strengths a “Jesus-centered radicalism” that identifies the socially radical issues that Jesus championed: inclusion, attacking greed, relief, and the rejection of violence (p. 77). The most important critique of the evangelical left is their stance on, or at least their avoidance of, abortion and homosexuality (p. 79). Furthermore, their pacifist stance draws considerable criticism due to the reality of attack on the United States on 9/11.
However, the main thrust of Gushee’s work in this book is to “ . . . introduce you to the evangelical center, urge my own evangelical community to converge on this center and join our cause and urge non-evangelical and non-Christian readers to learn more about us. If nothing else, I want this book to help end the misperception of evangelical public witness as either unipolar (Christian right) or bipolar (right vs. left)” (p. xix). He insists that the emerging evangelical center is gaining traction in the public arena and “ . . . has the potential to function as a centripetal force” (p. 87). He introduces and defines the evangelical center by providing a significant list of characteristics and provides further characteristics that make them distinct from the evangelical right and left (pp. 88-89):
· Shared, visible, central concern about the decline of marriage and its impact on the well-being of children
· Clearly articulated opposition to abortion and euthanasia
· Opposition to the creation-for-destruction of embryos and majority opposition to the harvesting of stem cells from existing embryos
· Strong concern about the moral content of mass media
· Rejection of the morality of sex outside of heterosexual, monogamous, marriage
· Rejection of gay marriage
He goes on to name the emerging leaders and organizations that Gushee would identify as possessing the qualities of the evangelical center (whether they would acknowledge it or not), namely Ron Sider, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Christianity Today, Intervarsity Press, and Baker Books. Furthermore, he identifies pastors from various traditions and megachurches that are characteristic of the evangelical center that Gushee defines.
From describing the emerging evangelical center, Gushee provides a compelling argument for four key centrist issues: (1) torture and human rights, (2) marriage and the law, (3) creation care and the climate change debate, and (4) evangelicals and war. Finally, the author provides suggestions on how the evangelical center should proceed into the future, which includes a clear teaching tradition and better scholarship on the characteristics and issues that define the center (pp. 219-221).
Application
There are two primary strengths of this book. First, it places a “finger on the pulse” of the evangelical influences in the public arena. Gushee has clearly and concisely described the major evangelical influences of public policy. Without this book, it would be more difficult to distinguish between the various voices because theologically these voices would generally agree. However, the “disconnect” occurs in the application of the same scripture on which these various groups stand. He gives a clearer picture of the major players, positions, and scope of their influence in our culture.
The second strength of this book is the manner in which the information was presented. Instead of stooping to inflammatory rhetoric, which is so common in the left-right “screaming match,” Gushee presents his case for an evangelical center without abrasive and polarizing language. I appreciated the genuine concern for humanity that emanated from his work.
There are many evangelicals like myself who are in a constant state of “cringe.” I felt some sense of relief to know that I am not alone by “. . . [sensing] that something has gone dramatically wrong, and [hope] to call the church back to its core mission” (p. xix). I recall seeing a t-shirt following the 2004 election that read, “Once again God speaks through a Bush.” I also recall the sickening feeling in my stomach. On the other side of the spectrum, the reaction to the evangelical right and the tone of the response from the left was equally disturbing and polarizing. It was during this period that as a follower of Christ that I began to truly pay attention to how Christians are perceived and received in the public arena.
I find only one primary weakness in his book. Gushee argues, “We need a biblically grounded rethinking of Christianity’s entire engagement with American culture” (p. xvii). I could not agree more with his proposal. Clearly, there is a significant “disconnect” with culture. However, I do not feel that he provides adequate biblical to support his propositions. In fact, I found only one explicit exposition of a biblical principle commonly referred to as imago Dei (pp. 129-132). I recognize that this book is not intended to be a theological treatise. However, if his argument were supposedly biblical grounded, I would expect to see a more significant representation of the Bible in his argument, including support from the apostle Paul. I would insist that in order to garner more support from those Moderns (and those on the right) that hold a high view of the whole Bible and still find value in dogmatic theology, Gushee would need to provide more biblical evidence to support his proposals. I would suggest an expanded discussion of one major principle that would enhance his arguments: a clear expression of the “concrete” nature of biblical righteousness and what that looks like while seeking to influence public policy.
Nevertheless, this book is extremely helpful as a pastor in a conservative, right-leaning fellowship. The reason that this book is extremely important is that it forces me as a pastor to address a theological issue that was not a priority in my theological studies: the kingdom of God. To be quite honest, the faith tradition in which I was raised clearly identifies with all of the objections to political engagement listed in the “sectarian obstacle.” However, I do not find myself defensive about this position. In fact, it forces me to reflect objectively and drives me back into scripture to address the compelling argument that Gushee makes concerning the necessity of Christian political engagement.
Conversely, it is because of this particular obstacle that this book would be difficult to use within my faith tradition. The theological differences and resulting ministry foci would present a significant paradigm shift for many in our fellowship. Whereas most (I think?) would agree with Gushee on some of the issues that the church should address, and the underlying biblical principles, the reason for political engagement would be quite different. Again, this forces us to objectively explore scripture to challenge our assumptions about the kingdom of God and the scope of its influence on politics.
Conclusion
David P. Gushee provides a clear picture of the type of involvement and divisions of evangelicals within the political arena. He gives an explicit expression of a political agenda for a growing number of evangelicals that are dissatisfied with the left-right evangelical, political options. He provides a clear description and agenda for the advancement of a broader range of biblically-based issues that the Church needs to address to provide a better witness for the kingdom of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gushee, David P. The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2008.
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