| Book
Review – God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong
and the Left Doesn't Get It |
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Author —
Jim Wallis
Published by Harper San Francisco
Review by Tom Gilbert
“God is not a Republican or a
Democrat.” This is a statement that has become a
rallying cry for many Christians in the past year. The
United States has experienced a lot of contention over
religion and politics (the two topics we are supposed
to avoid in so-called polite conversation). In God's
Politics the author, Jim Wallis, boldly
calls for a new way to approach political matters and
flatly states that there is a moral responsibility for
the Christian believer – in fact, any person of
faith – to look closely at the messages God has
sent us, through the Gospels and from people’s hearts.
The mistake too many of us make is to assume that God
is only on the side of those who hold righteous beliefs.
We interpret the meaning of those beliefs all too often
with our narrow human understanding. The religious right
has the reputation for upholding family values. The left
is often viewed as more compassionate towards the poor
and minorities. However, both sides are flawed when it
comes to a comprehensive approach to life. If we raise
the question “what would Jesus do?” we have
to be honest before finding an answer. Where in the teaching
of the Sermon on the Mount (chapter 5 of the Gospel of
Matthew) does it say it’s ok to have an inconsistent
approach to being peaceful, loving, considerate, pure
and willing to be persecuted for staying true to this
way of life?
When one is actively involved in the political process
the problems of power, prestige and property can seduce
you into pushing for those agendas that fit your belief
structure. The danger is forgetting that God cares for
everyone, and if we are to take the Gospels seriously,
He especially cares for those who live in the margins
of society. The poor, the oppressed and minorities of
race and creed frequently get the short end when it comes
to attention, much less funding.
Unlike other books with similar themes, Wallis is calling
for a compassionate and responsible way to approach the
dilemma. According to him it doesn’t so much matter
what your political affiliation is. Any person of character
and faith should be able to spot wrongs and power abuse.
It takes everyone to build a community and diverse opinions
and philosophies must be allowed. Stating that your position
is God’s position can be a dangerously arrogant
one if you don’t take God’s entire message
of love, mercy and forgiveness and factor it into the
equation.
In God’s
Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t
Get It, Jim Wallis lays out the problems
as he sees them. More importantly, he suggests some viable
solutions. Even more important, he encourage us and our
society and political leaders to honestly work together
to find solutions that are not readily apparent.
Throughout the book the Gospel message is the standard
we are called to measure our actions by. I agree with
Wallis that we cannot pick and choose only those things
Jesus preached that fit with our agendas. Indeed, when
did Jesus become pro-war, pro-rich or a selective moralist?
These are sections of the book that address whether our
spiritual values are truly being lived.
America does need a new vision for faith and politics.
This book is an important read for anyone who agrees with
that. It is not condescending or condemning, but it doesn’t
shy away from hard facts and straight talk. In that sense
it is consistent with the prophetic voices from the Bible
who were rarely popular in their criticism but spoke with
the authority of a God that is personal, but never private.
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| Jim Wallis is an evangelist
and writer. Discover more at both Call to Renewal and
Sojourners. |
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Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
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Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
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