Today's Conversation

In this overview of civics for Christians, you’ll hear NAE President Walter Kim and Amy discuss: How we can apply Scripture to our current political experience; What principles should guide Christians when voting; Whether Christians should join political parties; and What the difference is between “politics” and “policy.” Read a Portion of the Transcript Walter:Churches ...

What role should Christians play in politics? What are our civic responsibilities? And, how do we glorify God as we engage in policy conversations? Amy Black, professor of political science at Wheaton College, joins Today's Conversation podcast to answer these questions and more.

In this overview of civics for Christians, you'll hear NAE President Walter Kim and Amy discuss:

How we can apply Scripture to our current political experience;

What principles should guide Christians when voting;

Whether Christians should join political parties; and

What the difference is between "politics" and "policy."

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter:Churches are also struggling to remain nonpartisan, recognizing that they are undoubtedly composed of viewpoints that are varied and that they want to maintain a witness to the world that would welcome anyone through their doors. So even if churches seek to be nonpartisan, what about the individual believer? Should the individual believer join a political party — seek to influence a political party with an agenda from the inside?

Amy: It’s really important. Should believers join parties? Absolutely. I want to see individual believers active in political parties. I want them to be salt and light. If we think about it, one of the best ways to influence the direction of political parties and of elected officials, is working from within those parties — raising questions, sharing ideas, offering critiques when needed. This can happen obviously at the grassroots level when people are working on campaigns or they’re part of a county party organization. It can also happen all the way up at the leadership level, helping direct priorities and policy choices. I want to see Christians involved in both parties at all those levels.

As a professor at a Christian college I am delighted when I see my former students working for both Democrats and Republicans. I see them working on campaigns, on the Hill, on the executive branch, they can be bringing a distinctive Christian voice to both major political parties and trying to make a difference, and that to me is just a perfect part of our Christian mission.

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Next Steps

Check out "For the Health of the Nation", a discipleship resource on civic responsibility that has also served as NAE's policy guide since 2004.

Read Amy Black's cover article "Evangelicals & Politics: Where We've Been and Where We're Headed."

Books by Amy Black:

Honoring God in Red or Blue: Approaching Politics with Humility, Grace, and Reason

Beyond Left and Right: Helping Christians Make Sense of American Politics

 

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

In this podcast, you’ll hear Leith and Walter discuss:: What — if anything — the Bible says about race; How the Tower of Babel and Pentecost relate to diversity; The racial situation among first century Christians; and How Christians today ought to respond to racism and racialization. Read a Portion of the Transcript Leith: Events ...

When facing challenging issues, evangelicals like to start with the Bible. In this podcast, we revisit a conversation from 2016 between then NAE President Leith Anderson and now current NAE President Walter Kim. The topic is as timely now as it was then: Theology of Race.

In this podcast, you’ll hear Leith and Walter discuss::

What — if anything — the Bible says about race;

How the Tower of Babel and Pentecost relate to diversity;

The racial situation among first century Christians; and

How Christians today ought to respond to racism and racialization.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Leith: Events of the last couple of years in Ferguson, Baltimore, South Carolina, and other places in our country have exposed long-standing injustices and misunderstandings between those in black and white communities and have brought the issue of race to the forefront of many discussions. As evangelicals we want to start with the Bible. What does the Bible have to say about race? That’s the focus of our conversation today, so thanks for joining us, Walter. First, let’s just get right to a basic question — making sure we’re on the same page. What are we talking about when we use the word “race”? What does that mean?

Walter: Well, it depends who you ask. If you ask a biologist or sociologist, they would give different answers, but I think functionally when most people consider the issue of race, they associate it with perceptions of physical or genetic characteristics. Characteristics like skin color or facial features, black or white skin tone, Latino or Asian facial features. And it’s this particular access and definition of race that is probably most present on the consciousness of people as they raise this issue to address.

Leith: And I’m assuming that most people notice. I’m sensing that in some cultures this is a bigger deal than it is in others. I had sort of an embarrassing moment recently. I was at a conference with an African American friend, and the topic was race. And a few months later, we were talking about one of the speakers there. And the race of the speaker came up, and I said the person was Caucasian. My friend said the speaker was African American. I looked it up, and I was wrong and he was right. So is our culture more or less addressing and sensitive to this than others in history and around the world?

Walter: I think this really gets at the issue of categorization. As humans we have a finite ability to organize all the information that comes through our senses, and so of course we’re going to try to come up with ways of categorizing the information. And when it comes to people, one of the ways we attempt to categorize is by the features that we see with our eyes and associate with a certain set of meanings — a person’s origin or value or so-forth. This really isn’t a problem just for North Americans; this is really a function of being human —the need to categorize. The real question is: Are the categories that we use appropriate, or can they be misused? And this is where we in America have gotten ourselves into a very complex and challenging situation.

Leith: Let’s tie that back to the Bible. Does the word “race” even appear in the Bible?

Walter: Yeah, that’s an interesting question. The Bible is completely comfortable with this notion of categorization. In fact if you go to the Old Testament in Genesis Chapter 10, categories are in fact used to divide humans. And so you have these table of nations. So you read about the sons of Japheth. “And from these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each within its own language.”

The categories that exist — at least in this passage — are territories (geographical categories), nation (political category), clan (familial category), language (linguistic category).

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today’s Conversation, where you’ll hear Nicole explain: How she has seen Bible engagement lead to healing; Why Christian leaders need to come to terms with their own trauma; What steps the Trauma Healing Institute pursues in the healing process; and How a better understanding of trauma helps us in the ...

This is a difficult time for our country and world. Many — some who may not even know it — are experiencing trauma. Nicole Martin assesses our current context as an opportunity for the Church to be the place of healing our world so desperately needs. She shares how the Trauma Healing Institute has been equipping pastors and laypeople to facilitate Trauma Healing groups and to experience God's healing power in their lives and the lives of others.

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today’s Conversation, where you’ll hear Nicole explain:

How she has seen Bible engagement lead to healing;

Why Christian leaders need to come to terms with their own trauma;

What steps the Trauma Healing Institute pursues in the healing process; and

How a better understanding of trauma helps us in the challenging issues of race.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter:We’re in a season where emotions are running high with COVID, racial unrest, economic distress. Do you think we’re about to see a collective mental health breakdown? Are people going to be okay coming out of this?

Nicole: People will be ok. I think there is a certain humanistic resilience that we have seen across numerous global and national incidences. Whether that is looking at the trauma of warfare across the world, whether that’s looking at the yellow fever in the United States centuries ago, or whether that’s even looking at individuals and families and communities that have made it through traumatic events.

The strength of human nature says, “Yes, we will make it through.” The question is: How will we be on the other side of this? Will we be more in tune to God and to the lives of other, or less in tuned?

What I’ve observed even in my own experience is that trauma and crisis can sometimes cause us to go inward. We used to call it when a college student wouldn’t show up to class because something ridiculous had happened — they’d lost homework or didn’t study or whatever — we would call that “turtling.” It’s like when the turtle pokes its head in its shell.

Sometimes trauma and crisis can cause people to turtle. To turn in on themselves, to poke their head back in the shell, and to ignore the things happening around. It’s a protective mode. But for the believer in Christ, the question should be: When trauma happens, will we turtle and turn in, or will we reach out and will we become the place of healing for the world?

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If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Next Steps

Learn about the Trauma Healing Institute.

Attend a Trauma Healing training session.

Listen to other relevant NAE podcasts:

Michael Carrion | How COVID Is Impacting Communities of Color

Amy Simpson | Mental Illness, Suicide and the Church

Read the Fall 2020 Evangelicals Magazine | Today's Crisis Has Multiplied & Exposed Trauma: How Will the Church Respond?

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

NAE President Walter Kim and Pastor Jenkins also discuss: Why the most recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others have stirred people in new way; How Pastor Jenkins’ church approaches collaboration with churches of different ethnicities; How to respond to narratives like “anyone can pull themselves up by the bootstraps”; and What is ...

In Today's Conversation podcast, Pastor John Jenkins describes how the African American church has overcome challenges and stayed the course. He notes the historic role of the Black church in the civil rights movement and how that model can inspire us to action. John candidly shares about his experience as a Black man in America.

NAE President Walter Kim and Pastor Jenkins also discuss:

Why the most recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others have stirred people in new way;

How Pastor Jenkins' church approaches collaboration with churches of different ethnicities;

How to respond to narratives like "anyone can pull themselves up by the bootstraps"; and

What is needed for the Church and our country to right racial wrongs.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: What gives you hope in these challenging days?

John: I was asked that question recently, and I almost couldn’t answer it. I broke down in tears. What gives me hope? I wish I could say that it was the Church. That’s probably what made me cry. It makes me think about it even today that the Church has been absent and vacant. The Church has been silent and quiet. The Church has been unseen, and it has brought tears to my eyes.

If I can be honest with you, my hope today is in these young people — these young adults who have grabbed a hold of the vision of unity. They’ve grabbed a hold of what Dr. Martin Luther King said that there would come the day when Black children and white children will sit together and play together. They’ve grabbed a hold of it, and they’re actually doing it.

They don’t have the prejudices and the racism and the hesitations that their parents and grandparents had. They don’t walk with that. My hope, my joy, my excitement is to see how they are walking it out. They’re marching together and protesting together and crying together and praying together. They’re walking it out unlike their parents and grandparents. That’s actually where I get excited, but I wish I could say it is the Church of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened.

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Relevant Links/Resources

First Baptist Church of Glenarden

NAE Racial Justice Resources

Video Message from NAE Leaders on Racial Justice & Equality

NAE Addresses Racial Unrest, Calls to Action — May 29, 2020 press statement

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

In Today’s Conversation podcast hosted by NAE President Walter Kim, Michael describes: How the health crisis unfolded in his community; What the coronavirus pandemic reveals about racial inequities in our country; How Christians in different areas of the country can identify with brothers and sisters who are facing greater hardship; and What steps the church ...

Rev. Dr. Michael Carrion pastors in the North and South Bronx — part of the poorest congressional district in the nation and located in a U.S. coronavirus hotspot. At the time of the podcast recording, 15 members of his church had died due to COVID-19. Pastor Carrion clings to hope as he also mourns for all that has been lost and advocates for the vulnerable.

In Today's Conversation podcast hosted by NAE President Walter Kim, Michael describes:

How the health crisis unfolded in his community;

What the coronavirus pandemic reveals about racial inequities in our country;

How Christians in different areas of the country can identify with brothers and sisters who are facing greater hardship; and

What steps the church and its pastors have taken to address trauma and mental health concerns in their community.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: You’ve talked about the need for processing. You yourself have gone through that. Clearly, you’re encouraging your staff and other pastors to go through that. Are there other practical tips that you would give to those in leadership who themselves are experiencing vicarious trauma?

Michael: Talk about it. One thing that we’ve noticed in our sessions is that if you come from a family of origin where there was already underlying trauma that was never dealt with, that resurges in this. It almost awakens things. A lot of our folks have been articulating, “I didn’t realize but now I know.” So, any leader that’s providing trauma or experiencing that find a place to center, find a person to speak to, find a place of rest.

You know, pastors, we never punch in and we never punch out. We just don’t. We just keep going. We’re so unhealthy, Walter. We don’t know how to turn it off. We don’t know how to read our Bibles without finding a sermon for them. We have to find a sermon for us. In this time, your devotional time, and place before God, this is where you find restoration in the shadow of the Almighty. You have to get into the shadow. In the shadow there’s a therapist, the Holy Spirit. And surrender. I’m not talking about religiosity, I’m talking about surrender and talk to somebody then look for joy.

I’ve seen weeping enduring, Walter. I’m looking for joy. I’m looking for joy in the stories and the narratives of churches that are experiencing revival. I’m looking for joy in the narratives of churches that are rethinking and re-imagining their church, their ecclesiology, and launching missional communities. I am finding joy in people getting out of the ICU and off of the breathing tube. I’m looking for joy in people getting jobs — and we’re in the middle of a depression.

The church is hurting. The church is bruised in New York. Everybody’s hungry. We got a small grant, and we’re putting out thousands of dollars of food just because people are hungry, Walter. It’s fighting the trauma, but it’s also fighting the economic reality. How do you find peace when you’re physically fighting a virus and then you’re worried about being evicted, and then you’re worried about feeding your children?

You better be in the shadow of the Most High. You better find refuge in God and stay connected. That’s the other thing — we isolate. I would encourage people who are suffering trauma to connect, connect, connect. Accountability, accountability, accountability.

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If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Relevant Links/Resources

NAE Coronavirus Response & Resources

Care Package for the Church

Promised Land Covenant Church

"A pastor in the Bronx thought he knew hardship. Then his church saw 13 coronavirus deaths." – Washington Post article