How can Evangelicalism today reclaim its gospel identity through love, hospitality, justice, and comprehensive good news?

“I think anything other than that is an impoverished gospel.”

Pastor Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, joins host Nikki Toyama-Szeto on Credible Witness to wrestle with the future of evangelicalism. From Luke 4’s vision of Jesus’s inaugural message—”The Spirit of the Lord is upon me …”—Kim reclaims the gospel as comprehensive. It is meant for transforming individuals, communities, institutions, and systems.

He reflects on his immigrant journey, the gift of hospitality, raising a daughter with Down syndrome, and his deep longing for the church to embody “all of Jesus for all of life.” Alongside sobering reflections on spiritual poverty in the American church, Kim shares hopeful stories of holistic community transformation in Boston, Charlottesville, and Malawi.

With honesty and empathy, he calls Christians to move beyond ideological “whack-a-mole” and into a witness shaped by hospitality, solidarity, repentance, and joy. For Kim, this is not just about evangelical identity—it’s about reclaiming the credibility of Christian witness in a fractured world.

• Walter Kim’s immigrant background and early encounters with Christian hospitality
• Reflections on Korean American church life, belonging, and faith formation
• Diverse ministry contexts: Yale, Vancouver, Boston, and Charlottesville
• Story of his daughter with Down syndrome and discovering holistic gospel in Malawi
• Contrast of economic prosperity vs. spiritual poverty in America
• Evangelicalism’s “identity crisis” and politicization
• Critique of “ideological whack-a-mole” and fear-driven church witness
• Rethinking evangelicalism through multicultural expressions of faith
• Personal story of racial vulnerability with a friend in Charlottesville
• Vision of a comprehensive gospel shaped by empathy, hospitality, and delight

• Luke 4:18–19
• National Association of Evangelicals
• Christianity Today
• World Relief
• Regent College
• Park Street Church, Boston
• Public Faith by Miroslav Volf

Walter Kim is president of the National Association of Evangelicals, serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief, and has pastored churches in Boston, Vancouver, and Charlottesville. He previously served as a chaplain at Yale University. As a Korean American and son of immigrant parents, he brings a global and deeply personal perspective to questions of Christian witness and evangelical identity.

Nikki Toyama-Szeto is executive director of Christians for Social Action and host of Credible Witness. She leads conversations at the intersection of faith, justice, and culture, inviting guests to share wisdom from their lived experience of discipleship and social engagement.

• Walter Kim on Jesus’s Luke 4 inauguration speech defining the gospel
• “I think anything other than that is an impoverished gospel.”
• Holistic gospel: personal salvation and systemic transformation
• Evangelical identity crisis and demographic shifts in the U.S.
• Immigrant church growth and Boston’s revival through global Christianity
• Story of Kim’s daughter with Down syndrome speaking in Malawi
• Contrast between economic and spiritual poverty
• Evangelicalism’s entanglement with politics and fear-driven witness
• “Ideological whack-a-mole” and cultural antagonism
• Learning from Asian American expressions of honor/shame in evangelism
• Hospitality, belonging, and community across ministry contexts
• Racial vulnerability, friendship, and solidarity in Charlottesville
• Recovering joy and delight as a vision of God’s love
• Examples of holistic community transformation in Boston and Charlottesville
• Vision for evangelical renewal rooted in repentance, empathy, and comprehensive gospel

Credible Witness is brought to you by the Rethinking Church Initiative. Produced and edited by Mark Labberton, Sarey Martin Concepcion and Evan Rosa. Hosted by Nikki Toyama-Szeto.

Special thanks to Fuller Theological Seminary, Christians for Social Action, and to Brenda Salter McNeill, whose book inspired the title of the show.

For more information, visit CredibleWitness.us.