Happy Independence Day! Praising God for the freedoms we still have and how He is working behind the scenes not only for physical freedoms but also for spiritual freedom for those yet to be set free to have eternal life with Him.
I Kings was among my readings today. God comes in so many unexpected ways and uses unexpected people. That is so important for us to remember. Surely, he has used the USA. Prayers for revival and a great awakening are so needed, perhaps that has always been true. Elijah thought he was the only one left. How easy we lose sight of what is really true!
That is a perfect photo for this day. Happy Independence Day, indeed!
We do not have theaters close to us where we pre-order tickets. I have heard that a theater (by my daughter’s) is saying to not pre-order on the movie website because they will not be able to honor them at the theater. Not sure what that is about.
I would have shrieked and ran if I found my hand, unexpectantly, on a snake. That is a little too close.
Well, when I first picked up the gas can, I thought the yellow jackets had built a nest there so screaming and running would not have been in my best interest. I did have heavy leather gloves on so thought my best option was to gently set it down and back off. Then I realized it was a snake and did not want to do anything fast. I walked to my phone so I could get a picture which tells you it either thought it was dead or was not really bothered. Got a couple pics before it slowly wove into the wood shed.
Happy Fourth my fellow countrymen!!! May our Lord continue to show His great mercy upon our land and bring the lost into the fold….Grace 🇺🇸 🙏
I have always viewed it odd when the experts advise those of us not knowing snakes well to look at the pupils of said snake. Something about poisonous snakes having slits and non harmful having round…like I am hanging around to look at their pupils??! Nope! 😳
Ah, there you have it. For years I have told the children they need to keep it neat because snakes and mice and rats like woodsheds. You recall they love newspapers. I send piles of old newspapers out, they take them to the woodshed to read but will not keep them stacked. The twenty four foot by eighteen woodshed is entirely floored in newspaper. They now see the value of cleaning it up. Will they? No. I do no enter the woodshed.
So good to hear you had gloves on, mumsee! And the snake was benign, but at first touch who would know?? Eeek.
I spotted a ‘daddy-long-legs’ in the bathroom this morning. I don’t mind them, figure they take care of other less-nice things that may get in. Mosquitos?
~ Recent trends in American politics tempt Christians to two extremes: withdraw completely from the public square or adopt the vicious and worldly tactics deployed by partisan players. But wisdom beckons us to a different response. Attorney Alex Harris, a Harvard Law graduate and former Supreme Court clerk, demonstrates that it is possible for a Christian to helpfully interact in the public square in a way that is gracious, others-focused, and ultimately for the glory of God. Below, Harris helps us see why engaging in the public square matters, how we can think rightly about it, and how we can work for the good of our neighbors.
Lindsay Nicolet: How did you begin to feel called to work and advocate in the public square?
Alex Harris: I trace that back to my early teen years. My parents, Gregg and Sono Harris, were homeschool pioneers and my siblings and I grew up as part of what is known in Christian homeschool circles as the “Joshua Generation.” First-generation homeschool parents were like Moses, fleeing what they saw as a failing public school system and the moral decay of popular culture to raise their children in the wilderness. Our generation, trained and educated with a thoroughly biblical worldview, would rise up to claim the Promised Land, which meant taking America back for God. …
… That same calling eventually led me to Patrick Henry College, drawn to its mission to equip graduates to “lead the nation” and “shape the culture,” then Harvard Law School, and then judicial clerkships with then-Judge Neil Gorsuch and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Over the years, though, my sense of calling has changed and matured, in large part because of my experiences working as a Christian in politics and law. I still feel called as a believer to work and advocate in the public square, but my vision for what that looks like is different. I know we’ll get into more of that in the later questions, but for now I’ll say that I no longer think God needs me to save America, and I’m not sure that should be our goal in the first place. …
~ … LN: Why should Christians care about what goes on in politics? How can we think rightly about it?
AH: We should care because politics, broadly defined, is one primary mechanism through which we love our neighbor. We cannot be indifferent to politics because it touches every aspect of our lives, our families, our churches, and our communities, on issues ranging from education, housing, and criminal justice to immigration and religious liberty.
At the same time, politics is not everything. We think rightly about it by engaging in politics to love our neighbor and advance the gospel, all while recognizing that this world is not our home and that our hope is in Christ, not policies, politicians, or parties. In that sense, a believer’s posture toward politics is just one expression of our posture toward the world in general. In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter calls us “sojourners and exiles.” In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul describes us as “ambassadors for Christ” in a foreign land. Our words and actions, the manner in which we engage and advocate in the public square, represent the kingdom of God to the world. …
Another passage that has influenced my understanding of these topics is Jeremiah 29:7, where God commands the exiled Israelites to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” The order is important. The command is not to seek our own welfare, or to seek the welfare of the city only to the extent we see a direct benefit to us, as if the good of the city is just a means to an end.
Instead, the command is to genuinely seek and pray for the city’s welfare, despite the fact that we’re only temporary residents. But just like the command for children to honor their father and mother, it’s a command with a promise. We can confidently seek the good of the city because of God’s promise that, in and through its welfare, he will provide for us as well. …
~ … remember that the “public square” is not limited to national or state politics, or to political skirmishes on social media. Most of the decisions that affect our families, neighbors, businesses, and churches happen on the local level. The great news is that local politics is also where our advocacy is most likely to have a real impact, even if we never formally work in government or public policy.
The second thing I’d say is that the single best way to get involved in this type of work is just to be in community, seek to love your neighbors, and keep your eyes and ears open. If you do that, there will be opportunities. …
… I’ve found that work in the public square, especially in politics, can quickly warp my perspective. I needed a local community that was outside of that bubble. I needed to regularly be in God’s Word and with his people, to feed my soul, to keep my priorities straight, and to equip me to hear the discordant notes both inside and outside my political tribe. I’ve been so grateful for family, friends, and local churches that have played that protective role over the years. …
~ Working at the Supreme Court was a dream come true for me. Justice Kennedy was a wonderful boss, truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and I was still there when my former boss, Justice Gorsuch, joined the court toward the end of the term. Gorsuch had clerked for Kennedy back in the early 1990s. As far as we know, it was the first time that three generations of justices and their clerks had served together at the same time.
Clerking at the court was hard work but also refreshing. On a personal level, I was prohibited by judicial ethics from publicly engaging in partisan political activity. After years of being actively involved in politics, that felt like a sort of detox. More generally, despite the characterizations you read so often in the media, the court really is insulated from many of the political pressures and dynamics that permeate the other branches of government.
With few exceptions, I saw the justices and my fellow clerks genuinely trying to get it right. When they disagreed with one another, it was always with the idea and not the person. It was so different from the zero-sum, no-holds-barred world of partisan politics I was used to. Of course, there are many reasons for those differences, but one of the important ones is the simple fact that the Supreme Court is a small and tight knit community, whose members not only work together but also regularly share meals, share each other’s joys and sorrows, and share the very real weight of the public trust.
My experience at the court made me far less interested in fighting partisan battles and much more interested in other ways of engaging with issues in the public square.
LN: Are there any biblical models or principles that you draw from as you carry out your work?
AH: Over the past couple years, one of the principles that has really jumped out at me is the Bible’s repeated command that our interactions, disagreements, and even defense of the faith be characterized by “gentleness.” Gentleness is an unmistakable biblical imperative for believers, and once you notice it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
We’re told that gentleness is a “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:23. According to Ephesians 4:3, to “walk in a manner worthy” of our calling means to walk “with all humility and gentleness.” In the opening verses of Titus 3, Paul instructs Titus to remind the believers “to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”
Even as we contend for the faith and seek to be ready to “make a defense,” like it says in 1 Peter 3:15, we’re commanded to “do it with gentleness and respect.” Perhaps most significantly, Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly,” and taught that it is the “meek,” a word often translated as “humble” or “gentle,” who will “inherit the earth.”
In an age when political and social division is rampant, even in the Church, when it feels like religious freedom is under attack, and when our “opponents” seem loud, vocal, even hateful, I wonder what would happen if believers would start taking seriously the call to gentleness.
LN: As you do work in the public square, what does it look like to “seek the welfare of the city” specifically in 2022 America?
AH: In recent years, as an attorney in private practice, my engagement in the public square has been more local and focused on my immediate community. I’m serving and supporting my local church in Denver, a city full of distractions and filled with transient people looking to get away from God, their family, and their past. …
… At the same time, I’m increasingly convinced that there is a growing need and hunger in the Church, perhaps especially among younger Christians, to discover a different way to faithfully engage with politics and culture. You see that in organizations like the AND Campaign, which seeks to equip believers of all political stripes for faithful civic engagement, marked by a firm commitment to both redemptive justice and values-based policy, not allegiance to a political party.
As someone who has seen the good, bad, and ugly in politics over the last 15 years, but who has also seen the beauty of so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ living out their faith in the public square, I’d love to help cast that vision now and in the years ahead.
LN: Where are the pressure points and temptations to compromise in our line of work, and how do you resist those? How do you strengthen your character as a Christian to stand firm?
AH: The danger is always that our faith is co-opted in service of some cause or interest that is not the gospel and the kingdom of God. This happens whenever Christians compromise what is true and right to win the praise or acceptance of the world. In evangelical circles, we usually think of this in terms of currying favor with left-leaning members of the media, academia, or pop culture. But it can also happen in the other direction, if as Christians we start conforming our religious convictions to a conservative, libertarian, or Republican worldview.
We should not expect any party platform, man-made philosophy, or political movement to perfectly align with biblical principles. We can and should ally ourselves with others in common cause, and it may be that one group or another is a more frequent ally on shared priorities. But faithfulness ultimately requires allowing Scripture to challenge and critique every party and platform.
The way we resist both of these temptations is what I talked about earlier, being in God’s Word, being in community, and inviting our families, friends, and churches to speak into our lives. It’s so hard to see clearly when you’re in the trenches. Politics is so competitive, fast-paced, and relentless, which lends itself to black-and-white, us-versus-them, identity-based thinking on both sides. As Christians, we’re called to resist those impulses, but we can’t do it alone.
LN: How do you work with people who don’t share your faith? And how should we interact with people on the opposite side of an issue?
AH: I’m sure that entire books have been written on these topics, but I’ll share a few thoughts from my own experience. First, strive to follow the biblical imperative of gentleness, like we talked about it earlier.
Second, remember that they are your neighbor, made in God’s image. That means you are called to love them and treat them with respect, even when you disagree.
Third, don’t expect someone who is not a Christian to act or think like one. As believers, while we can and should advocate for biblical morality and ethics, we should be far more concerned with whether we are faithfully acting and thinking like Christians.
Finally, do expect to find common ground, even with people who don’t share your faith or political persuasions. Thankfully, the real world is not social media or a TV talk show, which tend to elevate the loudest voices and most extreme views and where the incentive is to perform for your own side rather than engage in good faith. If you’re willing to listen and seek to understand, I think you’ll be surprised how willing most people are to reciprocate, and how easy it is to find common ground. …
LN: What do you see as the greatest needs in the public square, and how can Christians rise up to meet those?
AH: I do not presume to have the single right answer to this question, but I’d echo much of what I’ve talked about in previous answers. I’d love to see Christians lead the way out of our broken political culture and for our engagement in the public square to be marked by gentleness, love of neighbor, and fealty to Scripture, even if that leaves us politically homeless.
I’m also struck by the fact that so many people are hurting right now. We’re coming out of a global pandemic, we’re processing the constant, heartbreaking news out of Ukraine, and I think most people would agree that the last few years have been exhausting on every level: physical, emotional, psychological, relational, and spiritual. On top of that, we’re still dealing with all of the normal brokenness of living in a fallen, sinful world. So while this observation has always been true, you really have no idea what burdens someone may be carrying.
Alarmingly, pastors, who have such an important role to play in their local communities, including by equipping their congregations to faithfully engage in the public square, are burned out and leaving the ministry in increasing numbers. We need grace, and we need to give one another grace. The good news is that we can do that, because all the grace we need is already ours in Christ. ~
Alex Harris is an attorney and former SCOTUS clerk.
This article originally appeared in the Light magazine issue, “Salt & Light in the Public Square.”
Again, apologies for the long multi-post, but this piece seemed to say things that have come up on the blog in recent years — and it especially affected me now that our nation is embroiled in such a contentious political “season.”
And his words struck me as so calm and so wise (and so faithful) in an age in which calm and wisdom too often have eluded us.
I also pray for revival. I pray for Got to raise up leaders who are wise and have a vision and can help lead the nation through this very difficult period. And I pray for our churches to resist being caught up in the tumult that now is all around us, to remember God is sovereign over our lives and over the life of the nations. He judges nations, he raises up leaders for a purpose, discards them as well, all for his purpose.
May we be faithful and may God have all the glory.
You would have to mention daddy long legs. I hate those things. On our ranch they would all be in a bundle over the door and when you opened it one would fall on you. I never got in the shower without checking both sides of the curtain. Once got in trouble for not turning out the lights at the pool, a cement pond really. But where you had to turn off the light were so many spiders that I would never reach inside there.
So I went to my friends house to go to the concert last night, but no one was home, I knocked and knocked. Forgot all about calling. So I went alone.
I was sitting there alone when a young man, 30’s?m came up and said come sit with us. The sweetest guy. We all went camping together when he was young. I had fun making faces at his young daughter.
And being disliked for the right reasons is good — for the gospel — as there will always be opposition to Christ and his word; disliked for the wrong reasons (because we are offensive in all or the wrong things or are so caught up in the spirit of the age around us) is another issue. I see a lot of the latter in today’s environment.
The U.S. is an amazing nation, we have been blessed to be born (or to have come here as immigrants — which we all were in the beginning, of course).
We have survived difficult times before, I pray we survive this one as well.
But this isn’t and will never be “heaven on earth.”
We are a diverse nation — and, more to the point, we are largely an unbelieving nation now, and that’s an issue the churches also need to grapple with quite separately from political ’causes’ we get caught up in.
The culture has largely been lost. And that’s why our politics are so frustrating to many of us.
What we have in common that led to the famous quote “America is great because America is good” is no longer the case in our particular age. The culture is adrift, grasping at ideas and practices that are contrary to what God has told us is good.
So how then shall we live?
(This is not a new predicament, of course, for God’s people; it perhaps can be said that it’s more the norm than what we’ve enjoyed here for so long.)
Abby LOVED the dog park, she ran and danced and chased and got chased, played well with others. She leaped over a (standing) border collie like a hurdle.
But the down side was the ride, I’ve never had a dog that’s really car ‘resistant’ — she’s fine once she’s in, rides well, actually. But getting in requires physical help, my neighbor helped getting her in for the trip to the park, had to get my real estate friend (who lives near the park) to come to help hoist her in for the ride home. Sigh.
Cliff’s notes? Maybe, love your neighbor as yourself and we are all made in the image of God; Rom. 12:21 – Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The confrontation that is referred to in the Desiring God article seems to be related to speaking the truth about the gospel, not debating politics or social issues. As for the references to certain prophets, they were addressing kings who were fellow Israelites, of the same religion, not those on the outside. Israel was a special nation, led by God, not a secular nation like those of today.
Well spent the fourth totally alone. Tried to watch fireworks from my hot car but must have been in the wrong place cuz only saw a couple sparkles through the trees.
Thinking I may need to move for my mental health. Got one text from one of my kids today, that’s all
Wandering Views 
Happy Independence Day! Praising God for the freedoms we still have and how He is working behind the scenes not only for physical freedoms but also for spiritual freedom for those yet to be set free to have eternal life with Him.
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I Kings was among my readings today. God comes in so many unexpected ways and uses unexpected people. That is so important for us to remember. Surely, he has used the USA. Prayers for revival and a great awakening are so needed, perhaps that has always been true. Elijah thought he was the only one left. How easy we lose sight of what is really true!
That is a perfect photo for this day. Happy Independence Day, indeed!
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We do not have theaters close to us where we pre-order tickets. I have heard that a theater (by my daughter’s) is saying to not pre-order on the movie website because they will not be able to honor them at the theater. Not sure what that is about.
I would have shrieked and ran if I found my hand, unexpectantly, on a snake. That is a little too close.
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Well, when I first picked up the gas can, I thought the yellow jackets had built a nest there so screaming and running would not have been in my best interest. I did have heavy leather gloves on so thought my best option was to gently set it down and back off. Then I realized it was a snake and did not want to do anything fast. I walked to my phone so I could get a picture which tells you it either thought it was dead or was not really bothered. Got a couple pics before it slowly wove into the wood shed.
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Almost a Paul experience, without the bite, the venom, the fire, the onlookers.
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Just the same, only different. 😀
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God watched you, Mimsee, and I feel sure He smiled at how nicely you treated that snake.😀 You did not even curse at it!
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Happy Independence Day!
Mumsee! That was indeed a close call. But how can you go into the woodshed now?
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Happy Fourth my fellow countrymen!!! May our Lord continue to show His great mercy upon our land and bring the lost into the fold….Grace 🇺🇸 🙏
I have always viewed it odd when the experts advise those of us not knowing snakes well to look at the pupils of said snake. Something about poisonous snakes having slits and non harmful having round…like I am hanging around to look at their pupils??! Nope! 😳
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Ah, there you have it. For years I have told the children they need to keep it neat because snakes and mice and rats like woodsheds. You recall they love newspapers. I send piles of old newspapers out, they take them to the woodshed to read but will not keep them stacked. The twenty four foot by eighteen woodshed is entirely floored in newspaper. They now see the value of cleaning it up. Will they? No. I do no enter the woodshed.
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With my poor vision I’d be out of luck looking at their eyes for a clue! If it looks like a snake, there days I would run away.
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So good to hear you had gloves on, mumsee! And the snake was benign, but at first touch who would know?? Eeek.
I spotted a ‘daddy-long-legs’ in the bathroom this morning. I don’t mind them, figure they take care of other less-nice things that may get in. Mosquitos?
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On the 4th of July … Good piece from a few weeks back:
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Sorry again. This new laptop has a different keyboard reach …
Seeking the welfare of the city
An interview about why Christians should be active in the public square
https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/seeking-the-welfare-of-the-city-2/
_____________________
~ Recent trends in American politics tempt Christians to two extremes: withdraw completely from the public square or adopt the vicious and worldly tactics deployed by partisan players. But wisdom beckons us to a different response. Attorney Alex Harris, a Harvard Law graduate and former Supreme Court clerk, demonstrates that it is possible for a Christian to helpfully interact in the public square in a way that is gracious, others-focused, and ultimately for the glory of God. Below, Harris helps us see why engaging in the public square matters, how we can think rightly about it, and how we can work for the good of our neighbors.
Lindsay Nicolet: How did you begin to feel called to work and advocate in the public square?
Alex Harris: I trace that back to my early teen years. My parents, Gregg and Sono Harris, were homeschool pioneers and my siblings and I grew up as part of what is known in Christian homeschool circles as the “Joshua Generation.” First-generation homeschool parents were like Moses, fleeing what they saw as a failing public school system and the moral decay of popular culture to raise their children in the wilderness. Our generation, trained and educated with a thoroughly biblical worldview, would rise up to claim the Promised Land, which meant taking America back for God. …
… That same calling eventually led me to Patrick Henry College, drawn to its mission to equip graduates to “lead the nation” and “shape the culture,” then Harvard Law School, and then judicial clerkships with then-Judge Neil Gorsuch and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Over the years, though, my sense of calling has changed and matured, in large part because of my experiences working as a Christian in politics and law. I still feel called as a believer to work and advocate in the public square, but my vision for what that looks like is different. I know we’ll get into more of that in the later questions, but for now I’ll say that I no longer think God needs me to save America, and I’m not sure that should be our goal in the first place. …
…
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(cont’d) …
~ … LN: Why should Christians care about what goes on in politics? How can we think rightly about it?
AH: We should care because politics, broadly defined, is one primary mechanism through which we love our neighbor. We cannot be indifferent to politics because it touches every aspect of our lives, our families, our churches, and our communities, on issues ranging from education, housing, and criminal justice to immigration and religious liberty.
At the same time, politics is not everything. We think rightly about it by engaging in politics to love our neighbor and advance the gospel, all while recognizing that this world is not our home and that our hope is in Christ, not policies, politicians, or parties. In that sense, a believer’s posture toward politics is just one expression of our posture toward the world in general. In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter calls us “sojourners and exiles.” In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul describes us as “ambassadors for Christ” in a foreign land. Our words and actions, the manner in which we engage and advocate in the public square, represent the kingdom of God to the world. …
Another passage that has influenced my understanding of these topics is Jeremiah 29:7, where God commands the exiled Israelites to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” The order is important. The command is not to seek our own welfare, or to seek the welfare of the city only to the extent we see a direct benefit to us, as if the good of the city is just a means to an end.
Instead, the command is to genuinely seek and pray for the city’s welfare, despite the fact that we’re only temporary residents. But just like the command for children to honor their father and mother, it’s a command with a promise. We can confidently seek the good of the city because of God’s promise that, in and through its welfare, he will provide for us as well. …
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(more, sorry for the long copy)
~ … remember that the “public square” is not limited to national or state politics, or to political skirmishes on social media. Most of the decisions that affect our families, neighbors, businesses, and churches happen on the local level. The great news is that local politics is also where our advocacy is most likely to have a real impact, even if we never formally work in government or public policy.
The second thing I’d say is that the single best way to get involved in this type of work is just to be in community, seek to love your neighbors, and keep your eyes and ears open. If you do that, there will be opportunities. …
… I’ve found that work in the public square, especially in politics, can quickly warp my perspective. I needed a local community that was outside of that bubble. I needed to regularly be in God’s Word and with his people, to feed my soul, to keep my priorities straight, and to equip me to hear the discordant notes both inside and outside my political tribe. I’ve been so grateful for family, friends, and local churches that have played that protective role over the years. …
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~ Working at the Supreme Court was a dream come true for me. Justice Kennedy was a wonderful boss, truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and I was still there when my former boss, Justice Gorsuch, joined the court toward the end of the term. Gorsuch had clerked for Kennedy back in the early 1990s. As far as we know, it was the first time that three generations of justices and their clerks had served together at the same time.
Clerking at the court was hard work but also refreshing. On a personal level, I was prohibited by judicial ethics from publicly engaging in partisan political activity. After years of being actively involved in politics, that felt like a sort of detox. More generally, despite the characterizations you read so often in the media, the court really is insulated from many of the political pressures and dynamics that permeate the other branches of government.
With few exceptions, I saw the justices and my fellow clerks genuinely trying to get it right. When they disagreed with one another, it was always with the idea and not the person. It was so different from the zero-sum, no-holds-barred world of partisan politics I was used to. Of course, there are many reasons for those differences, but one of the important ones is the simple fact that the Supreme Court is a small and tight knit community, whose members not only work together but also regularly share meals, share each other’s joys and sorrows, and share the very real weight of the public trust.
My experience at the court made me far less interested in fighting partisan battles and much more interested in other ways of engaging with issues in the public square.
LN: Are there any biblical models or principles that you draw from as you carry out your work?
AH: Over the past couple years, one of the principles that has really jumped out at me is the Bible’s repeated command that our interactions, disagreements, and even defense of the faith be characterized by “gentleness.” Gentleness is an unmistakable biblical imperative for believers, and once you notice it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
We’re told that gentleness is a “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:23. According to Ephesians 4:3, to “walk in a manner worthy” of our calling means to walk “with all humility and gentleness.” In the opening verses of Titus 3, Paul instructs Titus to remind the believers “to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”
Even as we contend for the faith and seek to be ready to “make a defense,” like it says in 1 Peter 3:15, we’re commanded to “do it with gentleness and respect.” Perhaps most significantly, Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly,” and taught that it is the “meek,” a word often translated as “humble” or “gentle,” who will “inherit the earth.”
In an age when political and social division is rampant, even in the Church, when it feels like religious freedom is under attack, and when our “opponents” seem loud, vocal, even hateful, I wonder what would happen if believers would start taking seriously the call to gentleness.
LN: As you do work in the public square, what does it look like to “seek the welfare of the city” specifically in 2022 America?
AH: In recent years, as an attorney in private practice, my engagement in the public square has been more local and focused on my immediate community. I’m serving and supporting my local church in Denver, a city full of distractions and filled with transient people looking to get away from God, their family, and their past. …
… At the same time, I’m increasingly convinced that there is a growing need and hunger in the Church, perhaps especially among younger Christians, to discover a different way to faithfully engage with politics and culture. You see that in organizations like the AND Campaign, which seeks to equip believers of all political stripes for faithful civic engagement, marked by a firm commitment to both redemptive justice and values-based policy, not allegiance to a political party.
As someone who has seen the good, bad, and ugly in politics over the last 15 years, but who has also seen the beauty of so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ living out their faith in the public square, I’d love to help cast that vision now and in the years ahead.
LN: Where are the pressure points and temptations to compromise in our line of work, and how do you resist those? How do you strengthen your character as a Christian to stand firm?
AH: The danger is always that our faith is co-opted in service of some cause or interest that is not the gospel and the kingdom of God. This happens whenever Christians compromise what is true and right to win the praise or acceptance of the world. In evangelical circles, we usually think of this in terms of currying favor with left-leaning members of the media, academia, or pop culture. But it can also happen in the other direction, if as Christians we start conforming our religious convictions to a conservative, libertarian, or Republican worldview.
We should not expect any party platform, man-made philosophy, or political movement to perfectly align with biblical principles. We can and should ally ourselves with others in common cause, and it may be that one group or another is a more frequent ally on shared priorities. But faithfulness ultimately requires allowing Scripture to challenge and critique every party and platform.
The way we resist both of these temptations is what I talked about earlier, being in God’s Word, being in community, and inviting our families, friends, and churches to speak into our lives. It’s so hard to see clearly when you’re in the trenches. Politics is so competitive, fast-paced, and relentless, which lends itself to black-and-white, us-versus-them, identity-based thinking on both sides. As Christians, we’re called to resist those impulses, but we can’t do it alone.
LN: How do you work with people who don’t share your faith? And how should we interact with people on the opposite side of an issue?
AH: I’m sure that entire books have been written on these topics, but I’ll share a few thoughts from my own experience. First, strive to follow the biblical imperative of gentleness, like we talked about it earlier.
Second, remember that they are your neighbor, made in God’s image. That means you are called to love them and treat them with respect, even when you disagree.
Third, don’t expect someone who is not a Christian to act or think like one. As believers, while we can and should advocate for biblical morality and ethics, we should be far more concerned with whether we are faithfully acting and thinking like Christians.
Finally, do expect to find common ground, even with people who don’t share your faith or political persuasions. Thankfully, the real world is not social media or a TV talk show, which tend to elevate the loudest voices and most extreme views and where the incentive is to perform for your own side rather than engage in good faith. If you’re willing to listen and seek to understand, I think you’ll be surprised how willing most people are to reciprocate, and how easy it is to find common ground. …
LN: What do you see as the greatest needs in the public square, and how can Christians rise up to meet those?
AH: I do not presume to have the single right answer to this question, but I’d echo much of what I’ve talked about in previous answers. I’d love to see Christians lead the way out of our broken political culture and for our engagement in the public square to be marked by gentleness, love of neighbor, and fealty to Scripture, even if that leaves us politically homeless.
I’m also struck by the fact that so many people are hurting right now. We’re coming out of a global pandemic, we’re processing the constant, heartbreaking news out of Ukraine, and I think most people would agree that the last few years have been exhausting on every level: physical, emotional, psychological, relational, and spiritual. On top of that, we’re still dealing with all of the normal brokenness of living in a fallen, sinful world. So while this observation has always been true, you really have no idea what burdens someone may be carrying.
Alarmingly, pastors, who have such an important role to play in their local communities, including by equipping their congregations to faithfully engage in the public square, are burned out and leaving the ministry in increasing numbers. We need grace, and we need to give one another grace. The good news is that we can do that, because all the grace we need is already ours in Christ. ~
Alex Harris is an attorney and former SCOTUS clerk.
This article originally appeared in the Light magazine issue, “Salt & Light in the Public Square.”
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Again, apologies for the long multi-post, but this piece seemed to say things that have come up on the blog in recent years — and it especially affected me now that our nation is embroiled in such a contentious political “season.”
And his words struck me as so calm and so wise (and so faithful) in an age in which calm and wisdom too often have eluded us.
I also pray for revival. I pray for Got to raise up leaders who are wise and have a vision and can help lead the nation through this very difficult period. And I pray for our churches to resist being caught up in the tumult that now is all around us, to remember God is sovereign over our lives and over the life of the nations. He judges nations, he raises up leaders for a purpose, discards them as well, all for his purpose.
May we be faithful and may God have all the glory.
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You would have to mention daddy long legs. I hate those things. On our ranch they would all be in a bundle over the door and when you opened it one would fall on you. I never got in the shower without checking both sides of the curtain. Once got in trouble for not turning out the lights at the pool, a cement pond really. But where you had to turn off the light were so many spiders that I would never reach inside there.
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So I went to my friends house to go to the concert last night, but no one was home, I knocked and knocked. Forgot all about calling. So I went alone.
I was sitting there alone when a young man, 30’s?m came up and said come sit with us. The sweetest guy. We all went camping together when he was young. I had fun making faces at his young daughter.
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Much well said in that, Dj.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/confrontational-christlikeness?fbclid=IwAR1N6w3jsB8AUgdDeogqymHIpFN52vrjvF1yWStDy0L_j_h7TA-tz07A9Sg
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I’m not seeing this as a peaceful age.
And being disliked for the right reasons is good — for the gospel — as there will always be opposition to Christ and his word; disliked for the wrong reasons (because we are offensive in all or the wrong things or are so caught up in the spirit of the age around us) is another issue. I see a lot of the latter in today’s environment.
The U.S. is an amazing nation, we have been blessed to be born (or to have come here as immigrants — which we all were in the beginning, of course).
We have survived difficult times before, I pray we survive this one as well.
But this isn’t and will never be “heaven on earth.”
We are a diverse nation — and, more to the point, we are largely an unbelieving nation now, and that’s an issue the churches also need to grapple with quite separately from political ’causes’ we get caught up in.
The culture has largely been lost. And that’s why our politics are so frustrating to many of us.
What we have in common that led to the famous quote “America is great because America is good” is no longer the case in our particular age. The culture is adrift, grasping at ideas and practices that are contrary to what God has told us is good.
So how then shall we live?
(This is not a new predicament, of course, for God’s people; it perhaps can be said that it’s more the norm than what we’ve enjoyed here for so long.)
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Changing gears — I’ve always seen “daddy longlegs” as benign, almost comical creatures; then again, I’ve never seen a “bunch” of them all together!
Fat spiders freak me out.
Saw a tweet today for the film “The Great Escape.” One of my all time favorites, probably good film to watch on the 4th of July.
But I’m hoping to hoist Abby — one half of her at a time — into the Jeep so we can (finally!) try out the local dog park. Wish me luck …
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Wow. I hope we get to hear from DJ again. Sounds dangerous.
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Is there a Cliff’s notes version of that article?😀
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Abby LOVED the dog park, she ran and danced and chased and got chased, played well with others. She leaped over a (standing) border collie like a hurdle.
But the down side was the ride, I’ve never had a dog that’s really car ‘resistant’ — she’s fine once she’s in, rides well, actually. But getting in requires physical help, my neighbor helped getting her in for the trip to the park, had to get my real estate friend (who lives near the park) to come to help hoist her in for the ride home. Sigh.
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Cliff’s notes? Maybe, love your neighbor as yourself and we are all made in the image of God; Rom. 12:21 – Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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The confrontation that is referred to in the Desiring God article seems to be related to speaking the truth about the gospel, not debating politics or social issues. As for the references to certain prophets, they were addressing kings who were fellow Israelites, of the same religion, not those on the outside. Israel was a special nation, led by God, not a secular nation like those of today.
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Was thinking that too, Kizzie, about the uniqueness of God’s relationship to the (former OT) nation of Israel.
Cliff’s note postscript: Love your enemies ?
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Glad to hear she enjoyed the destination. Hopefully that will outweigh her hesitation. Eventually.
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Well spent the fourth totally alone. Tried to watch fireworks from my hot car but must have been in the wrong place cuz only saw a couple sparkles through the trees.
Thinking I may need to move for my mental health. Got one text from one of my kids today, that’s all
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Sorry to hear of your disappointment, Jo.
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