Pursuing a better Christian public engagement, together
Reflecting on an enriching week with the Center for Christianity and Public Life
Earlier this month I was fortunate to spend a few days with my cohort of fellows at the Center for Christianity and Public Life. This retreat was unlike anything I had experienced in my professional life, in the most positive sense imaginable. We learned from one another and from several mentors—professionals from various fields and backgrounds—as we began to consider what a “distinctly Christian contribution to civic life” might look like in an age of increasing political polarization and calcification.1
One of the core beliefs of CCPL is that when it comes to civic and public engagement, the kind of people we are matters. Put differently, who we are on the inside matters for what we do on the outside. As one of the week’s speakers said, “Better politics requires better people, people who are becoming more like Jesus.”
In order to do political engagement well as Christians, we have to prepare to engage the world, first and foremost, as Christians. Christian political engagement is not merely advocating for policies motivated by our faith. Rather, it is driven by a particular posture and vision for public life together, one shaped not by the world but by the kingdom of God.
We can—and should!—advocate for political outcomes and wield political power when given the opportunity. But how we do this matters a great deal, in terms of being faithful to our identity as fallen people made in the image of God and redeemed in Jesus. My week with CCPL did not so much confirm my priors as it provide a more sophisticated and complex system of thinking about the things I regularly dwell on.
The inaugural cohort of CCPL Public Life Fellows is a diverse group. We come from a variety of professional backgrounds — scholars, practitioners, pastors, and activists, all caring deeply about the role of faith in public life. One of the fellows is an award-winning author and novelist. Another is in law enforcement. Another advocates for the end of capital punishment. Another is a professor of philanthropy. On the surface, we are a strange group to be thrown together.
But as we spent the week in rural Virginia,2 eating with, learning from, and laughing with one another, our group clicked. We discovered that, despite differences in upbringing, theology, interests, and even politics, our desire for a better political engagement for Christians dwarfed any of these relatively minor distinctions. I’m thankful to have been reminded of the beauty of diversity and complexity of the body of Christ, especially when I’m reflexively prone to view questions of political and public engagement in narrow, siloed ways.
In addition to getting to know and learn from the fellows, I was also fortunate to engage with several mentors with expertise in my areas of interest. I connected with the leader of a nonprofit dedicated to combating political and social polarization. I spoke to a journalist whose work is driven by a commitment to truth and conveying important stories to religious communities who are inclined toward skepticism. And I learned from two people with decades of experience in teaching and administration in Christian higher education, and whose professional lives have given them a deep understanding of and vision for the future of this community.
When I travel, I’m usually only gone for one or two days. This retreat was a longer commitment, requiring me to leave early Monday and return home late Friday. It was hard to be away for so long, missing my family and knowing that my wife was picking up the burden of my absence. But on multiple occasions before my departure, Caitlyn told me how much she thought the week would be refreshing and enriching for me.
And, as she is most of the time, she was right.
I love my work as a college professor. To borrow some phrasing from the retreat, a joy of my work is investing in and equipping young adults as they discern their specific callings. Engaging in deep and meaningful fellowship with a such a diverse yet committed group of Christian leaders reinforced my commitment to this work, and laid the groundwork for what promises to be an exciting and rewarding collaboration in the months ahead.
I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in my relationship with CCPL, and I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead.
Our second meeting this summer will start to flesh out these possible contributions in greater detail, as we prepare to present during CCPL’s “For the Good of the Public” conference in November.
I can’t say enough good things about Meadowkirk. The lodging, the food, the staff — everything about it was top notch.