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[[link removed]]Dear friend,

Christ in Crisis? Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Fear, Hate, and Violence (the title of the new paperback edition of Christ in Crisis ) says it all for me. Because of the moment we are in, this book, now more than
ever, feels like the most important one I have ever done. And starting today,
it’s available in paperback
[[link removed]] , with a new preface focused on what this time of global pandemic and renewed
momentum for the long overdue work of racial equity means for followers of
Jesus.

In nearly every presidential election cycle a narrow set of so-called religious
issues come to the fore: abortion, LGBTQ rights, and religious liberty.
Candidates fall on one side or the other and predictable controversies erupt.
It’s exhausting to see people of faith lumped into a media narrative that
largely only follows white Christians. But I believe that tired and
oversimplified narrative is changing — and that the crises of 2020 are making
that change clearer than ever.

COVID-19 is changing American life and will continue to do so; not just in the
traumatic disease and death it is causing but also by how it has laid bare the
inequalities and injustices of our social system that makes the suffering so
racially and economically unequal. We’ve also seen a too-long-delayed awakening
among many white people about our nation’s systemic racism, which the public
murder of George Floyd sparked around the country. An excruciating 8 minutes and
46 seconds has led to a deeper conversation about the last 401 years of slavery
and racism — partly because a shut-down nation was watching.

The message: Racism is a religious issue. Not only that, I would argue that
racism is the central religious issue in this election.

I wrote Christ in Crisis in 2017 and 2018 in response to the crises of democracy and faith in which we
have found ourselves for many years, but that have become so much worse since
the 2016 election.

At the beginning of 2020, I said that this year, and specifically this election,
would be a test of democracy and a test of faith. I dearly wish that these words
hadn’t proven even more prescient than I imagined. Those of us who believe
racism is the primary religious issue in this election must find practical ways
to put our faith into action for the sake of our democracy and of our faith.

GET CHRIST IN CRISIS? TODAY — NOW IN PAPERBACK WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION
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I wrote this book for laypeople and clergy who desperately want to learn how to
apply their faith in Jesus to the historical moment we are in, but also for a
whole new generation — many who have left the churches and religion but are
still eager to hear what this brown-skinned rabbi who was born in what is now
Palestinian territory has to say. Almost miraculously, Jesus has survived all of
us Christians, and there is a great hunger out there for his liberating and
transformative message. The central message of this book is that Christians have
become disconnected from Jesus, and it is time to return, to become connected to Jesus again. And I
believe that key to navigating our current political and religious crisis are
the teachings and person of Jesus, both of which are supposed to turn our world,
society, and politics upside down.

In particular, this book raises up the questions that Jesus asked or were
prompted by those listening to him at the beginning of his short ministry. There
are eight questions, I believe, that provide the essential keys to put our
political times into spiritual and gospel perspective and begin a process of
turning things around — by learning what we are for and not just against. Each
chapter asks a question that Jesus asked or sparked as he walked and lived among
us. And he expected a response — both then and now.

We all know we are approaching the most important election of our lifetimes, and
we need to change the national discussion from binary politics to a moral
conversation that can help bring many together. That will be my mission these
next two months — to help change the national narrative by raising racism as the
key religious issue of this election and emphasizing the key Jesus questions we
all need to answer.

Let me be perfectly clear: This book is about our savior and Lord and what he
requires of us. The way of Jesus discredits and diametrically opposes the
politics of the small, narcissistic, and amoral man in the White House, who
appeals to many of our deepest demons and sins and so often models the exact
opposite of the spirit of Christ, and whose words, behavior, and policies are in
fact in the spirit of anti-Christ . Jesus has always been the name that is the greatest threat to the earthly
tyrants of power. It still is. Jesus must now be reclaimed and is worth
reclaiming in both our personal and public lives.

Bless you all.

In Christ,
Jim Wallis

ORDER CHRIST IN CRISIS? — NOW IN PAPERBACK WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION — TODAY
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