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, 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

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