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One of the most important tellers of hard truths in evangelical churches and the Republican Party, Michael Gerson, passed away this morning.
I first met Michael when he worked in the George W. Bush administration and I was doing my dissertation research on the Christian Right. Our paths crossed many times since then. In the last six years, our camaraderie often revolved around a shared understanding of the disastrous consequences of the Trump presidency for both the Republican Party and evangelical churches.
American Values Coalition formed out of a desire to fight the extremism and misinformation emanating from so many right-wing sources these days, a mission shared by much of Gerson's work. His legacy has been and will continue to be an inspiration for AVC.
Two of our conversations come to mind as I write this.
First, we were talking about the issue of whether to continue identifying as evangelical, given its current close association with Trumpism. He pointed out, and I agreed, that it was an acknowledgement of historical fact for us to identify as evangelical because our faith has been primarily formed by that movement, which has influenced ministries to prisoners, orphans, drug addicts, and poor people.
Second, sometime around 2018, we were talking about the seeming inevitability of an event. I don't recall exactly, but it may have been Trump winning re-election. Michael noted how unpredictable life can be and mentioned the 1918 pandemic as something completely unexpected that changed global events. I recalled that often, two years later, during the 2020 pandemic. As I reflect on it now, I'm reminded of what Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 6:34: "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
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