Two-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam, and devoted friend of Young Life, reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square.
As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends.
Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including:
partisanship in our divided era;
the most essential character trait for a public servant;
how we cannot escape "legislating morality";
the answer to perpetual outrage; and
how to think about the separation of church and state.
For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presenceargues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.
Read a short excerpt here:
The images are as jarring in hindsight as they were on that day. The US Capitol under siege by protesters. Windows smashed. A woman fatally shot. Demonstrators climbing on statues in the rotunda. Members of Congress huddled under their desks. A protester dangling from the balcony above the Senate floor across the inscription Annuit Coeptis (meaning “[God] has favored our undertakings”).
On that same day, the country set a new record for deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed a summer of racial unrest, social justice protests, and a bitterly contested presidential election.
The entire country seems to be at each other’s throats. Republicans are convinced that Democrats are socialists and them winning elections will mean the end of our country. Democrats are convinced that Republicans are racist with no concern for those the Bible calls “the least of these.” Activists on the left and the right are convinced that only they represent “We the people” and vow to take back their government from the politicians.
The words of Isaiah ring true almost three thousand years later: “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter” (59:14).
How did we get here? And, more importantly, where do we go from here? If “truth has stumbled in the public squares,” do we just give up on the public square as a place to solve problems? Having served as a mayor and a governor, I know the limitations of government and the wisdom of the psalmist’s advice to “put not your trust in princes” (Psalm 146:3). But I also know that it matters who we elect, and it matters even more what they do and how they act after they are elected. Like we teach our children: decisions have consequences. Who we put in office and how we support those people make even more of a difference than I thought before I was in office.
Politics is the way that groups make decisions on how they will govern themselves so they can live together, whether it be your neighborhood association, a middle school student council, or a country. Like every other noble calling, politics can easily be twisted into a passionate pursuit of our own political success instead of a desire to serve. At its best, politics can be about wise, selfless decisions that mean better lives for people.
Unfortunately, it is far too common for politicians on both sides to play to the frustration and outrage of the voters they seek. Real leadership, however, is about connecting the legitimate problems facing those voters with the difficult reality of governing—and actually working to solve those problems.
While there is hope for solving a pandemic with a vaccine, there is no vaccine for the contemptuous polarization that grips us today. As the American experiment faces its greatest test since the Civil War, what can we, elected officials and concerned citizens, do to be faithful in such a time as this?