51ÉçÇø

Walking the polished marble steps of Washington is like taking an excursion through history – to follow in the steps of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and so many others who have given leadership to our nation.

Today, a new generation of statesmen and political leaders walk these steps. But what is the source of their inner strength and direction? As they walk these corridors of power, what place does faith play in their own lives?

According to Ed Bryant, a representative from Tennessee, though the pressures may be greater in Washington, the challenges are no different than those experienced by Christians in the private sector.

“I think it’s a challenge for everybody, not just the people that are in Congress,” says Bryant. “Once you step outside your church walls, you’re in a secular world that obviously doesn’t agree with you on a lot of issues.

“Trying to represent everybody in terms of typical political issues is pretty easy, but it’s when you begin to draw that line and talk about social issues – that’s when your faith particularly comes into play, like with abortion,” explains Bryant. “I think the answer for me and other people out there is simply living your faith.”

Representative J.C. Watts, a Republican from Oklahoma, also believes that whatever your profession, your faith must stay real.

“I think God wants us to grow wherever He plants us,” says Watts. “Whether in the halls of Congress, in education, the business community, in nursing. I think you can be a witness wherever you are. I’ve always thought you should allow your faith to navigate your politics, as opposed to having your politics navigate your faith. If your faith is inexplicably woven in your daily life, I don’t know how you can put it on and take it off,” says Watts, a former Baptist youth pastor who still preaches many times each year around the country.

Tony Hall, a Democrat from Ohio who has served in Congress for more than 20 years, focuses much of his work on bringing God into the workplace, particularly in the area of feeding the hungry. Early in his political career, he was challenged as a believer by one of his friends to think about how to integrate his faith with his work. After a visit to Ethiopia in the early 1980’s – where he witnessed 25 children die in the space of an hour – he knew what he had to do.

“Coming back on the plane, as I read the scriptures, I began to think: I can bring what the scriptures say into the workplace and work on them as a Congressman and try to save lives at the same time,” says Hall, who has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

But is it harder to live your faith in Washington, D.C., where your decisions and the ultimate outcomes of polls and votes can dictate whether you return to Congress?

“I think one of the things that would surprise people is how much support there is for faith-based lifestyles and faith-based decision-making,” says Republican Party Chief Deputy Whip Roy Blunt, who is also a former Southern Baptist college president from Missouri. “There are a number of activities during the course of the week that are available to members of Congress in both parties.”

These opportunities include early morning prayer breakfasts, afternoon Bible studies, and a number of small-group fellowships organized by individual congressmen.

Zach Wamp, a representative of Tennessee in his third term of office, is very active in his prayer and Bible study group. Loosely termed ‘The Fellowship,’ he is one of seven members – four Republican and three Democrat – who share a house during the week when Congress is in session.

“We walk together, we meet together, we pray together, we are together,” says Wamp. “That group is then part of a larger group of people of faith in Congress.” Wamp adds that their goal is to not just focus on things seen, but to focus on things unseen.

Wamp says that his group sees themselves as ministers not only to each other, but to other members of Congress as well. “The scripture says pray for laborers. We pray that we would be laborers in the field while we’re here for people who’ve been given the privilege of serving.” The principle of the group is based on 1 John 1:7. “If we walk in the light with each other, you know, He will cleanse us from our sin, and we will have fellowship with one another,” explains the Tennessee congressman.

Wamp adds that when mixing politics and faith, the most important word is love.

“A lot of people look at anyone of faith that’s involved in public life and assume that they’re some self-righteous, Bible-thumping zealot. Our thought and goal is that we would bury Jesus so deep in our hearts that everyone would know that He is alive in us, without us preaching to them. St. Francis of Assisi said that in all things preach the gospel, and when necessary, use words.

“The operative word is love. If we can be hearers and carriers of His love to others, then we’re carrying out public service and a life of faith,” says Wamp.

Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, agrees. “One of the most difficult things in politics is to speak truth in love, as we’re called to do. It has so often come to speak in truth and hate, and then you’re just a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. Or worse, you’re harmful to others, and you actually drive people away from Jesus, from the very fundamentals of a God of love.”

When asked how he speaks the truth in love, Brownback explains. “You don’t impugn another person individually. You don’t attack them personally.”

While speaking truth in love on issues may be possible, expressing Christian love across party lines can sometimes prove more difficult.

Ronnie Shows, a Democrat from Mississippi who is completing his first term in Congress, says he has been discouraged at how partisan relationships can become.

“I’ve actually had some people with whom I’ve shaken their hand find out I’m a Democrat and pull their hand away,” says Shows. He says that partisan views reign in both parties, and not just in the members themselves. It’s common for staff members to disassociate themselves with other staff unless they belong into the same party.

“If you’re a good person, and you vote your convictions, I don’t care what party you belong to. I can live with a person if that’s the way they really feel about a particular vote,” says Shows, who adds that while he will occasionally vote along party lines, if he doesn’t morally agree, he won’t vote against his conviction.

The majority of politicians who are Christians say that what they need the most are prayers and support of other Christians.

“I ask people all the time if they will pray for all of us in Washington because I realize the decisions we have to make are enormous and very complex,” says Walter Jones, a congressman from North Carolina. “I think that people of faith really need to be more conscientious and much more serious than ever as to what candidate they might vote for. They need to look in depth at what that person pledges to do.”

According to Wamp, one of the biggest burdens on politicians is the physical separation from home and family. Like most members serving in Congress, Wamp is away from his family during the week and commutes home on weekends.

“People in public office are the same flawed and failed humans that we all are,” says Brownback. “We have the same sets of problems as everybody else. But I would hope that would cause others to pray for people in public office all the more.”

Brownback also points out that he wishes more Christians would be active in public service.

“Instead of saying ‘I’m just going to trash this group of people because I think they’re all a bunch of crooks, I would hope people would say, ‘no, I’m going to go in and help change the system, and make it better for people and better for the country’.”

While America continues to have its share of problems, with eroding morals and widespread apathy for value and truth, Bryant believes that there is still hope.

“Without Christ we have no hope. While I realize how difficult our situation can be, there are many good people up here in Washington as there are around the country that are praying and trying to do the right thing,” says Bryant. “Without hope, we’re all in trouble. As a believer we have that hope, and that goes beyond just simply my family having salvation, but also this country. There could be a spiritual revival in the future. Ultimately that will be what saves this country – a renewal, a spiritual-type revival. I see a sense of people up here that people back home don’t see – a lot of people getting together quietly, and it doesn’t make the headlines of the newspaper or the six o’clock news. So I think there’s hope. I really do.”

Living in Two Realms

Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at 51ÉçÇø, David P. Gushee, is a national authority in the area of ethics and specializes in the area of Christian faith and politics. His most recent book, an edited compilation of papers presented at a conference held at Union in 1998, is titled Christians and Politics After the Culture Wars: An Agenda for Engagement. The volume is by Baker Book House.

“If you cannot even shake the hand of someone of a political party, it’s going to be hard to work in the same room on legislation you both can live with. Real human needs and problems are not being addressed,” says Gushee, who grew up in the Washington, D.C. area where his father worked for the Congressional Research Service.

According to Gushee, Christians should realize that the ultimate issue of life is God and our relationship with God.

“Political parties are earthly creations and no political party can be identified with the kingdom of God,” says Gushee. “This approach can help you avoid demonizing people who hold part of a party or political view. My party association is not ultimate, it’s penultimate, and it’s not truth, it’s partial.

“If we’re into politics, we tend to get very arrogant about the truthfulness of our own party’s beliefs and even to demonize the other side,” Gushee says. He adds that doesn’t mean Christians can’t be affiliated with a political party; however, a particular party’s agenda cannot be taken as God’s absolute truth.

“Right now, evangelical Christians are increasingly strongly identified with the Republican Party. And there are reasons for that, especially on some heartfelt issues like abortion,” Gushee asserts. He points out that there are also deeply committed Christians in other parties, citing the long history of legislation sponsored by the Democratic Party to help the poor.

“Christians are called in scripture to help the poor. There are Christians who are evaluating what a political party does to help the poor,” says Gushee. “I often say I have never seen a political party’s agenda that I’ve felt completely comfortable with. People need to go to a consistent biblical vision and hold all parties and their agendas to it.”

Gushee believes that views are influenced not only by your upbringing but by your environment, resulting in moral blind spots.

“We all tend to have blind spots morally and politically. With certain issues, the moral dimensions are very clear, but other issues we miss, or we’re not thinking clearly enough, or our environments have not pointed them out.” One reason Gushee says individuals need to be civil in conversation with people is so we may learn where our own blind spots are.

“Civility doesn’t mean you don’t have strong convictions yourself, but it means you’re open to your own fallibility – that you can learn something from this person,” says Gushee.

Congressional Profiles

J.C. Watts
football hero, youth pastor, and now a third-term congressman from Oklahoma, recalls a time when God was very evident in Congress.

Tony Hall
"I really wasn’t a believer until I came to Congress." Representative Tony Hall, a Democrat from Ohio, admits that might sound strange. Though he had grown up in a Presbyterian church as a child, he says he knew nothing about the Lord until he came to Washington as a congressman in 1978. In his quiet, deliberate way, Hall explains his transformation.

Sam Brownback
a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, can distinctly remember a time when his faith grew after overcoming an incredible challenge – a look at his own mortality.

Making the Right Choice

Tom Coburn
a representative from Oklahoma, will finish his third and last term in Congress this fall. A medical doctor by profession and one of the few politicians who has set term-limits on himself and stuck by them, Coburn is a firm believer that Congress should be made up of average citizens, not career politicians. With the upcoming election in November, Coburn has some advice for those who will make their way to the polls this year.

Sean Evans
a new political science professor this year at Union who specializes in American politics and government. He thinks believers should carefully consider the men and women they send to represent them.