On a recent rainy night, an evangelical Christian preacher held 900 people spellbound at a Pasadena church. He roared about evil and sexual morality. He quoted Jesus and the Hebrew prophets. He shared his story of conversion, recalling the fire-and-brimstone minister who first drew him to Christ.
But the Rev. Jim Wallis, 56, saved most of his thunder for matters not typically found in evangelical Christian sermons: poverty, environmental protection and peacemaking. To Wallis, such issues are dominant biblical mandates that deserve as much attention as abortion, gay marriage and other hot-button issues.
"What's at stake is the meaning of being evangelical," Wallis told the crowd at First Congregational Church. "The monologue of the religious right is over, and a new dialogue has begun!"
Stout and silver-haired, Wallis is a longtime social activist, author and executive director of Sojourners, a Washington-based Christian ministry best known for its monthly magazine on faith, politics and culture. He confounds stereotypes of evangelical Christians by arguing for conservative social morality but a dovish foreign policy and an economic agenda focused on helping the poor.
Urging common ground, he has chided the right for views that promote "pro-rich, pro-war and pro-American" policies and the left for bowing to "secular fundamentalists" who dismiss the public import of faith. In the past, his views had gained a loyal but limited following, along with criticism. But intensified national debate over faith and politics since the November election has propelled Wallis to the forefront as a possible bridge between left and right.
His new book, "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It" has become a national bestseller since its Jan. 18 release. His book tour speeches are drawing large and diverse crowds.
Senate Democrats invited him to their issues conference in January, and Senate Republican staff members consulted with him on the party caucus' anti-poverty agenda unveiled March 2 by U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and others. The package includes tax incentives for charitable giving, welfare reform, low-income housing assistance and prisoner mentoring programs.
"He has a bridging capacity as a convener because he has credibility in both camps," Mark Rodgers, staff director of the Senate Republican Conference, said of Wallis. Although some Republicans are suspicious of Wallis, a registered Democrat, Rodgers says that the preacher supports some of the same faith-based efforts that the GOP does and that Wallis would continue to be consulted.
