Wallis, The Great Awakening

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Jim Wallis, The Great Awakening: Seven Ways to Change the World, Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. HarperOne, 2009.

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LifeandLeadership.com Summary

The hardbound version of this volume was written just before the 2008 election, and reflected Wallis’ belief that America was about to experience an awakening where government took religious values seriously and where religious people postured themselves more soundly on issues of civic morality and social justice. Whether one believes this is occurring, the value of this text remains.

In a previous volume, God’s Politics, (link) Wallis argued that Christians should go beyond partisan wrangling and affirm the full wealth of scripture in their political convictions. In this book, he goes beyond how one votes or aligns politically, to how one actually translates biblical convictions into social action on issues such as creation care, racial equality, abortion, family values, war and peace, and corporate leadership.

Those familiar with Wallis’ organization, Sojourners can expect the progressive evangelical stance of their journal reflected in this book. On the other hand, those unfamiliar with Wallis but who have heard of him only anecdotally as, for example, opposing the Iraq War and supporting abortion and bashing capitalism, would remain in ignorance of Wallis’ true positions and deprive themselves of rich commentary by refusing to read this book. Jim Wallis cannot be adequately represented anecdotally. He writes with an almost unparalleled awareness of the full complexity of current issues, and then seeks to infuse all subjects with Christian values, resulting in such multifaceted proposals to defy quick summation. One does not have to agree with Wallis, but a Christian who wants to be well-informed should at the very least consult him and then supplement him with counter-balancing sources.

From the Publisher

With the success of his God’s Politics national tour—where book signings turned into large town meetings— Jim Wallis started a nationwide movement that ended the Religious Right’s monologue on faith and politics. After speaking with people across the country as well as with political leaders and presidential candidates in Washington, DC, Wallis brings us The Great Awakening—a plan forward for reviving the heart and soul of our nation.

Here, Wallis not only chronicles the demise of the Religious Right and the changes in DC’s rarefied air, but summarizes America’s legacy of combining personal faith and political justice that inspired such changes as the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, and the anti-war movement. The Great Awakening offers “rules of engagement” for a politics that transcends partisanship embracing common values for the common good. Wallis offers seven personal, communal, and political commitments that are beginning to gain popularity among Americans of faith:

Integrity & Accountability for our politicians
Opportunity & Inclusion for the working poor
Stewardship & Renewal for our decaying environment
Life & Dignity for global suffering and skyrocketing healthcare
Family & Community in the face of disturbing trends like the “me” generation’s online alienation
Equality & Diversity to think clearly about immigration concerns and a shrinking world
Peace & Justice for a globe racked with wars over resources and religions

These commitments are beginning to bring about a resurgence of personal faith and social justice to make this country stronger. With The Great Awakening, Wallis beats the drum calling the entire nation to rediscover our moral center, and provides the reader with a concrete plan forward and the inspiration to build the kind of movement that has saved our country in the past and can do so today.

About the Author

Jim Wallis is the author of the New York Times bestseller God’s Politics, which electrified Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics by offering an alternative voice. Wallis is a leading figure at the crossroads of religion and politics in America today, the author of eight books, and the founder of Sojourners, a global faith and justice network. He is a public theologian, an internationally renowned speaker and preacher, a faith-based activist, husband, and father to two young boys, and a Little League baseball coach.

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