He’s from the reddest county in the reddest state of the US.
As a young sceptic, Michael Wear was persuaded to attend a Christian youth group – which he hated. On his way out a volunteer handed him a tract from Romans, no commentary, just the text. ‘You can reject Paul’s argument in Romans, but you can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist after you’ve read it.’ Some 72 hours later he gave his life to Christ.
Michael grew up in a big Italian Catholic family, he would discern between the Saints according to the foods he liked, associated with the traditional holidays – not the most theologically reflective faith. When Michael made the conscious decision to follow Christ, he figured the way to go from there was to go to seminary, become a pastor, ‘What else do Christians do?’ Fortunately, he had a good pastor and an understanding of civic duty, which lead him to Washington to pursue his desire to know what it means to be a Christian in public life.
Working with Obama
During his first year at George Washington University, he was to lead a group to a political convention, where he soon discovered that he had the wrong date. Embarrassed and dejected, he made his way through the lobby toward the exit. Fate struck as a young senator by the name of Barack Obama entered. Michael met the soon-to-be president of the United States and connected with staff. Ten months later he was in Iowa, Chicago, entering into the world of American politics. He worked on the inauguration, and later served three years in the White House as the Executive Assistant of Faith-based and Neighbourhood Partnerships. At 20, he was one of the youngest members of staff at the White House.
Now, at 25, having gained invaluable insights and experience of what it truly means to be the salt and the light, he shared his lessons learned of faith in politics.
Christians in public life
The Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) hosted their first Edmund Burke Briefing of 2017 on Shrove Tuesday 28 February, at St Matthew’s Westminster Church, London. Michael Wear, former faith advisor to the Obama White House, spoke to a select audience from first-hand experience on the importance of Christians being active in public life. He believes it is the common calling of all believers to engage with the culture of the times in which they have been placed. For we are the torchbear-ers of the gospel, and where we have been positioned is where we ought to serve others for the sake of the Lord, bringing his qualities to the forefront of our community and country. CCF members and attendees asked a range of perceptive questions about the nature of political life, the complexity and pressures of campaigning and policy-making, and the overarching necessity of tena-ciousness in our commitment to making politics work for the good of all people.
Polarisation
With secularism on the rise in the West and Christians heeding to the polarisation of religious influence in politics, receding from the national dialogue, Michael Wear’s recent authorship of the book Reclaiming Hope dis-cusses the significance of the voices of Christian leaders and believers within their public roles. It recognises how big the church actually is in its honest account of faith inside one of the world’s most powerful political offices, with unprecedented insight into the controversial topics of the last eight years, from gay marriage and the politicisa-tion of religious freedom to the administration’s failure to find common ground on abortion. Reclaiming Hope is a passionate call for faith in public space, and an encouragement for Christians to see politics as a way to ‘love your neighbour’.
Not our saviours
Michael entertained and inspired his audience with anecdotes from the frontline of American politics, while reminding all that we must not put our faith in politics, but must be faithful in politics. Our political leaders and members are merely men and women, they are not our saviours and they do not have the power to change the eternal things that concern us. However, they are greatly significant in their roles. Michael argues this in pointing out that ‘party polarisation is at an all-time high’, which solicits the question – what does it mean to be a faithful Christian in public things?
‘If our most intimate social relationships are driven by our political identities, and if that identity is compounded generationally, what does that mean for basic social and cultural cohesion?’ Michael expressed that one of the things that was formative to him was not just the understanding that faith had to influence politics, but that it was apparent that politics was affecting faith. The church is one of the remaining institutions that has the capacity to bring people of various political ideologies together.
Christians distinguish themselves from their party’s identity. One can serve communities and countries as opposed to being self-serving. This ability is what frees believers to be agents of change and integrity within their respected party; despite political differences, all can pursue what is just. Through being more critical of the party one is a part of, one guards oneself against this fall into political tribalism.
Challenging and celebrating
To work in an environment that is not always the most religiously literate, in a rapidly increasing secularist society, may strike us as a disadvantageous position for Christians in public life. Whether in American or UK politics, the need for faithful Christians in public life is crucial. Michael believes in showing leaders support when they act faithfully and being equally active and vocal in dialogues concerning issues that oppose what is just. Believers ought to challenge the detriments of secular culture and celebrate the areas in which it aligns with the faith, being propagators of truth in engaging with politics from a Christian perspective; to promote and deliver positive change, and to seek out the answers to the issues God has placed on our hearts.
Michael Wear’s message to all believers, to Christians on both sides of the Atlantic, is that ‘now is the time for joyful confidence in public, not a time for cultural retreat or withdrawal’. It is precisely the time, and has been for some time, to provide an apologia; the answer to the most critical questions concerning our world today. To reclaim and share the hope we have been given as believers. ‘What can I hope for?’ ‘Can I hope for anything at all?’ Now is a time, politically speaking, that requires courage, ‘but we can be safe and secure knowing that the same God who was the good shepherd to David, is shepherding us now.’
If we are to truly address the circumstances of the voiceless, the oppressed and the vulnerable, we must acknowledge that, while prayer and private acts of kindness and compassion are essential, an approach that only consists of these things is incomplete.
