Christ in Crisis?: Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Fear, Hate, and Violence

Writing in response to our current “constitutional crisis,” New York Times bestselling author and Christian activist Jim Wallis urges America to return to the tenets of Jesus once again as the means to save us from the polarizing bitterness and anger of our tribal nation.

In Christ in Crisis? Jim Wallis provides a path of spiritual healing and solidarity to help us heal the divide separating Americans today. Building on “Reclaiming Jesus”—the declaration he and other church leaders wrote in May 2018 to address America’s current crisis—Wallis argues that Christians have become disconnected from Jesus and need to revisit their spiritual foundations. By pointing to eight questions Jesus asked or is asked, Wallis provides a means to measure whether we are truly aligned with the moral and spiritual foundations of our Christian faith.

“Christians have often remembered, re-discovered, and returned to their obedient discipleship of Jesus Christ—both personal and public—in times of trouble. It’s called coming home,” Wallis reminds us. While he addresses the dividing lines and dangers facing our nation, the religious and cultural commentator’s focus isn’t politics; it’s faith.

As he has done throughout his career, Wallis offers comfort, empathy, and a practical roadmap. Christ in Crisis is a constructive field guide for all those involved in resistance and renewal initiatives in faith communities in the post-2016 political context.

In this crucial book, Wallis goes deeper than politics to ask the defining questions of our time:

• Faith and Politics: How to answer the "Caesar question" and navigate a constitutional crisis by putting loyalty to Jesus before any political party or leader.
• Servant Leadership: A powerful alternative to the politics of domination, based on Jesus’s radical call to serve others and wash feet—even in the highest offices.
• White Nationalism as Heresy: A direct theological challenge to the resurgence of racial bigotry, arguing that "America First" and white supremacy are a brutal denial of the image of God.
• The Matthew 25 Test: Discovering how our treatment of "the least of these"—the stranger, the poor, the prisoner—is the ultimate measure of our discipleship.