Prayerfully waiting for God or the “arc of the moral universe” to heal America’s political, racial and religious divisions will do nothing to alter the nation’s downward spiritual and moral trajectory, activist and author John Pavlovitz said.
In fact, no divine or cosmic power will single-handedly rescue democracy, Christianity or Black and LGBTQ people from white supremacy and Christian nationalism without the active involvement of courageous and caring people, Pavlovitz said during a “change-making conversations” webinar hosted by Baptist News Global and moderated by BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield.
Pavlovitz, a veteran of nearly three decades of local church ministry, garnered national attention after writing online about LGBTQ inclusion, resistance to Christian nationalism and opposition to Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. He speaks extensively across the nation and is the author of numerous books including his latest, Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage & Compassion When Cruelty is Trending.
As he does in the book, Pavlovitz cautioned webinar participants against placing faith in popular sayings like “love wins” to deliver miraculous solutions to the nation’s plight.
“We say that, but we have to be active participants in manifesting the way that love does win,” he advised. “It’s going to win through the work we do through the conversations we have; it’s going to work through the political process; it’s going to work through our local churches.”
Wingfield said he was struck by a challenging passage on hope in Worth Fighting For. “It basically says hope isn’t just going to show up on its own. And you even say Jesus isn’t going to come rescue us from this mess we’re in. Wow. I think a lot of us just feel like if we keep praying God is going to deliver like the children of Israel from the Egyptians. But we forget the years of slavery that preceded that.”
Scripture never offers hope for those who just passively wait for it, Pavlovitz responded. “That’s not how it’s ever worked. We have never been able to just say, ‘God do it all.’ I always say if Jesus had come just to save people from eternal torment, the Gospels would have been a lot shorter.”
Even so, many turn to flippant comments like “love wins” instead of showing up through action, Wingfield noted.
“That’s right,” Pavlovitz said. “And the things that matter to us, that are fueled by our religious convictions or our spiritual beliefs or just our morality, those are not just going to happen because they are the right thing. There is an oppositional force, even an oppositional expression of spirituality, that is not going to abide greater equality and greater sharing of resources because it views life as a zero-sum game. That’s why us simply accepting and sitting back is not effective.”
The challenges that must be met are daunting, including the way Christian nationalism, working through the MAGA movement, has spoiled Christianity for many young people — and at a time when overall religious affiliation in the U.S. already is plummeting, he said.
Consequently, young people are not being exposed to the Christian story and theology that previous generations shared, he said. “What they’re seeing is an expression of Christianity that is something exclusionary and predatory.”
Countering that trend requires an active involvement in transforming the church into something that is “drastically different” in modeling the life and values of Christ, he urged. It must become an organic, pliable community no longer limited to “an hour on Sunday in a building.”
“Unless you’re raised in a specifically conservative evangelical environment, we are losing an audience for the teachings of Jesus as an organized religion. I talk about these teachings all the time and I have people who are atheist, agnostic, former Christians and Buddhists who can still approach those stories and find meaning in them.”
Wingfield asked if the term “evangelical” has become a misnomer that should be replaced with “fundamentalist.”
“Really this isn’t even evangelicalism, it’s Trumpism. It’s a completely bastardized version of the Christian faith.”
“I would go a step further,” Pavlovitz said. “I use ‘evangelical’ and ‘white evangelical’ a lot because it’s still the most accepted term to identify a certain theology. But really this isn’t even evangelicalism, it’s Trumpism. It’s a completely bastardized version of the Christian faith.”
Those opposed to this aberration of the faith must actively resist it, he added. “We have to call it out. The fundamentalist streak is completely strong here and I think, someday, we have to figure out how to label it for what it is, which is a cult with religiosity sort of around it.”
Pavlovitz said he is saddened by the unwillingness of right-wing churches to engage in dialogue during the near decade he has spent engaging religious and other groups on the importance of empathy and compassion in such challenging times.
“I have been invited by progressive Christian churches, Mainline Christian churches, humanist conferences, synagogues, mosques and atheist events, but I have never once been invited by a conservative evangelical church to come and talk about these things.”
He asked: ‘How are we going to get across the divide unless people are willing to sit with difference?”
But there is still plenty of work to be done connecting progressive Christians with their allies in the struggle for equality and justice, he said. “I’m actually working on a resource of pastors and nonprofits who are doing this kind of work trying to bridge interfaith communities and trying to have difficult conversations in the local church.”
Pavlovitz said he has been asked, “Where are the progressive Franklin Grahams?” in reference to the absence of high-profile progressive faith leaders capable of leading counter movements.
“I say they don’t exist because a progressive faith generally is about welcoming difference of opinion, sitting with different stories, having those conversations. Because of that, we don’t want a top-down leader, we don’t want an authoritarian. Almost by nature, we reject those national figures and, as a result, we don’t have a unified way to express our collective values. And that’s the thing that grieves me.”
Wingfield asked him to take it a step further by describing his base of support. “Who is your audience? Who is listening to you? Who’s reading you? Who’s talking to you? What are the common denominators among those people?”
Basically, Pavlovitz said, they are people from all over the denominational and political spectrum who are exhausted by the struggle for a just nation and healthy faith.
“Fear, grief and loneliness are pressures we all face.”
“Fear, grief and loneliness are pressures we all face. A lot of people understand that and so they connect around the values of empathy and compassion in a world that is undeniably cruel. That movement seems to be coming from leaders in politics and religion.”
Otherwise, it’s nearly impossible to identify allies demographically, he added. “Early on I was looked at as a voice for progressive Christianity, and I just tried to tell people I’m not speaking for a movement, I’m speaking for myself and the questions I have and the prompts I’m feeling. Those who resonate with those can join me.”
Wingfield explained that he struggles not to be harsh with church leaders who remain quiet or passive on issues of equality and justice: “How do you feel about pastors who are trying to hide out right now and ride out the wave and not cause ruffles in their churches?”
Pavlovitz said he shares that impatience, “but I understand the tensions and how political a job that is, and that most of the time you don’t even realize what’s happening. We may see it as someone who’s hiding or being silent, and they may just see it as ‘I’m trying to navigate something that’s really complex and I don’t know how to do it.’”
At the same time, the urgency and danger of the moment leave no room for complacency on white supremacy, Christian nationalism and racial, gender and LGBTQ discrimination, he said.
“There is no time to try and coddle people or to maybe protect even myself. We just have to say it as clearly as we can because there is not a lot of time to waste. We are not talking about politics or theology in big letters, we’re talking about human beings and we’re talking about people who are under duress right now.”
View four video clips of the BNG webinar with John Pavlovitz here:
On transitioning from pastor to writer
On crossing the ideological divide
On losing an audience for the teachings of Jesus
On Christianity requiring active participation