Cover from the February 2011 revised edition.

Jim Wallis, Rediscovering Values On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street: A Moral Compass for the New Economy (New York, NY: Howard Books, 2010), ix + 255 pages, ISBN 9781439183120.

Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, was quoted as saying, “You don’t ever want to let a crisis go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.” Jim Wallis is founder and CEO of Sojourners as well as editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine; evangelical ministries promoting social justice. In his recent book, Rediscovering Values On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street: A Moral Compass for the New Economy he writes that the current economic crisis is a “transformative moment in history,” one where all Americans have an unprecedented opportunity to make fundamental and, hopefully, long-lasting changes that are not just economic and political, but moral as well. It appears that Wallis is as pragmatic as Emanuel.

Jim Wallis is also the author of recent bestsellers, including The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America (2008) and God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (2006). Along with other writers such as David P. Gushee, author of The Future of Faith in American Politics: Witness of the Evangelical Center (2008), and sociologist James Davison Hunter in his recent book To Change the World (Oxford University Press, 2010), Wallis touches the ideological nerve center of the majority of American people and Christians. To one degree or another, they all advocate the reformation of the large ideological, political, and even spiritual center, moving away from the polarization between Left and Right.

For Wallis, the current economic crisis is the point where the social and spiritual combine to set the stage for combating not only the economic ills brought about by the crisis, but also to offer an opportunity to resurrect the human spirit: a spirit of compassion, creativity, community development and empowerment, and plain old neighbors helping neighbors. It is here at this crux that Wallis sees an opportunity for the wheels of political action, spiritual unity, and social justice to roll into high gear. He examines all three in Rediscovering Values.

Wallis contends that the more important question revolves around our moral compass, a compass that registers the direction of our moral deficit and shows the way toward our moral recovery. But this moral recovery is impossible if clergy, politicians, media and others continually ask the wrong question. “If we start with the wrong question, it doesn’t matter how good our answer is, we’ll always end up in the wrong place. If we only ask how to get back to the place we were before this crisis began, we will miss the opportunity to stop walking in circles and start moving forward” (6). For Wallis, then, the real question—“How will this crisis change us?”—goes to the moral and spiritual heart of social justice; a concept that the evangelical Left touts as its theological and ideological mantra.

Brian D. McLaren, “Emerging Values: The next generation is redefining spiritual formation, community, and mission” Leadership (Summer 2003), pages 34-39.

What are the values of the thirty-somethings entering ministry today?

Brian McLaren says that there is a lot to be hopeful about in the emerging Christian leaders who grew up in a postmodern culture. “The way we traditionally expressed Christianity may be in trouble, but the future may hold new expressions of Christian faith every bit as effective, faithful, meaningful, and world-transforming as those we’ve known so far” (page 35).

McLaren’s hopefulness regarding a postmodern expression of Christianity may be a significant reason why some consider him controversial, however this article has little if anything to concern readers. Rather, this is an appealing invitation to get to know people in the emergent church movement by introducing the values they embrace.

McLaren sees three rivers of thought and emphasis shaping the ministry of the next generation of spiritual leaders. The emerging emphasis on spiritual formation understands Christianity as a way of life, not as a perfect belief system. “Instead of ‘If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain that you would spend eternity with God in heaven?’ the new question seems to be, ‘If you live for another thirty years, what kind of person will you become?’” (page 38). Longing for authentic community, emerging leaders believe the church is about relationships not numbers in attendance or conversions. “Throwing a small-groups program at this hunger for community is like feeding an elephant Cheerios, one by one. What’s needed is a profound reorganization of our way of life, not a squeeze-another-hour-for-‘community’ into the week” (page 38). Leaders take less dominant roles where they serve as team leaders on a shared journey. Finally, the missional emphasis is an invitation to join in the journey. Instead of a rhetoric of exclusion if certain preconditions or statements of belief are not adhered to, “missional Christianity says, ‘God is expressing his love to all outsiders through our acts of kindness and service. You’re invited to leave your life of accumulation and competition and self-centeredness to join us in this mission of love, blessing, and peace. Want to join in the mission?’” (page 39).

If you want to learn about what emerging leaders are emphasizing and is influencing them, I do highly recommend this article. At the time of this writing, the entire article was available here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2003/003/3.34.html

Reviewed by Raul Mock