Our edition theme is “influence.” Can you reflect on NAE’s 80-plus years of influence?

Over the span of 80 years, both individuals and institutions will cycle through many seasons of growth, retreat, successes, failures, and everything that marks the boisterous beauty of life. Yet, there can often be a recurring theme like a melody that holds a song together. Regarding the NAE’s influence, I think a vital theme would be that crisis is an opportunity for renewal. In 1942, the NAE was more into that reality and with that DNA.

The 1900s began with ‘war to end all wars’ that deployed the industrial revolution to horrific effect. This trauma was followed by the global pandemic of 1918, and the whiplash of rapid economic expansion during the Roaring 20s and prolonged economic depression of the 1930s. Then the war to end all wars had to be renamed to the First World War, because World War Two consumed the nations. Within this global social context, the church in America was experiencing tremendous upheavals theologically and culturally. All this sounds eerily familiar to our present moment!

Through the decades, the NAE has sought, however imperfectly at times, to collaborate across differences for the advancement of the gospel in word and deed and for the benefit of society. These initiatives included the founding of World Relief as the humanitarian arm of the NAE, nurturing the process that led to the New International Version as a fresh, evangelical translation of the Bible, and participating in a coalition of secular and religious groups for the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

What guides your approach to leadership influence as NAE president?

It is very easy and often tempting to begin with the ‘what’ of leadership. Funds must be raised, staff teams constructed, strategic plans developed…truly, of the demands of leadership there is no end. While these concerns are vital, the most fundamental questions of influence for me are not what but who. Who is Christ to me and who am I in Christ?

Who is Christ to me and who am I in Christ?

After healing of a man crippled from birth, Peter preaches a sermon that plunges him into deep trouble. The authorities imprison him and John, and then interrogate them: “by what power or what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7). Why were the disciples so bold, unashamed, and transparently confident? As the adage goes, ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know.’ The passage proceeds to recount, “when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (4:13). It was not the disciples’ pedigree or education that stood out. It was their association. They had been with Jesus, and it showed.

To me, the most conspicuous characteristic of Christian leadership should be Christ. Of course, our leadership context (church, business, media, etc.) will determine the various ways that we will manifest that Christ, but the who remains more essential and enduring than the what.

NAE envisions a thriving evangelical community equipped to navigate complexity with biblical clarity. How is that vision being realized?

The Bible recounts that at the synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus “stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:16-19).

This was his grand introduction to public ministry recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus proclaimed a gospel that included both personal salvation and public transformation, particularly for those most on the margins of society.

The good news is comprehensive in scope and compelling in its aim to redeem and restore all that sin has cursed. We want to provide Christians with a deeper and richer discipleship that encompasses the full scope of the Christian faith in our personal and public lives.

Toward that end, we have resources such as For the Health of the Nation that applies biblical principles to complex issues of civic engagement. We host events to bring followers of Jesus together to consider how the gospel transforms every aspect of our lives and our world. Our NAE Chaplaincy equips, endorses, and certifies chaplains to be the presence of Jesus in the military, healthcare, law enforcement and the marketplace. And, World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the NAE, partners with churches to serve the vulnerable with a gospel of word and deed here in the US and throughout the world.

Is navigating such complexity more challenging in this cultural moment?

Every generation will have challenges. At the beginning of the interview, I noted that the NAE was birthed at a time of global crisis and deep challenges within the church. What makes our moment more challenging is that the complexity is more complex! With seismic shifts in American society, we are experiencing numerous tensions – simultaneously becoming more diverse and divided, religiously pluralistic and increasingly secularized, technologically connected and socially isolated. Sociologists and pollsters put percentages to this fracturing, but we have all lived it.

Every generation will have challenges.

Moreover, the speed and scope of change brought about by technology is unparalleled. Disruptive technology used to take decades or even centuries to unfold. Now genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, the algorithms underlying social media, and a myriad of other advancements hold both promise and peril. And these social and technological changes are outpacing our theological, ethic reflection and our discipleship of believers.

How can evangelicals winsomely influence today’s culture?

In The Gospel and our Culture, Lesslie Newbigin proposed that “to affirm the gospel as public truth is to invite acceptance of a new starting point for thought, the truth of which will be proved only in the course of a life of reflection and action which proves itself more adequate to the totality of human experience than its rivals.” This effort is not a matter of bludgeoning others into acquiescence but of building a life together with a deep sense of loyalty to others created in the image of God.

In a time of easy offense and angry tweets, sometimes evangelicals attack the very people we are called to evangelize. While the gospel as public truth must prophetically challenge society, the critiques should be tied to the command to love our neighbor. Even within a pagan society, God called his people to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).

This is not a marketing ploy to improve the sullied image of evangelicals. It reflects a fundamental conviction about the way of Christ to persuade rather than bludgeon people into the kingdom (2 Cor. 5:11-21). 

What are you most encouraged about in the current work of NAE?

Those under 18 are the first Americans to be born as a majority-minority generation, reflecting a cultural mosaic far more complex than ever before. This changing landscape is infusing fresh vitality to American Christianity, even in regions typically seen as post-Christian. The American Bible Society and Barna have conducted an annual “State of the Bible” study, and Boston (where I used to be a pastor during the 2010s) would consistently rank as one of the least Bible-reading cities of America. The Bible-belt it is not! Yet, Boston also was experiencing a quiet but significant revival. The number of churches doubled from 300 in 1965 to 600 in 2015. Many of these churches were evangelical immigrant churches (East Asian, Hispanic, African, Caribbean, etc.). Now, second and third generation immigrants are making their way into other segments of the church.

This scenario is recurring throughout the country. And it is not limited to the local church. This ethnic diversity is appearing throughout the ecosystem of evangelicalism: denominations, Christian colleges, campus ministries at secular universities, and leadership of many organizations. At the NAE, recent member organizations have included the National Association of Native Evangelicals and the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Fellowship. These are new connections that have not been a part of the NAE’s history but will be vital for its future. At a time when differences in our culture are souring into division and disdain, a gospel of reconciliation is a powerful witness by Christians who are ministers of reconciliation in all the spheres of life.

How would you encourage Christian leaders pursuing Christ-honoring influence?

There will always be temptations to take shortcuts, but tenacity of Christ-honoring influence needs to be sustained over time. By this, I don’t mean stubborn, mulish inability to change our minds or adapt to our moment. What we need is godly grit, as encouraged by Paul: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).

Unfortunately for an impatient, results-oriented culture, the proper time from God’s perspective may not be before the next quarterly report or within our five-year strategic plan, or even within our lifetime. But Scripture assures us that service in his name, by his Spirit, for the good of others and for the glory of God will reap a harvest.

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