Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square

by Bill Haslam

Overview

Two-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square.

As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends.

Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including:

• partisanship in our divided era;
• the most essential character trait for a public servant;
• how we cannot escape "legislating morality";
• the answer to perpetual outrage; and
• how to think about the separation of church and state.

 

For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presence argues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400224432
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	481 KB

About the Author

Bill Haslam is the former two-term mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, and former two-term governor of Tennessee, reelected in 2014 with the largest victory margin of any gubernatorial election in Tennessee history. During his tenure, Tennessee became the fastest improving state in the country in K-12 education and the first state to provide free community college or technical school for all of its citizens, in addition to adding 475,000 net new jobs. Haslam serves on the boards of Teach for America and Young Life. In the fall of 2019, Haslam became a visiting professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. He and his wife of thirty-eight years, Crissy, have three children and nine grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Prologue xiii

1 Divided and Angry 1

2 What Is Happening Now? 15

3 Confused, Ineffective, and Exhausted 31

4 Why Should We Care About the Public Good? 45

5 If the Meek Will Inherit the Earth, Who Will Run for Office? 57

6 Is It Hard to Be a Christian in Politics? 75

7 Does Meekness Have a Chance? 89

8 Created in the Image of Whom? 101

9 What About the Separation of Church and State? 111

10 Cyntoia and the Beauty of the Gospel 129

11 My Life in the Arena 143

12 What Does a Faithful Presence Look Like? 159

13 A Few Examples and Why It Matters 173

14 It Starts with Us 187

Epilogue: Until Christ Is Formed in You 199

Acknowledgments 207

Notes 211

About the Author 221

Editorial Reviews

03/08/2021

Former Tennessee governor Haslam debuts with a host of suggestions for ways religious Americans can get meaningfully involved in politics. Haslam shares his concern about the country’s deep divide, but writes that “people of faith can and should play a leading role in healing the wounds of this country.” He concedes that achieving that aim is an uphill climb, because “too often the words and actions of Christians have done more to inflict those wounds than to heal them.” Haslam uses anecdotes from his public service—such as his veto of a bill that would have made the Bible the official state book—to illustrate how he balanced his official responsibilities and his private beliefs, and considers various aspects of his faith, such as the importance of humility when engaging those with different political and cultural leanings. Haslam urges readers to do away with “reacting out of fear” and instead follow the “formational practices of following Jesus” to “serve in the public square for the common good.” His insistence that every person must be viewed as having been made in God’s image informs his perspective on dialogue with others. Readers open to thinking about the relationship between church and state will benefit from this sensible advice. (May)

Publishers Weekly