This semester, I’m teaching a course called “Faith and Politics” at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. It’s been a fascinating class for me, and I’m blessed to have very bright students who are required to volunteer for an actual political campaign and keep a journal of their experience.

Their final assignment is to write a paper proposing strategies for healing our divided nation. Our assumption is all of the major faith traditions have important resources to bring to conflict transformation and reconciling opponents.

A few lessons from my class might be useful for politicians and for the entire nation as we move toward the election.

First, moderation is an ancient virtue with modern applications.

We have read Aristotle, who focuses on character and virtue as key elements for effective citizenship and leadership. He explicitly warns against allowing our personality traits and behaviors to become extreme, rather urging us to pursue the moderate middle or what he calls the “golden mean.”

Aristotle also teaches citizenship is a form of friendship in which we should become friends of the city and its common good.

Second, interrogate every truth claim and campaign promise.

We read cognitive psychologist George Lakoff, who popularized the idea of mental “frames” or word pictures and phrases that grab people emotionally and intellectually. They offer a simple story of the good society and of human possibility.

Remember Ronald Reagan’s phrase, “It’s morning in America”? This is what Donald Trump is aiming for as he speaks of “Making America Great Again,” and similarly, it’s the aim of Hillary Clinton’s vision slogan, “Better Together.”

But the art of persuasion can be just that—an art, a performance and something that can be faked. That’s why our class has talked about the importance of raising critical questions and demanding evidence for every claim made by solicitous politicians.

Aristotle also had much to say about rhetoric as the art of persuading others to embrace your arguments. Fear and emotional manipulation through campaign rhetoric are not worthy of intelligent citizens who bear the heavy responsibility of deciding how to “promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” to quote the wonderful language in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution

Third, effective leadership combines managerial competence and bold, exciting vision.

We have learned from Martin Luther King Jr. the importance of occasionally being what he called “transformed nonconformists.” These are women and men who love their nation and love truth and justice so much they are willing to risk their well-being and violate conventional norms of acceptable behavior to advance the common good.

But visionary leadership also must be balanced by competent management.

I have used a wonderful workbook, Learning to Lead by experts Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith, to talk about key competencies every leader must master. These include building trust through integrity, mastering the context, knowing yourself, developing a powerful vision and communicating with meaning. Few leaders have all of these qualities in perfect balance, but they certainly are worthy goals for which to strive.

The course has included a lecture series. We have heard from scholars, public intellectuals and government leaders as they reflect on the role of values and religious beliefs in our national political life.

Devoted, diverse and tolerant

As Robert Putnam of Harvard University observes, America is a remarkably devoted, religiously diverse and relatively tolerant nation, despite serious departures from the ideal throughout history.

As for my students, they already are thinking about the post-election national mood and direction. Ultimately, our divided nation must heal. And many of us believe America’s religious traditions can help accelerate the healing process.

One of our lecturers, ethicist Timothy Jackson of Candler, urged us to look back to the time of Abraham Lincoln for clues about how to move forward, especially in relation to difficult issues like healing the racial divide and creating a strong economy that benefits all Americans.

Lincoln also helps us remember we share the blessing of citizenship in one United States of America. Lots of brave men and women sacrificed their lives to pass this legacy and gift to us.

Willing to forgive

Consequently, we should be willing to forgive our former opponents. And we must be willing to commit to strenuous but uplifting common purposes like educating the next generation and eliminating poverty. Authentic faith also reminds us of the importance of humility and not assuming that one party or one tradition possesses all truth.

Finally, faith must strive to achieve inclusive community where all people are welcome and safe, including the nonconformists.

There is no need to refer to people as “deplorable.” Rather, let’s figure out how we find common ground to establish a foundation for empathy and cooperation. And it never is acceptable to impose special tests or burdens on one segment of the American population, like Muslims, as some politicians suggest.

I hope the next president will take a page from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address and channel the spirit, maybe even borrow his phrase, “with malice toward none and charity toward all ….”

That’s our best chance for healing and moving forward together.

Robert M. Franklin is the Laney Professor in Moral Leadership at Emory University. Religion News Service distributed his column.

Dear American people,

I am deeply sorry for bragging about sexually assaulting women. Whether in that moment I was gloating about real events or unfulfilled fantasies, I was wrong. My actions toward women and my fantasies about them are wrong. I apologize for the lack of respect I have shown toward women.

Kyndall Rae RothausWomen are not objects who exist for my—or anyone else’s—sexual pleasure or need for power. It is clear we have a societal epidemic on our hands, from the prevalence of rape on college campuses to the sexual escapades of public figures such as Bill Clinton and myself. I confess I have contributed to the problem by repeatedly objectifying women and denying my own culpability.

Sexual assault is a very important topic, and it deserves my time and attention, and I will not sweep this issue under the rug as if it were some small matter. I acknowledge sexual assault is a serious crime that can have devastating ramifications for victims—including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, crippling self-doubt, sexually transmitted diseases, suicidal thoughts and more. Sexual assault should never be joked about. Not on television. Not at home. Not in the locker room.

Unacceptable in any form

I apologize for not setting a better example for our young men, and I want every person to hear me say this: Rape is unacceptable in any form.

In the past, my words have indicated I condone sexual violence, I act in sexually violent ways and sexual violence is something to be proud of. I want to be unmistakably clear about how wrong I was. Sexual contact without explicit consent is both wrong and illegal, and as a society we have to do better. We have to do better at eradicating sexism, supporting survivors of assault, educating our youth and setting an all-around better example in word and deed.

See these related columns:

• Editorial: How do evangelicals enable ‘locker room talk’ about women?

• Voices: Lord, make our world safe for women

• Voices: The revelatory election for U.S. churches

• Voices: No room for political fear

• 2^nd Opinion: On the erosion of our national character

I will start by changing my own behavior. I want to teach my sons not to rape and to teach my daughters that no one has a right to use or abuse them. And I want your sons and daughters to learn the same thing. I want every child—boy or girl—to be safe from sexual exploitation.

Embarrassed, horrified, ashamed

When I think about the way I have contributed to the culture of rape in this country, I am not only embarrassed. I am horrified and ashamed, and there is no excuse for what I said. I refuse to minimize what I have done, because what matters right now are victims of assault, not my image. I will not deflect the culpability away from myself, because I recognize that taking responsibility for my own actions is one of the first steps of recovery, and I want to demonstrate I am serious about respecting women and ending sexual violence. I will not lie about what I have done or twist the truth. I will not project my bad choices onto anyone else. I will not attack others as a way to avoid my own responsibilities.

I will stop insulting, mocking, and objectifying women. I will not discuss their bodies in sexual ways as sport. When I am feeling insecure, I will not use sexual dominance as a tool to boost my confidence. I will not “rate” women according to their looks or call them fat if they offend me. I will not brag about assault. I will publicly condemn assault, and most importantly, I will not assault.

I am so sorry for my base behavior. To victims of sexual exploitation everywhere, you deserve better. To women everywhere, you deserve better.

I was terribly wrong, and I apologize.

Kyndall Rae Rothaus is senior pastor of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco.

In my previous article, I wrote about the Baptist distinctive of religious liberty and the effect it had on me as I transitioned into the denomination. One would be hard-pressed to overstate the importance of the fight for religious liberty in Baptist history or the contributions made by Baptists in this field.

Jake RaabeBaptists were born out of religious persecution and found themselves unified from the beginning by the pursuit of freedom of religion. In America, Baptists stood at the forefront of the movement for separation of church and state, from Roger Williams decrying state-mandated religion to the Danbury Baptist Association’s correspondence with Thomas Jefferson invoking the first use of the phrase “a wall of separation between church and state.”

Needless to say, the contributions made by Baptists to religious freedom across the world comprise one of my favorite aspects of being part of the denomination.

Lost sensibility for freedom

After I wrote about this in my last piece, a Methodist friend remarked that, while he recognized that Baptists historically were proponents of freedom of religion, modern Baptists largely have lost this sensibility. Sadly, I think he’s right. Although individual groups like the Baptist Join Committee for Religious Liberty do great work in preserving freedom of religion, Baptist leaders and laity largely have ignored or even unintentionally threatened the cause.

One such way we harm the cause of religious liberty is by failing to defend the rights of religious minorities.

This election cycle has been a hard one for Muslims in particular, with major political figures calling for banning Muslims from entering the country and for increased policing of primarily Muslim neighborhoods. The idea that the government should treat one religion differently than others should be unthinkable to Baptists, who once were that scrutinized, singled-out group in 17th century England.

And yet prominent Baptists such as Franklin Graham and Robert Jeffress publicly declared support for these singling-out policies. Let us not forget that, in addition to giving in to fear and panic, these policies would set a dangerous precedent for the government treating various religions differently.

All-or-nothing

Religious liberty inherently is all-or-nothing. When we as Christians allow and encourage the denial of freedom of religion to one group, we are being unfaithful to our historical situation—Baptists especially—and setting a precedent that one day will be invoked against us as well.

This is not to say only conservatives are creating problems for religious liberty. In navigating the current tension between civil liberties and exemptions for religious objections, many progressives have not exercised the incredible delicacy required for this task.

A deeply problematic report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a bipartisan organization, has suggested when civil rights and religious freedom conflict—as, for example, in the various cases of Christian business refusing to provide services for same-sex weddings—religious liberty must be subsumed to civil rights. Regardless of one’s position on how Christian businesses should handle moral objections (A recent Pew study shows Americans are evenly divided on this issue.), the precedent here is dangerous: Religious freedom, according to this line of thought, is not absolute and inalienable, but contingent upon other prior rights.

The question of the relationship between civil liberties and religious freedom is difficult and needs to be worked through carefully. Claiming one set of concerns must always override another is not the way to do this.

Attack from both sides

Religious liberty is under attack from both sides because contemporary America has deconstructed it and separated components that only work together. The right too often appears to want religious preference more than religious liberty, often railing against the concept of separation of church and state while seeking to maintain the ability to act according to religious principles. The left often seeks to preserve the distinction between church and state while failing to make room from religious objections to larger societal movements.

To oversimplify, one side wants free religious exercise without separation of church and state, while the other wants separation of church without sufficient consideration of exercising religious freedoms. One cannot exist without the other. The founders of both our nation and the Baptist denomination realized and lived this.

Maintaining religious liberty in a multi-cultural society is both difficult and necessary. It takes dialogue and communication from both sides of the political spectrum. Because of this, seeking to maintain and protect religious liberty has the potential to unify Baptists in a context in which we increasingly are divided.

Rediscovering our roots through the preservation of religious liberty may just help us remember that we are, ultimately, all parts of one single body.

Jake Raabe is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas.

Partisan politics plays on our fears. Both major political parties have decided the only way to win elections is to scare us to death: If we vote for their party, we have nothing to fear. But if we don’t vote for the other party, our lives never will be the same and the destruction of our society is at hand.

Zac HarrelTherefore, every election we hear the same plea, “This is the most important election of our lifetime.” I voted for the first time in 2004, so this is my seventh “most important election of my lifetime.” This kind of fear inevitably makes us see politicians as messiahs and parties as our protectors.

It often is said the most-repeated Bible command is “fear not.” In Christ, we no longer have a spirit of fear. This should make us pause when others try to play up our fears in order to get us to vote for them. As Christians, we are to pray and work for God’s kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Fear cannot guide

Ultimately, our hope is not in a political party, in a candidate, or even in our country. This truth should inform the way we think, talk and act politically. Fear cannot guide our political conviction or action.

This is not to say Christians should avoid being involved politically. We must vote our conscience. We must vote for what we think is morally good, who will advance the common good. But we must not be guided first and foremost by fear. Fear paralyzes compassion and love. Fear banishes clear thinking.

When fear is our motivation, we are willing to sacrifice what is eternally important for the seemingly urgent. When fear is our motivation, we forget the long view of the hope of the kingdom of God and give in to the lie of the existential threat of every election.

See these related columns:

• Editorial: How do evangelicals enable ‘locker room talk’ about women?

• Voices: Lord, make our world safe for women

• Voices: The revelatory election for U.S. churches

• Voices: How to apologize

• 2^nd Opinion: On the erosion of our national character

The way Jesus talks about the kingdom of God in the Gospels instructs us not to live by fear, but with patient faithfulness. He compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed and to leaven. Both start small, take time and flourish in unexpected and often unseen ways.

Not ultimate

Our political action is not our ultimate action. Our political allegiances are not our ultimate allegiances. The kingdom of God is our ultimate allegiance, and, therefore, everything we do, even political action, is for the advance of this kingdom.

A mustard seed takes time to grow, leaven takes time to rise, and the kingdom of God takes time to spread and grow in our communities. The politics of the urgent is not where we see the kingdom of God advance. Fear will not lead us to seek the common good. Patient faithfulness in the life of our community is where we see the advance of the kingdom of God through our ordinary lives and, yes, sometimes even through political action.

When we are governed more by the kingdom of God than fear of the other party or fear of this election, we can take the long view. We can be patient and faithful. One election will not unravel our country. One candidate will not destroy our country. And even if our country unravels, even if our republic as we know it unravels—and it will someday—we will not fear, because God’s kingdom cannot be shaken or destroyed.

No soul-selling

What this means is we must not sell our soul for one national election. We must not let the urgent get in the way of being faithful to the kingdom of God. The fear and urgency of so much of our national electoral politics is antithetical to God’s kingdom.

This is one reason to place as much emphasis, if not more, on our local politics, where we can have a much more present hand in seeking the common good and where we actually can get to know those who disagree with us. But that is another conversation for another column.

Our hope in Christ is that this world—no matter who wins our presidential election—is heading for redemption and renewal. We should seek to live as faithful citizens of God’s kingdom, patiently waiting for this redemption while actively engaged politically and yet not gripped by the false fear so evident in so much of our political discourse and action.

When we are filled with the hope of the gospel, there is no room for this fear.

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.

Revelation is not, as my students use it sometimes, a private vision God gives, but a public event God does.

Myles WerntzWhen God is made known as Jesus Christ, this is a revelation of God’s own nature and works, such that any speculation of who God is has to pass through what God has done in this most public of ways. Our guesswork about the nature of things is through, and, in the words of Jesus, everything which is hidden is laid bare in the daylight. In the light of God’s act, God’s promise is made clear, and the depths of our sin are made known.

Put simply, revelation shows us what is already the case, both for good and for bad.

This election has been, in no uncertain terms, revelatory not only for the American people, but also for the American church.

Not as we thought

As a nation, America has been shown to be not as gentle with each other as we profess, nor as generous with outsiders as our monuments hold, nor the land of promise for all members of society. As a political process, this election has shown us our electoral process is not a rational event, but a gut-level feeding frenzy, informed by passions and memes more than policy or argument.

But this election has been damningly revelatory for the Christian church.

See these related columns:

• Editorial: How do evangelicals enable ‘locker room talk’ about women?

• Voices: Lord, make our world safe for women

• Voices: How to apologize

• Voices: No room for political fear

• 2^nd Opinion: On the erosion of our national character

We have been shown to be far more susceptible to promises of power and influence than we hoped. We have been shown to be more informed by party lines, which grind the meat of the gospel down to gristle and fat, than by a gospel that is comprehensive in nature and is not contained in full by any platform. We have been shown we are a people far more interested in our self-interests than in our neighbors. And we have been shown we are willing to divide ourselves en masse from other Christians for the sake of donkeys and elephants who never will love us back.

Revelation & hope

But revelation is not only for the sake of judgment; revelation is for the sake of hope, that out of the dust, there might rise a penitent people, disciplined by their failures and renewed for a different vision.

This election has shown us other ways and candidates are possible, as candidates like Evan McMullin, and the newly formed American Solidarity Party begin new work for a different public life. This election has brought long-standing theological leaders down to the dust by their endorsements, so that new and fresh leaders might emerge. And this election has—hopefully—called the churches back from seeking their safety from political candidates and toward seeking the good that is the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

We sit weeks away from a long electoral season finally ending, and by God’s grace, the church has been shown to be weaker than it thought and more divided than it imagined.

But by God’s grace, this also may be for our churches a new season of renewal, hope, charity and fidelity to a gospel that is not constrained by party platforms, but transgresses them in the name of Jesus Christ.

Myles Werntz is assistant professor of Christian ethics and practical theology and the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in Abilene. Email him at Myles.Werntz@hsutx.edu.

Stacy Conner has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe a quarter-century. He shares his background and thoughts on ministry with the Baptist Standard’s “Deep in the Hearts of Texans.”

Background

• Where else have you served in ministry, and what were your positions there?

Pastor—First Baptist Church in Matador

Activities minister—First Baptist Church in Plainview while studying at Wayland Baptist University

• Where did you grow up?

Slaton

• How did you come to faith in Christ?

My parents were devout church members and volunteers, and we participated in every area of the life of the church. I was watching the old Southern Baptist Radio & Television Commission show “Children’s Tree House.” They asked the question about trusting Christ. I had not made a personal confession. So, I listened to the puppet characters and accepted Christ at 9 years of age.

• Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

Bachelor of arts—Wayland Baptist University

Master of divinity—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Doctor of ministry—Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University

Ministry/church

• Why do you feel called into ministry?

I felt a sense of calling when I was 12 years old while studying a Sunday school lesson on the young boy David. I have pursued this ministry calling in education and practice. While there have been difficult times and disappointing times, there has never been another opportunity that presented itself more fulfilling than ministry.

• What is your favorite aspect of ministry? Why?

To see the transformation in people’s lives that can come only through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• How has your ministry or your perspective on ministry changed?

When I began in ministry, the convention provided yearly programs and missional and denominational emphases. We are living in a time when every church must capture and create its own vision and ministries. We are required to think more creatively and to take a longer view toward ministry.

• Name the three most significant challenges and/or influences facing your congregation.

Our three most significant challenges are the demographic shifts in the state of Texas, the challenge of meeting every individual’s expectations of worship style and maintaining ministry staff in rural Texas.

About Baptists

• What are the key issues facing Baptists—denominationally and/or congregationally?

The threat that is eroding Baptist life is the temptation that every church should go its own way and carve out its own niche in mission and ministry. Most of the time, churches fund their new ideas with tithes that formerly were given to the Cooperative Program. We are failing to communicate and understand we can do more together than we can apart.

The fruits of this choice toward independence is being seen in our lack of commitment to training the next generation of Baptist ministers. Previously, the Cooperative Program enabled affordable theological education. A lack of cooperative giving is increasing the personal cost of ministry education. Ministers with significant student debt are hindered in a variety of ways. We are seeing and will continue to see the effects of choosing independence take its toll on young ministers in training and ultimately the churches.

About Stacy

• Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

I have been blessed with a number of mentors.

Floyd Bradley was the director of missions for the Caprock Plains Area. He walked me through the steps needed to pastor West Texas people and pulled me down to earth when needed.

A deacon at First Baptist Church in Matador, E.A. Day, offered me practical advice and glimpses of grace needed to lead a congregation.

My most significant preaching influence is/was Garrison Keillor. People remember stories more than they remember points. He also is the master of timing.

• What did you learn on the job you wish you learned in seminary?

Funerals were mentioned briefly in a pastoral care course during seminary training. Yet they are among the most important ministry opportunities a pastor has. You only have one chance to bury someone’s parent, spouse or friend. I spend hours listening to family stories and trying to weave the life of a saint into the message of the gospel. Funerals are among the most important work a pastor does in a church and a community, yet seminary education in the past treated them as footnotes.

• Name some of your favorite books (other than the Bible) or authors, and explain why.

William Manchester’s Last Lion series on Winston Churchill. I read everything new that is written about Churchill every year. To have the courage to hold an unpopular, yet true, opinion and express it year after year, and then rally the country, is truly inspiring.

Read other “Deep in the Hearts of Texans” columns about …

Bob Roberts

Dante Wright

Brent McDougal

Darin Wood

Kyndall Rae Rothaus

Joseph Parker

George Mason

Howie Batson

Lillian Hinds

Jorge Zayasbazan

We need a renewal of moral seriousness in this country. We need to draw a distinction between liberty and license. We need creative ways to speak of character so our children and grandchildren will be able to understand what we mean—and want it for themselves.

David Gushee

A government is only as good as its people, and a people get the government they more or less deserve.

These kinds of thoughts have run through my mind as I have witnessed the carnage of this presidential campaign. I keep wondering whether the problem isn’t them but us.

Ours is a political culture in which the default setting is to maximize freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of movement, freedom of religion, freedom of commerce and exchange, freedom to create and dissolve just about any form of human endeavor one can imagine. This is the American way of life.

Many people who have suffered under tyrannies have come to our shores attracted by this expansive vision of freedom.

Freedom is great, except …

But today I join others in being anxious about a transition from freedom to chaos, from liberty to license, in the character of our country. Freedom is a great thing, except when people misuse it.

Freedom of speech is great except when people use it to curse and slander others. Freedom of the press is great except when the press libels people. Freedom of association is great except when people form hate groups. Freedom of religion is great except when their religion does harm to others or to their own children. Freedom to form and dissolve romantic relationships is great except when people bring harm to themselves and others who count on them. Commercial freedom is great except when business harms people with unsafe products. And so on.

See these related columns:

• Editorial: How do evangelicals enable ‘locker room talk’ about women?

• Voices: Lord, make our world safe for women

• Voices: The revelatory election for U.S. churches

• Voices: How to apologize

• Voices: No room for political fear

America’s founders clearly understood the freedom-maximizing government they were creating required a citizenry of sound character to go along with it. Government could stay small and limited if, and only if, people could regulate their own actions in virtuous ways.

You don’t need a whole lot of police in a town in which 99.9 percent of the citizenry on a given day are voluntarily choosing not to break the laws their representatives established. Virtuous business owners don’t cheat their customers or mistreat their employees. Spouses of sound mind and character do not physically harm their children. And so on.

Religion & character

Religion has for centuries been one primary force undergirding the formation of character.

In the United States at the time of our founding, of course, the primary religion was Christianity. The founders counted on the force of Christianity to shape and constrain the exercise of freedom by most Americans. Even those who left the theology of Christianity behind still were affected by the broadly Christian ethos Christians and their churches had formed.

That formative power manifested itself in many ways—among them Christian preaching, home-by-home parental Bible teaching, the formation of human conscience and the belief everyone must someday give account of their lives to God. Of course, the same thing happened and still happens in many other cultures in which a deep and widespread religiosity pervasively affects community, family and personal values.

We have good reason to be anxious about the erosion of the moral—and religious—ethos that once formed and constrained our expressions of the maximized liberty of our political system.

Delicate balance

The delicate balance the founders expected—a free people, but not utterly free, because they are shaped and constrained by the force of a powerfully religious and moral culture—is in the process of being lost.

We can see the effects of that erosion in a variety of places.

It especially is clear in much of what passes for entertainment. Liberty has become license; entertainment has become degradation. Of course, it’s not just in the media. Don’t miss the utterly ruthless business practices of many in corporate America, or the anything-goes ethos of our political fighting, to see a similar loss of moral restraint. Once, decent people just did not do certain things. This baseline is eroding, across the board. The erosion has been visible in this presidential campaign.

We need a renewal of moral seriousness in this country. We need to retrieve religious and moral resources easily available to us for the cultivation of character. We need to be able to draw a distinction between liberty and license. We need creative ways to speak the language of character so our children and grandchildren will be able to understand what we mean—and want it for themselves. We need to be brave enough to push back against the most egregious cultural expressions of raw degradation masquerading as entertainment.

And we need to look for leaders in every venue—family, church, business, community, national government—who exemplify character qualities like honesty, discipline, self-control, unselfishness, patience, forgiveness, humility, mercy and covenant faithfulness.

David Gushee is distinguished university professor of Christian ethics and director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. His RNS column is titled “Christians, Conflict and Change.” This commentary is adapted from his new book, A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends.

What was more surprising: The disgusting way Donald Trump spoke about women in that leaked “locker room talk” tape? Or how many people were surprised by the disgusting way Donald Trump spoke about women in that leaked “locker room talk” tape?

Marv KnoxIn the past few days, Americans have heard and read words we never expected to hear or see. But discovering Trump says them wasn’t as surprising as watching the reactions of people who were surprised he says them.

Even before the Washington Post broke the story, anyone who has followed this presidential campaign knew Trump objectifies women. We read excerpts of his book, where he bragged about seducing married women. We heard segments of his appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show, where he spoke lasciviously about women’s bodies. From the campaign trail, we heard him describe women as barnyard animals. Most creepily, we heard him speak suggestively about his own daughter.

See these related columns:

• Voices: Lord, make our world safe for women

• Voices: The revelatory election for U.S. churches

• Voices: How to apologize

• Voices: No room for political fear

• 2^nd Opinion: On the erosion of our national character

No shocker

So, the tape was no shocker. Maybe Trump’s raunchy words shocked. Maybe Trump’s description of his sexual predatory tactics scandalized. But they weren’t surprising. Not if you’ve been paying attention.

The secondary surprise in this seamy episode has been how many evangelical leaders are unable to condemn Trump and distance themselves from him. We haven’t heard this much jibber-jabber doublespeak since the last time some “prophet” predicted the Rapture.

These evangelicals’ problem springs from deep theological roots. It’s grows from Old Testament patriarchy, mixed with male-enhanced misinterpretations of the Apostle Paul, but very little of Jesus and liberating grace.

Evangelicals excel at pointing to the earliest passages of Genesis and insisting all people possess value, because all people are created in God’s image. That’s the foundation for human rights, and it’s both theologically correct and noble.

“Biblical” models

But when they structure gender roles and sexual identity, they focus on less-than-divine models of Old Testament family. “One man and one woman for life” sounds biblical. But one man and one woman and a couple of concubines, or one man and two wives and several concubines, or one man and seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines was the Old Testament model.

Of course, evangelicals don’t advocate polygamy. But the male-dominated patriarchal model remains strong. Patriarchy treats women as objects and, practically speaking, limits their worth.

An obvious example is how evangelical congregations often treat females. Women are the backbone of the church, but in most congregations, they are not allowed to exercise leadership equal with men. Few allow women to be deacons; fewer still allow them to be pastors.

So, no matter how many times they tell their daughters, “God made you, and you can be anything God wants you to be,” they don’t mean it. Girls and women have their limits.

To be sure, that’s not the same as treating women as sexual objects, parroting the language we heard from Trump. But it’s still treating women as objects, not as independent, fully autonomous, valuable-because-they-bear-the-mark-of-creation human beings.

Closer to home …

This idea hits closer to home. Many men who felt repulsed by Trump’s language—and, to be fair, Bill Clinton’s treatment of women—placed their revulsion in context of the role women play in their lives. “How would you feel if Trump did that to your wife, or your mother/daughter/sister?” is a good question. But it’s only partially good.

In that context, the worth of the woman derives from her relationship to the man. “What if she were your wife/mother/daughter/sister?” The woman is an object—a revered object, but an object. And what about the woman who is not your wife/mother/daughter/sister, who maybe is nobody’s wife/mother/daughter/sister? She, too, is infinitely worthy and due complete respect.

This is why rape culture flourishes in our society. No, rape does not flow from churches. But when even the church treats women as objects, then precious few voices remain to champion the intrinsic value of all women.

While the ministers who won’t condemn Trump’s language might not speak that way themselves, their refusal to speak at all empowers the dreadful behavior of young men who grow up with no role models. Their slut-shaming—“What did she expect, dressed like that?” “What did she think would happen at that hour?”—places blame on victims instead of perpetrators.

When victims shoulder the blame done to them, justice is nowhere to be found.

So, Christians first must treat all people—women and men alike—as creatures of infinite worth who bear the image of their Creator. Then, we must refuse to describe others as objects, whether they are the objects of reverence or lust. And we must speak forcefully to a society that treats people as objects to be owned and commodities to be controlled.

See also …

“Lord, make our world safe for women,” a Texas Baptist Voices column by Meredith Stone.

Follow Marv on Twitter: @marvknoxbs

The first question posed in the second presidential debate was, “Do you feel you’re modeling appropriate and positive behavior for today’s youth?”

My 8-year-old daughter joined me on the couch about 10 minutes into the debate. I let her watch, but that didn’t last long. I found myself quickly reaching for the pause button and explaining to her why I didn’t think it would be appropriate for her to watch a presidential debate.

Shielding innocence

There are at least three things I wanted to shield her from during that debate:

No. 1, I didn’t want her to learn it is appropriate to interrupt and talk over people.

This is a common problem she has at 8 years old. We still are in the process of teaching her that allowing people to talk means giving respect and recognizing she is not the center of the universe.

Meredith StoneNo. 2, I didn’t want her to learn an appropriate way to deal with criticism is to attack those who are criticizing you.

She has a lead role in the third-grade production this week at school. Should her teacher decide to give her a little constructive encouragement about the way she says her lines, I didn’t want her to retort, “Well, if you’d given me more lines, then I would be able to say them better.”

But more than anything, No. 3, I didn’t want her to learn that “locker room talk” and everything it represents is acceptable.

All sinners, but …

After the presidential debate, Jerry Falwell Jr. reportedly continued his support of Donald Trump. Noting Trump’s contrition, Falwell said, “We’re all sinners, every one of us. We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t.”

Falwell is absolutely correct. Whether we are a presidential candidate or whether we vote Republican, Democrat, other or abstain, all of us are sinners. Every human being is a person in need of God’s grace, including Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton—and Bill Clinton, for that matter.

But there is a difference between acknowledging our common need for grace and perpetuating a culture that says sexual assault, or even talking/bragging about sexual assault, is permissible in any circumstance.

This summer, I met someone associated with Baylor University. The person said he had told parents of prospective Baylor students if their daughters dressed appropriately and didn’t go to places they weren’t supposed to go late at night, then their daughters would be safe at Baylor. He said blame should be shared between the victims and the perpetrators.

Name it: A lie

After hearing these kinds of statements—not for the first time, mind you—I want to say to my daughters, my sisters, my friends, my mother, myself and every human being on the planet: This is a lie!

It doesn’t matter what the victim or target is wearing, what party she attends, or if she is intoxicated. It doesn’t matter where you talk about assaulting and objectifying women. Sexual assault, talking about sexual assault and objectifying people in any fashion is wrong.

Frankly, the fact evangelical leaders finally are speaking out on this matter in response to Trump’s comments is both a relief and a frustration that they haven’t done so sooner. Silence has dominated for too long. Although Baylor has taken the heat over the past several months, no doubt other campuses, workplaces, homes and churches could have the same stories told about them.

But I hope those stories change. I hope for the sake of every human being on the planet we speak out and work to transform a culture that normalizes assault and objectification. I hope more people follow the example of Marv Knox in this effort.

May the redeeming God reach the divine hand into this terrible story and transform its trajectory so women—and daughters—everywhere can watch presidential debates, so they can learn and grow and be treated with respect on campuses, in workplaces, in homes, and in churches where the beloved community of God gathers together.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Meredith Stone is director of ministry guidance and instructor of Christian ministry and Scripture at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. She is a member of the Baptist Standard board of directors.

See these related columns:

• Editorial: How do evangelicals enable ‘locker room talk’ about women?

• Voices: The revelatory election for U.S. churches

• Voices: How to apologize

• Voices: No room for political fear

• 2^nd Opinion: On the erosion of our national character

What a journey it has been to serve as president of Baptist University of the Américas these past 10 of the 30 years I have served in Texas Baptist higher education. It has been a joy and life-changing for me to be at BUA.

René MacielThis cross-cultural learning environment that is unashamedly training Christian leaders is a Texas Baptist treasure. God has been using BUA for 69 years to prepare students for ministry, and he used this university to prepare me for a new journey.

BUA began as the Mexican Baptist Bible Institute in San Antonio in 1947, changing its name to Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary, then Hispanic Baptist Theological School and, in 2003, to Baptist University of the Américas as the scope expanded to grant accredited college degrees while maintaining the focus on training ministers for Hispanic churches. Our mission statement expresses the challenge—“the formation, from the Hispanic context, of cross-cultural Christian leaders.”

The primary language of instruction was Spanish until 2000. For most of those years, the school offered a non-accredited, non-certified diploma in traditional seminary areas like Bible, religious education and music. With the exception of those who came from Latin America, Puerto Rico and Spain who already had theological education, most Baptist Latino(a) ministers in Texas were trained either at the school or one of the affiliated Bible institutes.

The school experienced some of the best years in enrollment and support during the 1970s and 1980s after moving to a 12-acre site in South San Antonio, but suffered a decline in enrollment during the 1990s, when programs were dropped and reduced. Some considered closing the school, but leaders decided to invite Albert Reyes as president of the school, and a new period of growth began.

Baptist University of the Américas moved into a new campus this year, the Baugh Building.During Dr. Reyes’ tenure from 1999 to 2007, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board authorized BUA to grant bachelor of arts degrees, and the school received full accreditation from the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Since accreditation and certification in 2003, BUA students have been able to transfer credits to other Baptist institutions, other ABHE schools and seminaries. BUA students who earn their bachelor’s degree now can transfer directly into master’s programs at Association of Theological Schools seminaries and many religion departments of Baptist universities.

In 2007, I was invited to serve as president. Across these years, a period of sustained growth and deepening of BUA’s historical roots has been taking place.

Changing the primary language of instruction to English made it possible for BUA to expand its reach to a greater diversity of students and allowed students from multiple cultural/language groups, such as African-Americans, Anglos, Koreans, Dutch, Hungarians, Japanese, Turkish, Indian and students from Africa and non-Spanish-speaking Latin American countries to enroll.

BUA’s expanded curricular offerings include the associate of arts degree in cross-cultural studies, and bachelor of arts degrees in biblical/theological studies, business leadership, human behavior, music and Spanish.

In 2015-2016, enrollment reached its highest level, with 336 students in degree programs, certificate programs and English-as-a-Second-Language.

A certificate program, under the name of Baptist Bible Institute, continues to bless congregations in Texas, the United States and around the world with a solid biblical and theological education delivered at the point of need and in the language spoken by those congregations. Currently, BUA has more than 34 extension centers that serve more than 400 students.

Graduates have enrolled in graduate programs at institutions across the United States. Many of these students are serving in multiple capacities in churches—as pastors, music/worship ministers, church planters and other areas of ministry—serving at community ministry organizations, teaching public school, teaching at colleges and universities, and working in the general workforce.

This fall, in order to better serve our students and to continue our journey toward excellence, we acquired a new campus—a former medical office building, re-designed as a college campus and named the Baugh Building in honor of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation’s financial support. It joins a student-housing complex opened in 2008 for single and married students with families.

The new campus signals our new journey toward the future we have envisioned and have accepted as God’s calling and mission in the church and in the workplace: “Baptist University of the Américas, within the context of its Hispanic heritage, will be the standard for educating all students for Christian ministry and missions to change our world.”

René Maciel is president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and president of Baptist University of the Américas in San Antonio.

I read an article by Franklin Graham on how his grandfather and other men met at different locations outdoors around their hometown of Charlotte, N.C., to pray for revival across their state and to the ends of the earth.

Richard RayOn one of those occasions, in May of 1934, his grandfather hosted one of these prayer meetings and a paper salesman by the name of Vernon Patterson suggested they ask God to raise up someone from their hometown who would take the gospel to the ends of the earth. None of those men who prayed was thinking of young Billy Graham, who had not yet given his heart to Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham did not learn of that prayer until years later. He once said, “A mystery and wonder of prayer is that God often waits until someone asks.”

First John 5:14-16 tells us: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God—that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him.”

We are at a moment in time where prayer is the only solution to the strife we live in. However, prayer alone is not enough. It is what we pray for that matters. It is what we ask of God that matters.

LifeWay Research reported only 20 percent of people pray for those who have no faith. However, 82 percent of our prayers are for family and friends, and 74 percent of our prayers are for our own problems and difficulties.

If we want our world to change for Jesus Christ, then we must pray for those who are lost and dying in their sins, to give their hearts to Jesus Christ for Salvation. Our priority in prayer should be that the lost find Jesus Christ and that through salvation our world would change.

I encouraged you to begin to pray boldly with confidence for those who are dying in their sins to find salvation in Jesus Christ.

Second, pray for those yet to come—like a Billy Graham—who will evangelize our community, our state, our country and the world for Jesus Christ.

Last, pray for boldness and courage in your own life, so that you will be able to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to your community, your state and your country until it reaches the ends of the earth.

As Billy Graham once said, “A mystery and wonder of prayer is that God often waits until someone asks.” Let us begin to ask.

The Lord has called you to serve, but he has not called you to serve alone. Contact me at tririversdom@gmail.com or at (432) 202-1526 for more information, or visit our website to learn how the Bivocational/Small Church Association can minister and serve you.

Remember, “Together, no church is too small.”

Richard Ray is executive director of the Bivocational/Small Church Association and director of missions for Tri-Rivers Baptist Area.

A trip to the Pacific Northwest last year sparked an ongoing partnership between the Baptist Student Ministry at Tarleton State University and Northwest Collegiate Ministries.

In June 2015, Clayton Bullion, BSM director at Tarleton State, and his wife, Bethany, ventured to Portland, Ore., to visit five of their Go Now summer missionaries who were serving with Northwest Collegiate Ministries.

“Our hope was to encourage our team, visit as many campuses as we could, and get a feel for college ministry there and see if there was anything we could do to help,” Clayton Bullion said. “We were not prepared for what we encountered.”

They visited 12 campuses—from Eugene, Ore., to Seattle, Wash.—and discovered hundreds of thousands of university students were going through school and not being engaged with the gospel.

“You can’t walk among lost and unengaged students like that and it not shake you to your core,” he said.

The Bullions sat at a coffee shop on the Portland State University campus to visit with Ken Harmon, director of Northwest Collegiate Ministries.

“We told him: ‘Ken, we don’t know what to do. We don’t know whether God is asking us to move up here next week or send everybody we know,’” Bullion recalled.

Harmon remembered that conversation.

“Clayton and Bethany arrived in Portland all starry-eyed, filled with youthful zeal,” he said. “We talked about how they could be most effective. We talked about whether they needed to be in the northwest or stay in Texas to mobilize students and other workers to come to the northwest. It takes a courageous couple who will submit their personal desire and passions to the Lord to be more influential in kingdom work.”

The Bullions returned to Stephenville determined to prepare workers for service in the Pacific Northwest. They began to pray God would prepare the hearts of Tarleton students and local churches and give them the reach the northwest.

Go Now Missionary P.J. Prewit is pictured with student leaders from the University of Oregon. Since that time, the BSM at Tarleton State has sent 43 students and staff to work with Northwest Collegiate Ministries on 10 college campuses. Texas churches also have sent students and other members, staff and resources.

In November, a 14-member team from Texas will serve in Seattle, providing meals for the Northwest Collegiate Ministries fall retreat.

But the partnership is not one-sided. In August, Northwest Collegiate Ministries sent a nine-member team to Texas to serve alongside Tarleton BSM volunteers during their first week of classes.

Matt Munger, Northwest Collegiate Ministries director at Oregon State University, brought one of his students to Tarleton to help with “Howdy Week.”

“I caught a renewed vision for my campus at Oregon State,” he said. “Ministry here has been slow and difficult these past two years with little student involvement from the student leaders I have had. To see students not only leading other students, but motivating each other to work hard and share the gospel during harvest season was reinvigorating to watch.”  

During their week at Tarleton, the Northwest Collegiate Ministries team conducted spiritual surveys on campus, distributed popsicles and BSM information, and engaged new students on campus in conversation.

During Howdy Week at Tarleton State University, a couple of members of the Northwest Collegiate Ministries team helped cooked more than 200 of pounds of meat for a picnic. “This was an extremely humbling week,” Bullion said. “NCM came in and worked hard and loved our students well. They served and took the behind-the-scene jobs so our students would be freed up to engage their peers. They were ready to serve and constantly asking questions trying to learn. It was an overwhelming experience to see their eagerness to serve in every aspect.”

Harmon also noted the impact the mission trip had on students from the Pacific Northwest.

“True partnership is together,” he said. “We are so accustomed to receiving, sometimes we forget the sending. It has been a great joy to send a team from the northwest to help a Texas BSM with their welcome week on campus. … We have received way more than we have given, and selfishly I must admit that even in coming here and serving, we have received more than we gave.”

With a partnership that is now a year and a half old, Tarleton and NCM students have formed encouraging friendships that are not limited by thousands of miles.

Garrett Harmon, a student at the University of Oregon, enjoyed serving alongside his Texas friends on their campus.

“It was really encouraging just being able to work alongside so many other college-aged Christians,” Garrett said. “With an NCM of only three other college-age students on leadership, it is great to work and talk with other student believers.”

Tarleton’s BSM has begun a 2025 vision. Over the next 10 years, student leaders pray 20 Tarleton graduates will move to the northwest after graduation to work among college students.

Their prayer is that in 10 years, they will be able to mark 20 northwest campuses from the unengaged campus list because of Tarleton BSM graduates. Currently, three Tarleton students are preparing to move to the northwest after graduating in May.

“This week I got to see the passion of the NCM students. I think it really helped myself and our leaders see that there are people that live in a place with less believers that still have as much, if not more passion than we have here at Tarleton,” Wesley Fuller, a senior at Tarleton said.

“Our partnership with NCM has given my wife and I a path to do college ministry after I graduate in May. We found a calling to an unreached people group that we get to go and serve.” 

Sharing ideas, students and leaders with one another to see an even greater impact in their ministry fields is something that has benefited both Tarleton and Northwest Collegiate Ministries. Tarleton BSM Associate Director Warren Ethridge emphasized its importance.

“Different things work in different places,” he said. “But just as scientists know that sharing their data helps advance the whole of science forward, collegiate workers must share the “what, why, and how” behind their practices for the advancement of the kingdom.”

In the last three years, God has blessed Tarleton with a harvest of students who are ready to go and to serve. Visiting the northwest and spending time on their campuses has encouraged Tarleton to be constantly wrestling in prayer for their friends in the northwest.

“Our NCM friends serve on hard campuses. Many of them have been doing this longer than us, they pray more than us, work harder than us, and they are not seeing the fruit that we are seeing at Tarleton,” Bullion said.

“It is very humbling. It makes me give thanks with more vigor and pray with more ferocity for the northwest campuses.” 

A year and a half ago God began to answer the prayers of Portland State University NCM Director Miriam Rainwater, by giving Tarleton a vision to partner with Northwest Collegiate Ministries to reach the unreached of the northwest.

“I think the biggest way our partnership has affected me personally is knowing that God is preparing people to be future laborers in this city,” Rainwater said. “I have been in the northwest for four years and have been continually praying for more leaders who can reach the unreached campuses in the Portland area. When I drive by PCC Cascade or Marylhurst or Lewis and Clark or other unengaged campuses, I ask God “How long?” Spending time with several students from Tarleton this week who are planning to move to the northwest when they graduate gives me hope for the university students in the greater Portland area. God is sending laborers to precious fields!”

Morgan Little is a Go Now Missions campus missionary intern serving at the Tarleton State University Baptist Student Ministry.