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Introducing our July Book of the Month!
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Du Mez (a New York Times Bestseller!)
It is such an honor to feature Jesus & John Wayne here with all of you. If you grew up in white evangelicalism, I can’t overstate how much J&JW is the story of our lives. For example: this is a picture of my wife when she was seven years old.
A John Wayne impersonator visited her church in 1996 as he toured the country, something he did for four decades. He preached a combination of Christianity and militant masculinity (literally Jesus + John Wayne) that pervaded the first twenty-five years of our lives, a mixture of right wing politics and conservative Christianity.
Unfortunately, my wife’s story is not unique. You may have experienced a similar brand of Christianity and are trying to figure out where to go after deciding it’s no longer for you. You aren’t alone. After we heard from Kristen Du Mez at our church, Restore Austin, in 2021 I hosted an open Zoom discussion for anyone wanting to talk about the themes of J&JW. I heard story after story of the damage this militant masculinity has caused.
I heard from a young man who has a strained relationship with his dad because he didn’t love rough sports. He said, “I just wish the church hadn’t taught us that being masculine meant hitting people on the football field, then maybe my dad and I would be closer.”
One woman talked about the strained relationships in her family after she questioned their enthusiastic support of Donald Trump in 2016.
Another person said that she and her spouse feel like they’ve been duped their whole lives.
One guy talked about finally getting connected to community at a local church only to be ostracized when he voiced concerns about gun violence. “They are a real Bible in one hand and AR-15 in the other kind of group. They don’t even talk to us anymore.”
Story after story after story. It was difficult for sure, but it was also beautifully therapeutic. We laughed, cried, and encouraged each other. I’ve rarely experienced a truer form of “bearing each other’s burdens” than I did on that call.
At the end of the interview, I read the last sentence of J&JW: “What was once done might also be undone.” I then asked Kristin where we go from here.
She talked about the importance of courageously telling the truth and creating safe spaces: this is exactly what we are trying to do both here at Public Theology and at our church, Restore. I am proud of what we are all accomplishing together.
It’s easy to get discouraged, but this book (and that call) can give us hope. We have a long road ahead of us if we want to move the white, American church back toward the way of Jesus, but it’s possible. As Kristin said, what was once done can also be undone, we just need to do it together.
