Hello my friends,

I hope you're doing well.

Before we get to today's newsletter, I wanted to ask for your feedback. I'm thinking of developing a free email course on the topic of church history, specifically looking at the Christian movements that fused themselves with the empires of this world and the Christian movements that resisted them. I think looking at this topic could better equip us for what we are facing today. If you feel the same, respond to this newsletter with "course" in the subject line and share your thoughts!

Today's newsletter focuses on a common concept I hear often. It is said as a critique to much of my advocacy for the compassion and empathy. Perhaps you have heard it as well. It is typically along the lines of "you are focusing on emotions, not facts." With this concept being quite pervasive today, I wanted to unpack that with you today as well as end on a note of hope and encouragement.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

​-Better Ways To Read The Bible, by Pastor Zach Lambert. My friend and colleague Zach Lambert has written a great book on better ways to read the Bible in light of many of the ways it has been misused in our modern age. If you are interested, you can read more about it in the link above.

​-Christian Nationalism Is Not Conservative, by Political Potatoes Podcast. I was recently interviewed by my friend Gregory Graf over at political potatoes, which focuses on Idaho culture, Idaho politics, and beyond. We talked about the political and religious movement that is impacting both thee state of Idaho and the nation. I think you may find it helpful.

​-Doug Wilson Interview If you haven't seen this interview with a prominent self proclaimed Christian Nationalist here in Idaho, I encourage you to watch when you're able. His movement has gained prominence in recent years. For example, Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, is a member of Wilson's church network. It's tough to listen to, but it is so important to know what we are facing. They are literally advocating for removing women's right to vote and repealing the 19th Amendment. We need to oppose such movements as followers of Jesus.

​-The Path to Contentment, by Hidden Brain. I found this interview with psychologist Iris Mauss to be really helpful. She explains why happiness can seem more elusive the harder we chase it and what we can do instead to build a lasting sense of contentment. In our culture that has long prioritized the "pursuit of happiness," unpacking what that actually means is really productive.

-Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires. I recently wrote a 30 day devotional in hopes to build hope, equipping, and inspiration in these days with all we are facing. If you would like to read more about it, click the link below.

$20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now!

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The Grievance Machine.

“You’re just prioritizing emotion over facts.”

This is a phrase I hear often, especially from critics who tend to lean more right politically in response to people advocating for more humane and compassionate responses to the suffering of others, whether it’s immigrants, LGBTQ people, victims of violence, women, or those affected by poverty, racism, or climate devastation.

The accusation implies that to lead with empathy is to abandon reason, become susceptible to being manipulated, and ignoring reality altogether. But this is a false and dangerous framing, one that not only misrepresents the nature of emotion and reason but betrays a deeply unbiblical understanding of what it means to be human.

So let’s be clear here: every political movement on the spectrum appeals to emotion in one way or another. So those on the political right are not exempt from this either. In fact, many right-leaning movements in the U.S., especially those aligned with the far right, center their messages around deeply emotional appeals, particularly fear, grievance, and nostalgia.

Take, for instance, the phrase “Make America Great Again.” It is not an empirical policy statement. It’s an emotional invocation. It draws on a sense of loss and longing, implying that something once glorious has been taken away or corrupted. But it never names when exactly America was “great,” or for whom.

For many, especially nonwhite communities, women, LGBTQ people, and immigrants, that same “great” era often meant exclusion, abuse, or invisibility. Yet the slogan is effective, not because of its facts, but because of the emotions it stirs: fear, resentment, and a desire to return to an imagined past.

This emotional appeal is not an anomaly. It’s a feature regarding many issues debated today.

Immigration is often framed not with statistics or humane reasoning, but with imagery of “invading caravans,” “criminals,” or “replacement,” language meant to provoke fear, not understanding.

LGBTQ people are painted as existential threats to children or faith communities, ignoring the reality of their lived experience and the data about violence towards them and mental health challenges they face.

Abortion is often addressed not with data about contributing factors, health care access, or maternal mortality, but with graphic imagery and slogans that intentionally bypass complexity.

Crime is talked about in terms of “law and order” rather than root causes like poverty, systemic inequality, or community disinvestment.

Climate change is often dismissed with mockery, despite mountains of scientific evidence, because acknowledging it might mean discomfort or change.

Vaccines and public health often become battlegrounds not of science, but of fear-based grievances and even conspiracy theories.

And conspiracy theories flourish in this dynamic because they offer emotional simplicity over complex truth. They offer a clear villain and a sense of control, no matter how disconnected from reality those theories might be.

These are all examples where facts are deliberately ignored in favor of emotional grievance and then turned into moral outrage.

So the problem isn’t that one side is exclusively emotional while the other side is exclusively rational. The problem is how emotion and data is used. Do we use them to expand compassion, or to justify cruelty and exclusion?

The Head and the Heart.

Jesus had strong emotions. He wept (John 11:35). He had compassion on the crowds (Matthew 9:36). He grew angry at injustice and hypocrisy (Mark 3:5). And he responded, not with detached logic, nor reckless reaction, but with truth joined to mercy, justice joined to healing, fact joined to presence.

It is not wrong to feel deeply. What’s wrong is using those feelings to harm others or justify cruelty.

Likewise, it is not wrong to highly value facts. But it is wrong to elevate data above the lived experience of human beings. When we do that, we risk becoming like many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who were so committed to rules and doctrine that they lost sight of people standing right in front of them. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13). In other words, God is not impressed by even the most strict observance of law and doctrine when that observance lacks love and justice.

Complex issues require both head and heart. We need facts and we need empathy. To prioritize one and dismiss the other is not wisdom, it’s distortion. We can have all the information in the world, yet if we disregard human experience, our policies can become cold, arbitrary, and devastating.

At the same time, when we operate on emotion alone, especially fear and outrage, we open the door to demagogues who promise strength while playing the victim, who demand loyalty over competence, and who warp the truth to serve their own power and wealth.

We are seeing this now and followers of Jesus must resist it.

Truth and Grace.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to something far more whole, far more faithful. We are to be people of both truth and grace (John 1:14), of both wisdom and compassion, of both justice and mercy. We must advocate for reasoned, evidence-based approaches to the crises of our time and be just as diligent in listening to those on the margins, those most affected, those whose pain is often buried under policy and debate.

Because God does not save only the mind, or the soul, or the body. God redeems the whole person. That must frame our lives as well.

Jesus touched the untouchable, healed the broken, dignified the outcast, and confronted the powerful. His ministry was both spiritual and tangible. As it is written in James 2:15–17:

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

We are not called to false dichotomies between emotion and truth. We are called to embodied love. A love that feels, that understands, that learns, and that acts. A love that demands we honor both the facts and the people behind them.

“If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing.” -1 Corinthians 13:2

Some Encouragement

I want to end today by offering you some hope and encouragement in this time.

I want to remind you of your Christ-following ancestors.

Now, I’m not talking about those who claimed Christ while crawling into bed with the empires of the world, justifying the heresies of Christian imperialism, crusades, inquisitions, slavery, patriarchy, and genocide, all for the sake of wealth, power, and control.

I’m talking about those who humbly walked back into Rome while it was burning to the ground, to help the vulnerable people trapped there, even as Caesar blamed the fire on them and ruthlessly persecuted them for being too welcoming and too concerned for the poor.

I’m talking about those who stayed in Egypt during plagues that killed thousands, giving their lives so that others might live, or at the very least, not die alone.

I’m talking about people like Saint Francis of Assisi, who said no to immense wealth and took a vow of poverty as a radical protest against the greed of Christendom.

I’m talking about people like Søren Kierkegaard, who rejected the role of formal clergy because of its trappings of wealth and abuse of power in Denmark.

I’m talking about people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was among the minority of the German church that opposed the Nazi movement, a movement that had hijacked Christianity for the sake of brutal control and ignorant white supremacy.

I’m talking about Christ-followers, even in our own nation, who spoke out against the genocide of Indigenous peoples, against racism, against slavery, against child labor, against the subjugation of women, against violence, against the proliferation of weapons, and against all the predatory practices of empire that succeed only by oppressing the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized.

While many today act as though the reputation of Christ-followers is synonymous with nationalism, right-wing politics, and culture war mentality, our history tells a more nuanced story. It points to our Christ-following ancestors who resisted, even those within their own religious group, when they used wealth and power to oppress the poor and the powerless.

How did they do this? By choosing nonviolent, faithful resistance to injustice, moment by moment, day by day, in every aspect of their lives. We celebrate them as heroes today, but they didn’t feel like heroes in the moment. It felt like the powers were too strong and too hateful to overcome. The odds were stacked against them. But time and again, they proved the most ancient truth: love will have the last word.

The same is true for us today. A central tactic of authoritarianism is to convince you that it is too powerful to oppose and that choosing hopelessness and apathy is the only option.

Our Christ-following ancestors rejected this false narrative time and again. They courageously pursued justice for the least among us and resisted having their faith hijacked for evil purposes. We can too. We must.

It won’t always look big. In fact, it is in the small, local, focused, and intentional ways that resistance is most effective.

Choose one issue, just one that is closest to your heart. Give it the time and energy you can. Network with others in your community who are devoted to that issue just like you. Take needed times of rest and make space for joy. Authoritarianism abhors joy. Build these rhythms into your daily life, remembering that resisting injustice and oppression is a marathon, not a sprint.

Look to our Christ-following ancestors, that cloud of witnesses who remained faithful to the gospel of Jesus, even while so many around them chose the worship of empire instead. They overcame unthinkable circumstances. Never give up the hope that we can too.

And remember these words from Jesus when those who claim to be Christian today attempt to make you feel as if you are not among the faithful: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” —Jesus (Matthew 7:13–14)