Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and Richard Cizik discuss ways that Christians of different theological persuasions and backgrounds can hold civil dialogue and work together to save the environment and advocate for social and economic justice.

For ten years, Cizik served as vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals. Then, in 2008, he agreed to a personal interview hosted by Terry Gross on the NPR program “Fresh Air.” The views that he shared “infuriated the right wing” of the Evangelical movement, he recalls—even though he made it clear that he was not stating the policies of the National Association of Evangelicals. After “a host of leaders” from the right wing of the Evangelical movement “took to the airwaves and said I had to go,” Cizik agreed to resign.

Cizik observes that many of the personal opinions he expressed in the interview “are right in the middle” of younger Evangelicals’ viewpoints. Among other topics, he had discussed global warming, contraception, and civil unions.

“I admire the Evangelical movement. I consider myself still part of it. But I don’t admire the incivility,” Cizik says. He believes that incivility among American Christians has led to violence in other parts of the world. Self-described but inauthentic “Evangelicals,” such as the obscure pastor who threatened to burn the Quran, present a distorted picture of American Christianity. Because of the powerful Internet and breathless 24-hour news coverage, the inflammatory remarks of one person in the United States can touch off riots halfway around the world.

But is it fair to blame one American—particularly if that American has wrongly claimed the Evangelical label—for the actions of rioters on another continent? Cizik suggests that Evangelical leaders have the power and responsibility to calm down their portion of the worldwide conversation.

Evangelicals need a public theology and a commitment to civility, so that their portrayals of Christianity reflect their beliefs. Instead, in Cizik’s view, for decades the world has tuned in to a series of upsetting comments by Evangelical leaders that do not reflect Evangelical theology. Many American Christians, as well as people of other faiths and nationalities, react to inflammatory comments by thinking, “If that’s Evangelicalism, I want no part of it.”

In January 2010 Richard Cizik formed the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good with David Gushee and Steve Martin. Cizik espouses a new vision of Evangelicalism, and a new movement. Evangelicalism has three qualities, he says: a commitment to the authority of Scripture, a Christ-centered emphasis that “you must be born again,” and a practice of sharing the faith with others.

Some Evangelical leaders still “want to define the Evangelical community narrower and narrower,” Cizik says. The new movement does the opposite, he explains, “making the circle wider and making it a dotted line instead of a hard line. We’re saying, these are the Evangelical truths, and welcome to us and to this movement.”

About Richard Cizik

In January 2010 Richard Cizik formed the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good with David Gushee and Steve Martin. For ten years he had served as vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, a post he left in 2008. He has been a leader in bringing evangelicals and scientists together in the search for common ground on climate change.

In 2002 Cizik participated in Climate Forum 2002, at Oxford, England, which produced the “Oxford Declaration” on global warming. He was instrumental in creating the Evangelical Climate Initiative, introduced in 2006. In 2005, the New York Times dubbed him the “Earthy Evangelist” for his advocacy on climate change, and in 2008 he was named to Time Magazine’s list of the “Time 100” most influential people. In 2006, Fast Company placed him on its list of “Most Creative Minds.”

Cizik has written more than 100 articles and editorials and is the author and editor of The High Cost of Indifference. He contributed to the landmark document “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Engagement.”