I grew up attending a Southern Baptist church in Birmingham, AL. One of my most vivid memories of that time is our youth pastor – a hyper-energetic man named Ronnie – striding around the room urging us not to be “Sunday Christians.” Ronnie was referring to people who acted like Christians at church on Sundays, but abandoned their faith and values for the rest of the week. To me, teenagers who would sing the loudest at Sunday School yet tease me mercilessly in middle school were the epitome of “Sunday Christians.” Here’s the lesson Ronnie was trying to get through our thick adolescent skulls: our faith and values must permeate every aspect of our lives. To limit one’s Christianity to a small portion of one’s life is the height of hypocrisy.

As I observe the Religious Right, I see a lot of people behaving like “Sunday Christians.” Folks like Ralph Reed, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson limit their Christianity to a small portion of their politics. They are perfectly willing to cast their arguments about abortion and gay marriage in Biblical terms. But I’ve not heard a peep from these guys about the Bible and, say, civil rights or poverty. On those issues, they are either silent or supportive of their right-wing corporate colleagues. This is the behavior of a “Sunday Christian” – applying the Bible only when it is convenient.

The Religious Right acts as if the Bible has nothing to say about all these other issues. They are wrong. The Bible contains about 3,000 verses on poverty. (My favorite: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40.) Jesus spent his time ministering to the outcasts of his day – lepers, prostitutes and tax collectors – not currying favor with the powerful. If I sincerely try to apply my faith and values to my politics, I find I must fight for the poor and the oppressed – concerns which are associated with the left wing of American politics. This is why I am a proud member of the Religious Left.

That’s also why I’m proud that Traction is co-sponsoring the American Values Summit, coming up on Friday, March 3 at Duke University. The speakers at the Summit – including Sojourners editor Rev. Jim Wallis, North Carolina NAACP President Rev. Dr. William Barber, and Rev. Rebecca Reyes – share my vision. The Summit will be about treating poverty, civil rights, ecology and other issues as the moral issues they are. These speakers will talk about how they apply their faith and values to a wide array of issues… and how this usually leads them to side against the “Sunday Christians” of the Religious Right.

I’ll be there with bells on. Hope to see you there, too! Register here: www.americanvaluessummit.com/index.html