Jon Ward concludes his book Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation with a testimony of his own calling: “My faith has been sparked by seeing that the real Jesus beckons me to follow him into a life of vulnerability that threatens the false gods of comfort and ease. Like many others, I’m trying to figure out how to walk that path. It’s daunting and scary, and most days I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job. But it does at least have the ring of truth.”

This is not the tale of a man who left a conservative evangelical way of life but rather one who redeemed it, finding a more loving evangelical way of life, and is still going forward.

The message he was raised with is one known by many of us: God loves the world and has worked through Jesus to reach all of us with that love. The message can be powerful and life-changing, speaking of love and care and nurture.

The problem is not the message but some of the messengers. Unfortunately, some Christian leaders have been unspeakably corrupt as they used their leadership positions to glorify themselves and in a few cases used power for corrupt practices.

More often, some evangelicals have worshiped America more than God and turned the church into a “make America great again” pep rally. Some used church for spiritual highs, leaving out the calling of service to the world.

Their emphasis was not on Jesus’s call to serve him in meeting spiritual and physical needs of the world but on glorifying America. Completely absent was any call for repentance for slavery and a century of segregation.

It shouldn’t be hard for a Christian to reflect on Jesus’ example when he said that he himself, the Son of God, “ did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”