If you haven't been paying attention, a very interesting reality has been occurring on the American political left.  Long advocates of the need to keep religion and the church out of politics, leading liberals have begun singing a different tune recently.  We hear the President speaking about listening for "God's voice," Harry Reid lecturing on our "moral imperatives," and even Nancy Pelosi calling on church leaders to lobby their parishioners to support the left-wing approach to illegal immigration.

I actually consider this a major victory for conservative Christians who have been speaking about the inescapable intersection of faith and politics for years.  For the longest time, the left kept up a futile approach of pretending that faith doesn't matter in the sphere of public policy.  Yet, there was always an air of inconsistency in their tired contention that, "you can't legislate morality."  After all, every law that is written declares one thing to be right and another wrong...thus, it imposes someone's view of morality. 

So now, the left has apparently abandoned their incoherent strategy and adopted a new one.  Rather than seeking to eliminate Christian influence on politics, the left is now launching an aggressive campaign to rebrand Christianity to fit their liberal political agenda.

And perhaps no other figure is playing a more important role in that effort than self-proclaimed spiritual adviser to liberal politicians, Jim Wallis.  Wallis's past is one that includes membership in the radical "Students for a Democratic Society" during Vietnam, championing of communism in the 1970s, and the founding of an anti-capitalist magazine entitled, "The Post-American." 

In 1971, Wallis changed the name of his magazine to "Sojourners."  Though billed as a "progressive Christian commentary on faith, politics, and culture," it is readily apparent to regular readers like myself that it is heavy on the "progressive" and light on the "Christian."  For instance, a recent post on Wallis' Sojourner's blog - "God's politics" - blatantly lied about the Arizona immigration law, calling it "legal racial profiling."  The law itself outright forbids racial profiling at least four times.  Even more damaging, the magazine's website links to the outrageously vile and offensive left-wing hate site "Daily Kos" in its favorite blogs section, and recently featured the foul-mouthed Comedy Central host Jon Stewart as a "modern day prophet."

These anecdotal red flags, however, are not nearly as concerning as Wallis's own words and behavior.  Appearing recently on the left wing talk radio program, "The Stephanie Miller Show," Wallis condemned the "utterly partisan" political dialogue.  "That's why I like shows like yours," Wallis commented to Miller.  But wait...Stephanie Miller is the same woman who went on Larry King Live and called for the execution of Rush Limbaugh.  She also recently made the proclamation that "God is a Democrat."

Evidently that blatant hypocrisy was not enough for Wallis.  He then went on to condemn conservatives by reprimanding, "But, my goodness, you can't challenge people's...faith because they disagree with you on a policy option."  This just moments before Wallis told Miller he was, "pondering a blog for this week which will say, ?Is Libertarianism Christian?'"  In other words, because Wallis disagrees with libertarians on policy, he will question their faith.  Oh, but he wasn't done.  Asked by Miller about Kentucky Republican Rand Paul's position on the BP oil spill, Wallis replied, "I'd say that's un-Christian."

The truth is I have always struggled theologically with many of Wallis's positions.  While claiming to revere William Wilberforce (the man who single handedly made slavery illegal in England) as a Christian who did political engagement the right way, on the great moral issue of our day - abortion - Wallis believes it should be kept legal.  I've also scratched my head many times at Wallis's call for "social justice."  While I do believe that fighting poverty, being a good steward of creation, and charity are Christian imperatives, I recognize that those are commands Christ gave to us individually, to be motivated out of love and compassion.  Too often, it seems, Wallis seeks to use public policy, government confiscation, regulation and redistribution to achieve these objectives.  That's not compassion, it's compulsion.  His well-intentioned aims then bring glory to the state, not to God.

But those theological concerns are now giving way to something more serious, and those Christians who "sojourn" with Wallis should be very wary.  While our faith should always inform our politics, we should never let our politics inform our faith.  Recent examples show Wallis treading freely across that dangerous line.