The National Faith Engagement Director for Biden for President on why Christians should support Biden for president.
As a follower of Jesus, my faith informs my values, and my values inform my politics— which is why I work for Joe Biden. As the National Faith Engagement Director for the Biden Campaign, I spend my days talking to people of faith about why I believe Joe is the clear moral choice in this election. But I haven’t always been a Democrat.
Like many Christians, I grew up Republican. I remember celebrating George H.W. Bush’s presidential victory when I was four and, in college, casting my first presidential vote for his son. If you are a Christian, I was told that you simply vote Republican.
As the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Moody Bible graduates, I was also raised in the church. Through Awana, youth group, and Cru in college, I was taught to share my faith in an active way and that we follow Jesus through our words and our deeds. As a kid, ministry was volunteering at soup kitchens, service projects at senior centers, hunger walks, and mission trips. We literally put hands and feet to our faith.
From a young age, I was also taught to use the opportunities given to me to create opportunities for others, especially the marginalized. Jesus speaks to this in Matthew 25, calling us to care for the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the prisoner, and anyone in need. This is why, after college, my faith led me to teach in a low-income school on the South Side of Chicago.
And that’s where my world changed.
The students I taught were bright and capable with boundless potential. But, based on their zip code, their odds of getting a college degree were less than 10%. As I got to know their families, I saw devoted, hard-working people doing the most with what little opportunity they had. I saw real lives that matter …