A Christian, An American, a Southerner and a Republican

Several years ago, I was speaking at a Christian leadership conference being held in Atlanta, Georgia. After the day’s events, a group of pastors and leaders converged for a late-night meal and conversation. That’s one of the best parts of going to these sorts of events—the candid and honest conversations behind the scenes.

When our conversation turned to the topic of politics, a couple of ministry leaders shared with me that growing up in the South, they were ingrained from “the moment we were in our moms’ tummies” that they were foremost a Christian, then an American, then a…