Democracy As Moral Practice with Jason Edwards | Episode 298

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-smnh3-1b611ad

We tend to think of democracy in terms of institutions and procedures — voting, the Supreme Court, Congress. But what if it actually depends on something less visible: the everyday virtues that make shared life with people we didn’t choose possible at all?

Dennis talks with Jason Edwards, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri, about his Baptist News Global essay on democracy as a moral practice, sparked by a well-known 2008 moment when Senator John McCain corrected a supporter’s false claim about Barack Obama. The conversation moves from there into how churches form — or fail to form — people capable of living alongside those they disagree with, including a candid look at emotional health as part of discipleship.

They also touch on Jason’s forthcoming book, At Home with God: How the Cross Transforms Us, built around the image of a house with many windows — each theory of the atonement offering a true but partial glimpse of something too vast to fully see.

In this episode:

• Why Jason calls democracy “a moral practice” rather than just a system
• The McCain moment that shaped his thinking
• How churches can cultivate — or undermine — emotional maturity
• A preview of At Home with God and its “house with many windows” approach to atonement

Links:

• Jason’s essay, “Democracy as a moral practice, not just a system” (Baptist News Global)
• Jason G. Edwards on Substack
• At Home with God: How the Cross Transforms Us (IVP, November 2026)

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