The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics

by Curtis Chang, Nancy French

For the exhausted, the hurting, and the faithful, The After Party helps reframe our political identity away from the "what" of political positions and toward the "how" being centered on Jesus.

This paradigm-shifting book complements The After Party Project--a six-part, video-based, highly interactive curriculum that provides churches, small groups, and individuals with an on-the-ground, biblically based approach to a very complex topic.

The After Toward Better Christian Politics helps readers who feel despair about political

Engage with others across political differencesLearn specific steps to reframe political identity outside of partisan dividesFocus on how we relate to one another as Jesus teaches before moving to the what of political topicsThe After Party is ideal

Republicans, Democrats, and Independents looking for renewed hope and humility for our nationLocal leaders seeking to counter animosity toward political opponents, susceptibility to lies, and other practices that threaten the common goodCongregations, classes, and small groups watching The After Party video seriesPastors who want to encourage their congregants to trade their partisan mindsets for the mind of ChristIt's not too late. In today's political environment, faithfulness to a biblical how of political engagement shines as a radical challenge to both the Right and the Left. If you worry about what politics is doing to your community, your family, and your own well-being, The After Party will transform your political imagination.

It's time for us to go beyond party politics and--as Christians--believe in the true "party" yet to come.

Genres: Politics, Christian, Faith, Christianity, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Political Science

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[♪ Kim N · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author(s) had some valid points, but completely lost me with the political interpretation of Christ's death and resurrection.

[Kamrie Rhoads · Rating 5 out of 5]

so as this is my new employer a 5 star rating it mandatory but! i’d give it anyway. a very approachable step into this topic from a broader perspective i think is really helpful, with content and stories that do differ and are more explicit than what’s offered in the course.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounding up to 5 stars

I think this is a wise and helpful guide for how Christians can (and should) do politics better. Bob already wrote an excellent summary and review so I will excuse myself from that task.

This is really just an aside, but one point the authors make that I’d like to save here is about the “sign of Jonah,” which I think most of us assume is Jonah’s three days in the belly of the fish foreshadowing the three days of Jesus in the tomb. This book has a different take:

‘[T]he "sign of Jonah" points to God's future when the Lord finally brings an end to conflict and violence. Recall the king of Assyria's original response to Jonah, when he called to the Ninevites: "Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands" (Jonah 3:8 ESV, emphasis added). In Jesus, God is now extending that call to everyone, including the Pharisees and Sadducees standing before him in Matthew 16. Jesus already had explained this interpretation of the sign of Jonah a few passages earlier in Matthew 12 when he proclaimed, "The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here" (v. 41 ESV). The original sign of Jonah was a preview of Jesus. Jesus now stands as the fulfillment of that preview; he is the ultimate sign of Jonah that conveys God's universal invitation to a final and lasting peace.’

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter what policies or parties you support, Christians should have hope and humility. This book is wonderfully refreshing and practical in a deeply divided time.

“Practices over policy. Relationships over party. Spiritual values over ideology. The how over the what. This is the Big Shift that happens in the Jesus party. It is what makes the Jesus party hang together across political differences. We can disagree on the what if we all are moving toward Jesus in the how.”

[Bradford Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goal for 2025 is to write brief reviews on the books I read in order to reflect better. I hope this is useful to you.

“The After Party” guides one closer to demonstrating love and pursing justice while walking humbly. Curtis Chang, Russell Moore, and David French all have been Christians with a public political role and yet desire to be a disciple. It is easy to feel cynical, combatant, and exhausted when considering politics. Following Christ’s example gives us another option. Curtis Chang and Nancy French could have discussed their experiences on political polarization, and yet they stick to the concrete truths of the gospel.

“The After Party” has two parts. The book, in which I am writing a review on, and the enhancement portion (with videos). Though I did not complete the enhancement, it was referenced in the book, and sounded like it would be a joy to complete.

[Rick Lee Lee James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Helpful

I wish every church in America would lead a book study using this resource. It is a great tool in the toolbox of those who long for the lived Kingdom of God to be more of a reality in the lives of believers than partisan affiliations.

[Elizabeth McMahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes beyond politics to highlight the beauty and necessity of reconciliation and the practice of humility in our relationships. Regardless of political background, I believe that this book is important for Christians to read and reflect on and I was convicted on many levels of the ways I have fallen short of loving my neighbors well. How beautiful is the table of Jesus where differences are laid aside to marvel at the goodness and loving kindness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

[Calden Scranton · Rating 4 out of 5]

French and Chang (along with their team) present a “better way forward,” for Christians on the political spectrum. I appreciate the model they argue from, leaning into conviction and compassion well. The highlight of this book are the stories shared from the authors. They reveal political differences coupled with moments of humanity that supersede differences. This book is simple, well laid out, and presents a pathway to love one another while holding to political convictions. The goal, which is accomplished, is to see those with differences come to the “after party,” to love with hope and humility in a community together.

[Jeff Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes from The After Party by Curtis Chang and Nancy French
Chang and French offer a Humility & Hope Quiz to distinguish between Cynics (Me), Disciples, Combatants and the Exhausted

Page 12 millions of Americans are now less likely to live near people they disagree with than at any other time in recent memory or since researchers have been tracking this statistic.

Page 15 public support for the use of force against members of Congress nearly doubled from January to June of 2023, according to a study published by the university of Chicago's project on security and threats. As of June 26th, 2023, an estimated 44 million people supported using violence to coerce lawmakers.

Page 44 Jesus shifted his disciples away from remaining exclusively preoccupied with the existing what of politics to an increasing commitment to the distinctive how of politics. This how of politics begins with the spiritual values that jesus taught, including love, forgiveness, mercy, justice, truth, and two more values…hope and humility.

Referring to Jesus sermon on the mount:
page 48 he's explicitly intended his teaching to apply to the realm of politics the quote liberal talking point UN quote of quote turn the other cheek UN quote comes from Matthew 538 through 39, at the heart of his sermon on the mount The very next verse is, Jesus references a Roman political policy whereby any Roman soldier could make a Jew carry a load for exactly a mile but was strictly forbidden to require this for any longer distance. If Jesus meant for his practices to apply under brutal foreign occupation, how could any of us today plausibly argue that our current political stakes are so high that we deserve an exemption?
And in response to this oppressive Roman policy, Jesus calls for a shift to a new practice. The particular practice taught by Jesus is “go with them two miles” (Matthew 5:41 ). It is a clever and creative response typical of Jesus, who is clearly not subscribing to the zealot policy of opposing the enemy with daggers. But is it cooperating with the enemy if this practice forces the Roman soldier to violate his own policy, and in a public way that further showcases the oppressive nature of this policy.

Page 51 as we pursue the what of politics, the Jesus how must take priority. No political stakes can justify exempting ourselves from the how of spiritual values, relationships, and practices commanded by Jesus.

Page 56 the after party project believes that hope and humility are crucial spiritual values for political discipleship under Jesus.

Pages 63 and 64 when I (Nancy) worked as a ghost writer for political celebrities, leaders, and pundits, I saw this dynamic up close. “My clients, many of whom were churchgoing Christians, did not necessarily believe that the Jesus ethic applied to politics. They were fine with using sharp elbows, slightly twisting the truth, were fine with unfairly characterizing an event to meet their needs. When I pushed back they called me naive. They said that the left was playing hardball and we needed to as well, or we’d get left behind. Eventually, they got sick of me pushing back against these tactics. I quit or was fired by all of them.
Interestingly, these clients were moral in other parts of their lives. “They would never, for example, say it's OK to steal money if you were in a desperate financial situation. They wouldn't be OK with cheating on their taxes or their wives,” she said. “But when it came to politics, they didn't think Christian norms applied.”
When Christian politics espouse the hubris and hunger for power that characterize the standard politics of the day, something is wrong. Contemporary politics is indeed characterized by the raw pursuit of political power, where the us seeks to “Lord it over” them and “exercise authority over them.”
To those Christians who are drawn to adopting such tactics, Jesus responds with a stinging rebuke: “but it shall not be so among you” Mark 10:43.

Page 65 and 66 Jesus teaching in mark 10 warns us that how we do so is [advance biblical perspective in the public square] of most importance. To repeat, Jesus did not say to James and John, “Whatever you do, make sure you hold the correct ideology, support the right party, and advance the correct policy.” What Jesus stressed is that any political agenda must be advanced with humility and a desire to serve everyone involved.
You may think you have the absolutely correct take on immigration, abortion, police violence, support for Israel, gay rights, or any other topic. But if you are showing up in conversations without humility and without a fundamental motivation to serve everyone touched by that topic, in Jesus' evaluation you've missed the boat.

Pages 67 and 68 evangelicals today are widely perceived as practicing self-serving politics- just like James and John. For example, we are inconsistent when applying our own principles: we will insist on civil liberty and freedom of expression when our rights are being infringed, but we are quick to censor and punish when those rights are being exercised by them. [Footnote citing David French's article “Free Speech for Me but Not For Thee” in the Atlantic April 11th 2022]

Contradicting the argument “if Christians hope to win or even survive we must sacrifice humility and fight fight fight”:
page 69 there are several ways to respond to this argument. We could start by comparing the religious liberty and political power enjoyed by American evangelicals to what Jews were suffering under the Roman regime. The notion that we have it so much worse today and therefore cannot afford the political humility commanded by Jesus in his day is simply untenable. Against much worse odds, the early Christians followed Jesus model of self sacrificial servanthood of others. Hopeless? The early churches willingness to serve everyone (especially the most vulnerable, whether they were Christian or not) stood out as a compelling witness born out of the teachings of Jesus and ended up transforming the entire Roman Empire. {Footnote Rodney Stark “The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries]

Page 85 a partisan mind and God's mind are not the same the partisan mind is actually opposed to the mind of Christ

Page 100 the high stakes battle is underway. Right now. But the struggle is not against flesh and blood: it is not right versus left, republican versus democrat. The battle is against the devil, the evil one who seeks to undermine the credibility of the cross's power to “reconcile all things”. The devil is trying to pit people against each other via politics. The devil especially loves to foment political hostility among Christians, as this undermines the credibility of the cross.

On the impact of social media on our news cycle:
page 115 in 1968, for example, The United states suffered from massive civil unrest and experienced much political violence. Sometimes there were two or three domestic terror bombings per day right here in the USA. But if you were living in Montgomery, Alabama, and a mail bomb went off in Topeka, Kansas, you would never know it. It would not appear in local papers and would not have been a significant enough news story to edge out reporting on Vietnam. But now, if a kid gets his MAGA hat knocked off in a Burger King in Des Moines or another kid gets coffee spilled on her BLM shirt, hundreds of thousands of people can be upset over it on social media.

Page 147 the cynic believes that having gotten to the bottom of the political world stories, he has discovered the whole truth: there's only pain and ugliness. God invites the cynic to grow in humility, not by somehow brainwashing the cynic to forget what he has discovered, but by revealing what the cynic has missed up to now: that within all of that discovered pain and ugliness, God is still present to save people.
Page 156 and 1:57 why is Jonah “exceedingly displeased” and “angry”? Because Jonah is now finally confronted with the remaining layer of the cynics heart: he does not share in God's hope for the nations. He reveals that he did not want to serve as a vehicle for God's mercy. He knew God's merciful character did not want the assyrians to benefit from “a gracious God... slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

Page 157 the cynic would be displeased at having to uncross his arms to embrace his enemies.

On Matthew 22:15-22:
page 175 Jesus is reframing politics by shifting the emphasis from tests to signs. The Pharisees and the sadducees- this “evil and adulterous generation”- approached jesus under the guise of looking for a sign, but as verse one has already made clear, their actual intent is to test him. What is the key difference between a test and a sign? The test frames current events as declarations of current loyalties. This sign frames current events as pointers to a future event.
Jesus is telling his inquisitors, “If you were genuinely looking for a sign from me, you wouldn't be testing me to fit me into your existing partisan options; Instead you would be seeking me in order to understand the future.”

[Mothlight · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this offered simplistic, generalized solutions and, if I am honest, patronizing.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about the book is that it’s pretty firmly rooted and backed up by the Bible. I like that it compares the political issues today to history and what was going on in Jesus’s time and finds a lot of hope. It doesn’t take any political side per say though the authors are mostly conservative. I like the overall message that politics shouldn’t divide us as a church body and that means having to give up the us vs them mentality. It’s also relatively short. It did say that it was made to be discussed in a small group and there were exercises in the book that I didn’t do because I was listening to it on audio, which probably would have made it more meaningful if I had done it. I’d like to watch the videos. Overall I’d give it a 3.5. It was interesting but nothing life shattering. It’s definitely a book recommending individual, heartfelt change vs systemic change which I also think needs to be a discussion and I’d like to read about.

[Brooke Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job laying out the “how” of politics. The focus on humility and hope is a helpful reminder to all. However, this book alone falls short of being a definitive guide on the manner by which Christians should engage in politics. What we believe matters—a point the authors do not dispute—but is not a subject of conversation in this book. Regardless, it is a useful guide and a great jumping off point for group discussions.

[Danita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but sweet, this resource is one I'd put in the hands of every American Christ-follower if I could. It was deeply relatable (I think I've been the Combatant, the Exhausted, and the Cynic at different times), compassionate, hopeful, and convicting.

[Emily Mundell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An olive branch of a book that can change the perspectives of Christians ina politically divided climate. The how of politics becomes much more important than the what for those of us committed to following the example of Jesus.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Positives:

A quick and hopeful read written at a lay level, this would be a great small group discussion book, particularly for churches. It's filled with scripture and lots of discussion of Jesus' ministry and its cultural backdrop. The book is nonpartisan and would be great for a group that includes a variety of political views, without any areas that are likely to unnecessarily offend anyone or come off as biased to most people. I really enjoyed the authors' personal stories of growth. The framework of humility and hope was really helpful. I didn't read this with a group, but now I want to, and I feel more prepared to have the resulting conversations.

Negatives:

I was disappointed in the lack of citations for the information about biblical cultural/political context--a major point of the book! There were some citations in footnotes, but I think only one was related to a point about biblical cultural context, and that was about something specific. Much of the information about the politics of Jesus's day was shared as though it were common knowledge. Maybe it is for Bible scholars, and I'm sure they wanted to avoid anything too academic, but still, some mention of sources would have been appreciated.

Additionally, the authors mostly ignored the fact that some of the fundamental premises of this book are ideas that a small but significant number of Christians won't accept, yet these are people we are presumably supposed to be trying to engage with as well. For example, the book's basic premise that there are faithful believers of many different political persuasions. I imagine many relationships won't get beyond square one because one person is suspicious that the other isn't even a Christian. I don't think this book will change the minds of the people who really need it.

Overall, this book begins to fill a major gap for Christians who need resources for how to think and talk about politics. This is a really good start. I finished the book feeling hopeful and inspired to engage in a Christlike way. I hope there will be more resources along these lines from these authors and others who are inspired by them.

[Jon Jansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m pretty disappointed by this book. There’s a lot of good stuff in here but it’s author’s are clearly afraid to offend their readers. In one chapter, David talks about his time in South Africa during Apartheid and describes the conflict in such a whitewashed “The Whites and the Blacks have contributed to this disunity equally” way that it was hard to continue to read. The authors praise MLK and the Civil Rights leaders for their “unifying of the church” and then later critique a woman for wearing a “Black Lives Matter” shirt at Sunday morning service. Maybe I’m the one who missing it- but I don’t understand how something like the Civil Rights movement happens without MLK vocally opposing the awful rhetoric being spoken by white Christians. When Paul opposes Peter for bigotry and exclusion toward the Gentiles, he wasn’t telling Peter just to take off his political t-shirt and focus on Heaven, he was preaching against the anti-gospel sentiment that Gentiles needed to be circumcised to be saved. Peter had to repent, not “agree to disagree”

[Steve White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you’re a cynic about politics or ready for battle, maybe just exhausted by the latest debate — The After Party provides a different path forward encouraging Christians to focus on the why over the what of politics.

And that why is based on a Jesus-centered view, embodying Christlike values of hope and humility.

As someone whose professional life involves dealing with folks across the political spectrum I’m quite familiar with the “us versus them” mentally.

If you’re ready to escape that and do things a different way, please pick up this book.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: How we might shift toward a better Christian politics through humility and hope.

There are many Christians longing for a better way to engage in politics. We’ve lost friends and family, who have “disappeared.” We recognize that we will always have political differences, even among Christians, but believe this shouldn’t result in demonizing those who differ with us. We are concerned that we cannot sustain the fabric of civic life with the level of hostile discourse we see around us. But we wonder if a better way is possible.

Earlier this year, Curtis Chang and David French of The Good Faith Podcast, teamed up with Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, to produce a six part free video curriculum to help churches move toward a better Christian politics, titled The After Party. This book is a companion piece, written by Chang and Nancy French, an award-winning journalist, and the wife of David French, a columnist with the New York Times. The book and the course complement each other but may be used independently.

The focus of the book is a call for us to allow Jesus to shift us from the what of politics (ideology, party, and policy) to the how of politics (spiritual values, relationship, and practices). They point to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus calls for mercy, peace-making, refraining from angry mocking of opponents, prioritizing reconciling over winning, avoiding sexual scandals, and truth-telling. This is not a critique of politicians but rather how we engage in politics. The authors focus on humility and hope as two key spiritual values that help us move toward a better engagement.

They use these two qualities as X and Y axes identifying four types:

The Disciple: high in both humility and hope
The Combatant: high in hope, low in humility
The Exhausted: high in humility, low in hope
The Cynic: low in humility and hope

They include an assessment tool accessible through a QR code. There is a written version in the appendix, allowing readers to identify the type that may most closely fit.

Most of the remainder of the book explores each of the types. As it turns out David French, Russell Moore, and Curtis Chang identified as the Combatant, The Exhausted, and the Cynic. The chapters include narratives of each on how they matured as disciples, growing in hope, humility, or both.

The final chapter invites us to move from us-versus-them politics to the after party of peace at the foot of the cross. While we cannot fully embody that this side of kingdom come, we can be living icons, signs of what is to come as we live in humility and hope across our differences.

This book offers a clear alternative to our politics of division. Is it too simple? I don’t think it is the be all, end all solution. But it offers a starting point, with tangible practices we can try with our “disappeared” friends. Rather than waiting for politicians that practice a better politics, it proposes that Christians, particularly evangelicals, in churches across this country take the first steps.

Will it be enough? I don’t know, but true disciples of Jesus don’t ask those questions. They listen for the call of Jesus and follow. At least they’ve taken the first steps toward a better politics, and nothing good can happen until someone does.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is entirely political just for progressives and all that. It uses racial language, diversity and systemic injustice to Trojan horse their views in. This definitely reminds me of deconstructionist Christianity tactics where they try to make you think about the bible outside of Jesus or God and instead think about it from its impact on preferred social groups like lgbt etc. Depending on the author's intentions I would consider this a form of spiritual abuse. There is nothing in here but browbeating conservatives. This book sorta highlights how leftists really can't understand rightists completely in a form aspect too (besides the content). There is no organic aspect, it is an institution with books and secular leftists are payrolling the group (not churches nor any right wing group). As I said before the content is completely couched in the progressive conclusion very consciously. It'd be one to say they use progressive language, which is why I was a bit hesitant given all the signs, but these are forcing progressive conclusions, thought processes. There's not even a reference to any biblical verses inside the introduction except at the very end. Why isn't there any in the 17 pages prior? Because they're not trying to conclude Christianity. Those verses simply shore up that we should give our politics up to God. There's no interaction within the arguments there nor examples. It's not going to appeal to people and I'm rather comfortable calling them wolves.

We've got our Bible and Christians can hold praise meetings with each other from different political parties. I'd really consider these people wolves but idk their intention. I'll just assume they're blinded by politics.
Read Romans 14 to get an idea of unity in our multivectoral paths in sanctification as seen in romans 6:22.

[Christopher Sweet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the premise of the book. However, there was plenty of partisan slant used in this book. There also was no balance of encouraging believers how to navigate genuinely biblical contradictions in political choices. The entire book felt like soft-pedaling just to get along.

I agree that there is too much divisiveness and nastiness in the Christian, partisan-political world, but our Lord also tells us to “stand firm” against the schemes of the enemy. And that’s why it concerned me to hear (audio book) Curtis Chang refer to himself as a progressive at one point in the book. Progressive theology and ideology is exactly the problem that the church needs to call out because it is a deceptive tool of the enemy.

I can get along with anyone, but they need to be willing to hear biblical truth when they are talking with me. And I don’t mean harshly used and applied biblical truth. I mean graciously, but firmly expressed and applied biblical truth that calls the believer to God’s unchanging standard of holiness.

I don’t serve a political candidate, I serve a risen Savior, and He calls us to be conformed to His image which requires repentance and change, not coddling people who stand against God’s truth just because it might hurt their feelings to hear the truth that change is a result of faith in Christ. It is more unloving to make people comfortable in deceptions knowing that a life contrary to Christ does not belong to Christ and will end in eternal destruction unless they die to themselves and live for Him.

[Maggie Boyd · Rating 1 out of 5]

My greatest complaint regarding this book is that it is, in fact, not a look toward better Christian politics. The writers/creators offer some generic ideas of how to listen to others and emphasize that we should not assign Christianity to one party or the other. The discussion questions, however, don't really lead you to the scriptures or to Jesus. Some of the anecdotes left me with more questions than answers, such as the one about Nancy and Kathy. They had political differences, but Nancy reached out to Kathy despite them, and they became friends. But all the while we talked about Nancy and Kathy breaching that gulf, I couldn't help thinking of all those in Kathy's place who did not have a Nancy. Public policy affects that. It creates a Kathy. And that's what politics in its base form is: public policies that affect citizens' lives. Jesus would have fed them all - that's what He did when he fed the crowds. Jesus did a lot of outreach that involved individuals, too, I'm not denying that. I'm just saying that Christians need to look at the whole image presented in the Bible. Did he say, feed the poor or feed a poor person? How does how we view that issue affect how we vote?

Honestly, this is a book for impractical people. If you like to sit around and pontificate in person or on social media about politics, this is for you. If you are someone who wishes to apply your faith to your politics, its not. And it certainly won't help if you are looking to have tough conversations that dig deeper into why we vote how we vote.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I snagged a copy of this at the After Party event in DC, where I had a chance to hear Chang, French, and Moore discuss the importance of this project to Christian political discourse.

Political conversations are always going to be tense, sure. But at the heart of Christian dialogue with the world and within the church, there are a set of essential virtues. They are, as any child who has grown up in the church should know, the same virtues extolled in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Any political self-expression that demands that we abandon these values is anti-Christian. Any politician whose love of worldly power trumps (cough) these virtues is not one in whom Christians should place their trust.

In this season when partisan extremism verges on madness, this book...and the study upon which it is based...provides a good template for both conversation and personal repentance and spiritual renewal. I intend to use it at my congregation in the Fall.

Good stuff. A four point five.

[Stephanie Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart is in the right place

I am a Christian committed to putting Christ first in my life and want to do the best I can when it comes to politics . I’m also a mental health counselor by profession. I frequently listen to people on both sides of the political spectrum and can understand how each side feels. I admittedly lean conservative but with open hands… (I took the book quiz in earnest and result was disciple) as I read this book the examples and even semantics are sympathetic to the left for the first 70% of the book (I am on my kindle so I knew the exact spot). I think the authors would do better to dole out more even handedly the partisan stories from the beginning… but overall I enjoyed the book. I think it would be hard for me to recommend this to people who seem very far left or right because my liberal friend would definitely feel justified in her victimhood in the stories and I know my deeply conservative family would see the first 2/3 of the book as only left leaning.

[MG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite all the controversy surrounding this project, mostly fomented by Republicans afraid what a few "never Trumpers" might say, this book and curriculum is simply applying what used to be common sense among evangelicals, that it is just as important how we conduct ourselves as it is what we work toward--whether in politics or in anything else. Any Christian teaching that undermines our love for others as well as for God as the cornerstone for Christian behavior and strategy is simply less than Christian. What this book does, which is a companion to a curriculum developed by Curtis Change, David French, and Russell Moore, is remind us that Christian ends must be achieved through Christian means and that only love will help us work through our divisions and rediscover civility in our politics.

[Shannon Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book, & a worthwhile read. Upholding GENUINE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN VALUES (unlike either of our current political options), The After Party aids believers in thinking "Christianly" about politics without oversimplifying the issues or buying into "herd mentality." This looks beyond the extremes which currently lead to divisiveness and disunity and points forward to a better way - a Kingdom-mindset. I encourage people to read this alongside Giboney's COMPASSION (&) CONVICTION, Moore's LOSING OUR RELIGION, & Claiborne's JESUS FOR PRESIDENT, just to get a well rounded perspective on being a faithful Christian when voting.

[Steven Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helped me have a good conversation with a loved one on this subject. Addresses the need for hope and humility and divides people into one of four profiles:Combatant, Cynic, or Exhausted with a goal of being Disciple.
Nice paradigm for seeing the us vs them mentality. It explores how combatants can learn humility and exhausted hope, and these examples are very good.
But I was looking for more on the “how should we then live” side. Once you place yourself on the profile, there’s not a lot of advice other than to try to reach out to other people on different sides of the aisle.
Very helpful, but I still had a lot of unresolved questions.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intersection of religion and politics will always be tricky, but it does not have to be divisive. The after party calls Christians to engage with politics in a better way, regardless of their political affiliation.

It all boils down to humility. Are you willing to be humble about your political stance?

There are constant reminders about how we must stand against the us versus them mentality, regardless of where we fall on the spectrum of Hope.

This book is a must read if you have ever felt conflicted about the role of Christianity and politics and what our own personal responsibility is as far as being advocates of peace and reconciliation.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A guidebook designed to accompany a study group that tries to focus Christian participants away from partisanship and toward Jesus, focusing on the how instead of the what. I give it 5 stars, not because it is the most engaging book you'll ever read, but because of its importance. We Americans are deeply divided and getting more so all the time. This book will help guide people to restore relationships with neighbors and family when they've been damaged by political disagreements.

[Catherine Richmond]

I appreciate our pastors' courage in hosting this small group at our church. The book, video series, and workbook explore divisiveness - how Jesus addressed it during His time on earth, its impact on our relationships and peace of mind, and where to place our hope for tomorrow. Scripture references throughout reinforce the concept.

I'm praying God's people can come together and lead the our country toward a better way.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was quite impressed with this book- how it defines a biblical third way on politics, and the works through the various vectors we might be heading in, instead of that way. I wish it had said a bit more about what taking a (political) stand actually looks like for a Christian, or what to do with the passages where Jesus rebuked his listeners instead of just preaching “reconciliation” to them, but overall a good book that advances the discussion (and my thinking).