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I think it's too early to decipher what is going to happen. I don't notice, for example, that this distaste for evangelical kitsch goes to a deeper level where there is distaste for fellow Christians. Many of the evangelical leaders would couch their comments in saying, "You know, these folks are so sincere about their faith." They talk about going to Christian conferences where there are the Peter and Paul salt and pepper shakers, and they are dismissive about it. Later on they'll come back to that as though their conscience is working on them. They'll say, "You know, I went to one of those conferences and the couple told me about how those salt and pepper shakers meant something very important to them."

What do you hope people will take away from your book?

There's been a lot of attention on the stewardship of financial resources, but practically nothing on the stewardship of power. I hope my book will stir greater understanding of how to deal with the issues of power. At this point, the evangelical movement desperately needs more thoughtful reflection on Christians' exercise of power. Because evangelicals have arrived. They have power that they didn't have 30 years ago.

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Faith in the Halls of Power is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

A review of the book accompanies this article.

Michael Lindsay discusses some of his findings on Authors@Google.

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November 2007, Vol. 51, No. 11