Group Answers Episode 67: Michael Wear

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On this week’s episode, Brian and Chris talk with Michael Wear. Michael answers the following questions: 

1. Tell us how you went straight from college to working in the Obama White House.
2. It seems like a lot of people come out of working in an administration very cynical about the process, but you express in your book hope and optimism for the future. How was your experience different?
3. How did you manage your strong Christian beliefs while occasionally working with people who did not share them?
4. Politics is always a tricky conversation in small group meetings. How should group leaders approach political topics when they are raised? Should they even be discussed?
5. With another contentious election season coming up, how can people in small groups have healthy conversations while still holding opposing views?
6. What is the ultimate hope for Christians in this political climate?

Michael Wear is the founder of Public Square Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps businesses, non-profits, foundations, and Christian organizations at the intersection of faith, politics, and culture. Wear directed faith outreach for President Obama’s historic 2012 re-election campaign and was one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history, leading evangelical outreach and helping manage the White House’s engagement on religious and values issues, including adoption and anti-human trafficking efforts. He holds an honorary position at the University of Birmingham’s Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, and serves on the national board of Bethany Christian Services. He lives with his wife, Melissa, in Washington, DC. Michael is the author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in Lifeway’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at Lifeway and author of Small Groups For The Rest Of Us.