Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center on Johnstone Street.
Well, former President Richard Nixon is quote unquote having a moment. More than half a century after the 37th President of the U.S., the only one to resign from office, left office in disgrace, a new vibe is emerging around his persona, especially amongst younger Americans. The influx of Nixon swag, Nixon memes, Nixon-themed TikTok videos is now known as Nixon maxing.
Now why a Nixon Renaissance? Why now? According to the Wall Street Journal, Nixon's being recast as a forerunner of America First by a new generation of conservatives, a combative president loathed by the press and besieged by investigators who was brought down by the same establishment they believe targeted President Trump. ⁇ For example, Vice President J.D. Vance recently called the redeeming of Nixon's legacy, quote-unquote, deserved.
He then added, if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a president is crazy. Nixon's renaissance is partly due to new scholarship, new books, new documentaries that all attempt, as the late Paul Harvey Owet often put it, to tell the rest of the story, namely that Nixon wasn't quite as bad as he's been portrayed and that there was no fair trial for his co-conspirators. The Wall Street Journal is hopeful that Nixon maxing will serve as a gateway drug to learning more Nixon history. But Christians can be hopeful that it'll be a gateway to the greatest story ever told.
Because among the host of colorful characters, movie-like events, and confusing puzzles surrounding Nixon's history is the story of a life transformed by the work of Jesus Christ. Chuck Colson served as special counsel for President Nixon from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. Slate magazine described Coulson as, quote-unquote, the evil genius of an evil administration. And he was best known as Nixon's hatchet man, who was, as Coulson once described himself, deeply valuable to the President because he was ruthless in getting things done. Colson became embroiled in the Watergate scandal and was indicted in 1974 for conspiracy to cover up the Watergate burglaries and for obstruction of justice.
He spent seven months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a different charge. Though he had firmly committed during his public service to never being compromised, Chuck Colson self-admittedly became blind to his own ethical concessions. As he would often explain later, quote, human beings have the infinite capacity for self-rationalization, and that's exactly what I did. It was after his resignation from the White House, but before going to prison, that Coulson encountered Jesus Christ. Copy of C.S.
Lewis's Mere Christianity, the compelling witness of a recent convert, and a crisis of meaning that he was going through all led Colson to give his life to Christ. His 1974 memoir, Born Again, told the story of the redemption that Chuck found in Jesus Christ and how the lowest moment of his life became, in the end, the pivot to an incredible life of serving others and advancing the gospel. Coulson would go on to found Prison Fellowship Ministries and, of course, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He would be an advocate for many other Christian causes, serving as a convictional voice for truth in the public square. As he expressed in his best-selling book, How Now Shall We Live, Christianity's not just about the redemption of individuals.
It's about the redemption of entire cultures. The many suggestions that haunted his life and even his death that his conversion was in fact inauthentic. Was repudiated by decades of a life that were lived redeemed, that were lived in a way transformed by the work of Christ.
So whatever it is that's really driving the current Nixon-Maxing trend, Christians should take the opportunity to point the interested to the life of Chuck Coulson because his life points ultimately to the life, death, resurrection, and renewal of Jesus Christ. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Andrew Carico. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources, or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org.
Christian Educators, this is Billy Hutchinson with Colson Educators. As a former teacher myself, I know you're busy, and I know you want to teach like a Christian, not just be a Christian who teaches.
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