In a full-page Politico ad last week, Christian activist Jim Wallis made the case for protecting government programs for the poor from budget cuts. “God is watching,” the ad claims.
The ad is part of a larger campaign called the Circle of Protection, which includes representatives from the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, Bread for the World, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Members met with President Obama for 40 minutes on July 20 to discuss government’s responsibility to “the least of these,” a clear reference to Jesus’s statement recorded in Matthew 25: “Whatever you did not do unto the least of these, you did not do unto me.”