Above the desk where she wrote the books, tweets and blogs that reached millions, our friend Rachel Held Evans had a small sign: "Tell the truth." Rachel, who died last week at 37 after a sudden illness, would look up at this reminder to recenter herself. She wanted to tell the truth about the world as she saw it. As a progressive Christian writer, that often meant engaging in theological debates and calling out injustice.
But we misunderstand her if we see her primarily as a renegadeand an eager sparring partner. She never positioned herself simply "against" anything. To tell the truth is to recognize Rachel for who she was — someone who, inspired by Jesus' love for her, poured out uncommon love and worked relentlessly "for" the good of all people, whether they agreed with her or not.
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