Mission
The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) is a Christian, non-partisan think tank dedicated to addressing issues in the public square with biblical distinctiveness. The mission of the IGE is to be a moral and spiritual catalyst for renewal in our culture. Founded in 2015, we provide opportunities to better understand issues in our globalized world today. Such opportunities include conferences, workshops, and writings available on the site as well as in our coming journal. The interdisciplinary nature of the IGE brings together experts and practitioners from a variety of fields to address issues related to their expertise in a distinctively Christian manner.
The IGE believes the Bible to be a living and active narrative that can illuminate the ideologies undergirding issues in the public square. Though the Scriptures are a primary source, they are not the only source. We believe all truth is God’s truth. Therefore, we draw from a wide swath of material to address and contextualize such issues in a gracious and civil manner. All this is done to glorify our God and equip his people with renewed minds and compelled hearts.
Values
Our core values are all inspired by, and infused with, the truth of God’s word and the Judeo-Christian worldview. This foundation is built upon the Theological Virtues; faith, hope, and love and the Cardinal Virtues; prudence, courage, temperance, and justice.
Human Flourishing
God designed each of us with unique gifts and passions which translate into an innate desire to creatively cultivate that to which we set our hand. When we work and innovate from a foundational understanding that we were all created in the Imago Dei, then flourishing follows. The practice of our work, while necessary to sustain us, should also be consistent with the “peace of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7).
Economic Liberty
While fully unrestrained free markets avail our sinful nature to the temptation to exploit others, the peace, prosperity, and flourishing brought about by lightly regulated markets is unmatched by any other system of economic organization. Within the norms and limits provided by institutions and our Judeo-Christian values, economic liberty paves the way for businesses to generate wealth and people to escape poverty.
Social Justice
From Genesis, we know that all people were created in God’s image. The qualities that make us image-bearers of God are innate and are unaffected by myths of racial differences, socio-economic class, or gender. Human history, especially that of our country, indicates a willful misinterpretation and rejection of this principle of the Imago Dei by those in power, including many in the church. Uprooting this legacy of discrimination will require all of us to search our hearts and humbly recognize implicit bias as well as stand firmly against the explicit discrimination that continues to infect our society. Furthermore, we are to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).