Ep. 207 - Amy Hawk: What Would Judas Do? (Encore)

Show Notes: Amy Hawk — Author, Bible Teacher, and Truth-Teller

What happens when faithfulness to Jesus begins to put you at odds with the religious community that shaped you?

In this episode of Stories from Real Life, I sit down with Amy Hawk, an author, Bible teacher, and writer whose work explores the uncomfortable intersection of Christianity, politics, conscience, and spiritual courage. Amy spent roughly two decades serving in evangelical church life—teaching Bible classes, leading Bible studies, women’s ministry, prayer ministry, and adult discipleship—before a season of deep disillusionment forced her to reexamine what it means to follow Jesus when institutional religion becomes entangled with power.

Amy is the author of The Judas Effect: How Evangelicals Betrayed Jesus for Power, a deeply personal and Scripture-centered reflection on the American evangelical church, political allegiance, and the cost of choosing power over the way of Christ. The book is described as part Bible study and part personal faith journey, written out of Amy’s own crisis of faith as she wrestled with what she saw happening inside parts of the church after 2016.

She is also the author of Six Years in the Hanoi Hilton, the story of her father, U.S. Air Force pilot James Shively, who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and spent six years as a prisoner of war. That earlier book explored courage, survival, suffering, and hope under extreme circumstances—themes that also echo through Amy’s more recent work.

Our conversation moves beyond politics into something more personal and searching: What does Christian integrity require? How do people hold onto faith when the institutions around them disappoint them? And how can Scripture become not a weapon for winning arguments, but a guide back toward humility, compassion, truth, and courage?

In This Episode

Melvin and Amy discuss:

How Amy’s years in evangelical ministry shaped her faith and her writing.

Why she felt compelled to write The Judas Effect.

The difference between loyalty to Jesus and loyalty to a political movement.

What happens when speaking honestly costs you community.

How Scripture helped Amy process disillusionment.

The role of courage, repentance, humility, and compassion in the life of the church.

How her father’s POW story influenced her understanding of endurance and moral clarity.

Why some conversations are difficult precisely because they matter.

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