How this new group for Christian lawmakers will try to remake American politics

A decade ago, Jason Rapert — founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers — was in a hotel room in Destin, Florida, at the end of a ministry conference.

The minister and missionary, who, at the time, also worked for a brokerage firm, felt called to run for office. He’d been praying for weeks about whether or not to throw his hat into the political ring.

The answer came to him that night in a Florida Hilton. “God said to me, ‘Why are you not sacrificing to...