Category: Public Theology

Christian Leadership, Christianity, Devotion, Public Theology

What if We Prayed for the “Other” Political Party?

This morning, my devotional reading took me to one of the most challenging passages of Scripture. In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus invites those who seek to follow him to love our enemies and to pray for them.

It is a word that is as uncomfortable as it is challenging. No one is naturally inclined to love their enemies. No one really wants to even pray for them. Our natural inclination is to despise our enemies. We don’t want to show love or concern for them. Yet, Jesus calls us to the deeper and more difficult way of life that sees our enemy as our neighbor and calls us to see them as a child of God created in God’s very image.

That is hard to do. Many have reflected on how this passage calls us to care for the personal enemies in our lives, those people who just seem to get in our way or make life difficult for us. We’ve also reflected on how this passage calls us to find ways to pray for those who would do us harm. None of those things are easy, but it is the way of Christ who showed what this looks like when he prayed for those who crucified him on the cross. Continue reading “What if We Prayed for the “Other” Political Party?”

Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Public Theology, Sermon

Living in Authentic Communities

Read Christian websites, scan the title of books at a bookstore, or hear how leaders in the church talk and you will notice a common theme. That theme is that Christianity in Western civilization, especially in the United States, is facing a crisis. It revolves around a generational gap that challenges the health and vitality of churches across all denominations.

This generational gap can be seen in weekly church attendance, membership rolls, and the influence the church has in the lives of young adults. The church struggles to reach people under the age of 40. These are people who identify themselves as being members of Generation X, like myself, or the Millennial Generation. Our reach among these groups of people is considerably less when compared with other generations.

I’ve often wondered why this is, not just as someone who is a young pastor but as a Christian who is a young adult. Why do we struggle to reach people from my generation and younger? I am not thinking about Christians who simply go to other churches. I am specifically thinking about people who do not have a relationship with Jesus or the church. Why do we struggle to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with young adults? Continue reading “Living in Authentic Communities”

Christian Leadership, Culture, Public Theology

Enough: Cultural War is Tearing the Church Apart

One of my favorite songs we often sing at church is “They’ll Know We are Christians By Our Love.” It was written by Peter Scholtes and describes the church’s mission to share the love of Jesus Christ.

This verse of the song is quite powerful.

We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand,

We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand,

And together we’ll spread the news that God is in the land.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

What saddens is me is how often we do not live out these words. Often what we share with the world is the message that we will only walk with each other as long as we share beliefs, practices, and understandings of faith, and that we will not walk with those who disagree with us. Continue reading “Enough: Cultural War is Tearing the Church Apart”

Christian Leadership, Christianity, Culture, Public Theology

What Does Genesis Really Tell Us?

When I was learning to become a journalist, I was often told that a good story would answer all of the most important questions. Every story and interview, then, would attempt to uncover the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a certain event or topic. As a reporter, I took seriously this role provide all the answers to all of our questions.star-forming-region-1600

Part of the reason reporters are fascinated with getting the answers to our questions is that we wanted to uncover as much truth as possible. There was also another reason for this. We recognized that people have a thirst for knowledge and want answers to their questions. People want to know why things are the way they are or what caused certain things to happen.

This is true for many aspects of our lives, whether it is a proposed piece of legislation or trying to determine if a certain athlete will win an Olympic medal. It is also true when trying to figure out how this universe came to exist and how we got here. We want all of our questions answered about creation and the universe. Continue reading “What Does Genesis Really Tell Us?”