3 “Through Lines” of Contemporary Culture and How Living Churches Probably Shouldn’t Respond

Recently I was speaking at a church on the topic of cultural engagement. It's a huge and complex topic. It's also, understandably, a controversial topic. It's controversial for a few reasons. First, there are often very controversial issues at stake, issues related to politics, sex, family, entertainment, education, and wealth to name just a few....

a crisis of mattering

We are in a crisis in our country. Actually, we are in several overlapping crises in our country. In just the last 24 hours our country has experienced horrible fires in California, a powerful hurricane in the Gulf coast, widespread civil unrest and rioting, a polarizing Republican National Convention, oh, and don't forget that we...

two -isms shaping the pandemic: safetyism

A few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast out of Chicago. They were interviewing the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo. This is a wonderful zoo that I remember visiting several times growing up in Chicagoland. The director was talking about their plans to reopen the zoo after an extended period being closed...

two -isms shaping the pandemic: scientism

Things are weird. Last week, while on vacation with my family, we ate lunch at a burger restaurant in rural Wyoming. After ordering, I handed my credit card to the girl who was checking us out. She stared for a moment at my card, and then looking at me she said, "I need your verbal...

abortion and black lives matter

A couple of months ago, as the pandemic was beginning, there was a meme that I saw on social media probably dozens of times. I don't know how you feel about memes. I usually love the ones that try to make me laugh. I usually hate the ones that try to make me think. Memes...

romans 13 and protesting the government

First, what this post is not about. I am not writing this in order to offer an opinion on when your church should or should not open. I have been committed to the principle of localism throughout this pandemic. The people best equipped to make decisions for the well-being of their communities are the people...

we are in danger of turning our back on a generation

A couple weeks ago, the Missouri School Board Association released some initial recommendations in regards to public school in the fall. I want to be fair to those involved. These recommendations are not requirements. They more closely resemble the type of brainstorming that often takes place in sterile conference rooms. It's important to be charitable...

the COVID trolley problem

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post arguing that everyone might be right in their response to the coronavirus because of the dramatically different contexts in which we live. The point is that the experience of the pandemic is so complicated that it laughs at our attempts to offer a simple, definitive response. This...

Pandemic in the Technocracy

Almost seventy years ago a French philosopher and theologian wrote a book that is more relevant today than when he wrote it. Writing less than ten years after the catastrophe of World War II, Jacques Ellul sounded the alarm about what he called the Technological Society. Ellul argues that modern life is increasingly governed by...