Many of us who call ourselves Christians are currently navigating Lent, a 40-day season of penitence, repentance, forgiveness, reframing. I wouldn’t generally characterize Lent a wildly popular season, mostly because it is an invitation that calls us away from the…
Ukraine’s just war
At one level, the Christian debate about the morality of war is ancient and timeless. Juxtaposed against the ubiquitous warfare of human history stands Jesus Christ, who taught enemy-love, nonretaliation and peacemaking, and went to his death on the Cross…
Are brown-skinned migrants waiting at the border less worthy of asylum than white-skinned Ukrainians?
The images from Ukraine are horrific. Our hearts are broken by such widespread destruction and indiscriminate warfare. Many folks alive today never have witnessed war at quite this scale. The fact that it seems so unprovoked and unjust makes it…
A thief strikes Bubba-Doo’s
Have you ever walked into a place, read the room and known instantly that something was off? A stop by my favorite old country store the other day was one of those times. I stepped through the door and could…
Autocracy as heresy
During the social revolution in South Africa that brought an end to the era of apartheid and a government of white supremacy, Allan Boesak, a Black South African theologian, wrote, “Apartheid is heresy.” And not only that, he later wrote,…
How Putin’s picture in a fictitious dictionary challenges all of us
Do you remember your child’s pictorial dictionary? The very first ones contain images of people, places or things that can be named: girl, father, doctor, astronaut, church, mountain, house, playground, ball, hat, Teddy bear, night light. Picture dictionaries for older…
‘On a scale of 1 to 10’: Lindsey Graham meets John the Baptist
During Senate hearings on Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., raised this faith-based inquiry: “I’m just asking this question because how important is your faith to you? On a scale…
Three reasons I doubt Russian Christians need more Bonhoeffers
Earlier this month, Christianity Today ran a piece on whether Russian Christians need more Bonhoeffers. By “more Bonhoeffers,” the author apparently meant leaders who would speak up on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Christian leaders from Italy, Switzerland, Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria have given…
The politics of nothing and the enabling church
There’s a politics loose in our democracy that is all about nothing. The evangelical church serves as the incubator and enabler of the politics of nothing. This is not a sermon, but it suggests a biblical text: “The grass withers,…
Stacey Abrams aims to stand in ‘shoes no one’s ever worn before’
When I sat down to interview Stacey Abrams, I remembered the day my daughter, Zyan, was born. As with many parents who see their children for the first time, that remains a memorable and even profoundly spiritual moment. I remember…
Moving lightly through this world: Reflections on the weight of white Christian innocence
In the wake of recent travels, I’ve been thinking about the novelty of the experience against the backdrop of the pandemic. What was routine now seems exotic; what was comfortable seems unsettling. I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the loss…
Hymn stories: Lord, Who Throughout These 40 Days
Many congregations sing Lord, Who Throughout These 40 Days during the season of Lent, unaware of its origin as a children’s hymn. It is one of the few hymns written addressing the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. (see…