As news is breaking from the investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse, my heart breaks for women in the denomination I once called home. It is devastating to read about the treatment of victims and about…
Today’s evangelicals are medieval crusaders at heart
At the dawn of 2022, forget the culture wars; this is a postmodern crusade, and the Christian soldiers are on the march. Evangelical Christians are medieval crusaders at heart. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Christian Crusaders went to war…
Q&A with a traumatologist on how to prevent clergy abuse and burnout
Editor’s note: The following article was published by BNG on June 7, 2021, but is being republished today because of its relevance to the new report on sexual abuse in the SBC. The unwillingness or inability to do the…
Who wants the crown Jesus refused in the wilderness?
In a widely circulating op-ed in the New York Times, Elizabeth Dias describes a speech then presidential candidate Donald Trump gave at a small evangelical college, Dordt University in Center City, Iowa. The most famous, or infamous, remark in his…
Conservative evangelicals’ political success: Acting out of the pain of unhealed shame
When Christians act out of the pain of unhealed shame, they may lash out in equally shameful ways. The world is seeing a church that names people and groups as enemies to be defeated, rather than seeing it bear witness to God’s love and grace for all.
When wielding power can be healing
“Money and power.” That’s what the gentleman who telephoned me from Mississippi said. The pressure on his home state and on my home state of North Carolina for recent legislative and gubernatorial actions, viewed widely as discriminatory, are all about…
Good power/bad power (The nonviolent Jesus versus the apocalyptic Christ)
It is vital to our spiritual health to understand the difference between dominant power and spiritual power. Dominant power is the power to externally influence behavior by the use of force, coercion, threat or promise, reward or punishment. Spiritual power,…
“Can’t we just play nice?”
“Look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” That was the advice of Glenn Beck to his radio show listeners on March 2, 2010. It was…
The lifetime value of church leaders
Last year our homeowner’s insurance company paid, minus our deductible, for the replacement of our roof. Significant hail damage over a year or two necessitated the replacement of the roof. This year we had a plumbing problem that resulted in…