Analysis articles that drew the most views from Baptist News Global readers in 2021 were dominated by the same topics that led in the categories of most-read news and opinion: the pandemic and vaccines. Three of the top 10 pieces…
I’m weary of it all
Last week I tried to read Rick Pidcock’s post on the Thanksgiving Twitter war between complementarians and egalitarians, and I just had to quit. I will say more about Pidcock’s fine article below, but at the time I just couldn’t…
Eschew obfuscation
I’m not a bumper sticker guy, but mid-week after one particular Sunday sermon someone showed up in my office with a gift in hand, patterned on that sermon title: “Eschew Obfuscation.” You know: Avoid making things difficult to understand. I…
Should I be insulted for being called a Baptist?
I think I might have been insulted by a good friend recently, but I’m not sure. In a text message between Sharon and my friend Charlie, he described me as “the only Baptist I know.” If you knew Charlie, you…
Disarming the fear infecting our politics
I started attending a Southern Baptist church about nine months before I was born. In those preschool years, the message about God was simple and clear: God is love; God is good; God loves the whole world, and God loves…
While we’re talking about guns in America, let’s talk about our fear-based theology that also drives gun sales
The sound of skidding tires filled the air as the car spun around, the window rolled down, and an arm reached out. It wasn’t until the third shot that I realized that I was staring down the barrel of a…
The role of seminaries in guiding ex-evangelicals like me through deconstruction
Over the past decade, evangelicals have had to come to terms with the fact that people are leaving the church in droves. According to a recent Gallup poll, just 47% of Americans are members of a church, falling from 70% in…
‘Postcards from Babylon’ documentary tells a better story
White conservative evangelicalism had just survived its perceived nightmare of the Obama presidency. They were certain that contraception mandates, cake-baking mandates, transgender people being free to use the restroom for their gender identity, and ultimately the legalization of same-sex-marriage were…
Why I long for the church of my youth
In this age of alternative facts, when truth means whatever people want it to mean, I find myself longing wistfully for the Christian tradition in which I was raised — although, for the most part, it has long since passed…
On being a church with a mission or being a missional church
“Either we are defined by mission, or we reduce the scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church. Thus our challenge today is to move from church with mission to missional church.” The move from church with a…
What I’ve learned about agreeing to disagree in contentious times
As a teacher for most of my adult life, I knew not everyone would — or should — blindly agree with my perspective. For at least two decades, I chose to teach my seminary graduate courses around conference tables rather…
This year’s tug of war over the Catholic vote and why it matters
Much has been written about evangelical Christian support for President Donald Trump — believed to be a key to his election in 2016 — but attention this year is turning also to the Catholic vote as a pivotal bloc. Joe…