-
The Cost of Ignoring Injustice
There is a cost when Christians ignore injustice—we suggest to the world that God doesn’t care about those who experience it. When we’re apathetic about the murder of a young African-American man by a pair of white vigilantes, we fail to image God who is just and calls his people to advocate for justice: Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies just might be with you, as you claim he is. Hate what is wrong, love what is right. Promote justice at the city gate. (Amos 5:14–15a) Take away from me your noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music…
-
The Tapeworm Gallery: Ten Effective Ways to Help Heathens Love Jesus
Between smart phone Bibles and Hollywood churning out a new R-rated movie every seventeen seconds, the world is spiraling downward too fast. Christian living is losing ground in America, as more millennials leave the church. Before you know it, Christian and Grace will be praying standing upright. Can you stop it? No. But you can slow down the process. Here are ten things you can do to make people want to come to church, and help bring the lost to Jesus. I know you have tried most of these already. Keep plugging away. Don’t give up. 1. Memorize Leviticus. 2. Lose the contact information for any socially inept visitor to your…
-
7 Baby Steps Whites Can Take to Fight Racism
While studying gender in my PhD program, I was assigned to read Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896–1920. At the risk of sounding like Nerd Girl, it was the best book I read all year. One of its strengths was that it introduced readers to the African-American middle class that existed between 1890 and 1960. Of special interest to me were photos of male and female seminary students studying theology—including Koine Greek—under male and female professors. Most white seminaries didn’t admit women till the 1970s, let alone hire them as professors. I had been taught that the U.S. Women’s Movement in…
