community

By Charlie Self

Christian mission, spirituality, and theology have been navigating between isolated individualism and coercive collectivism from the third century to the present.

Both the Old and New Testaments confirm the necessity of personal faith and repentance toward the Lord as a condition of divine favor and ultimate salvation. Yet an equal number of texts affirm participation in the community of God’s people, with an ethos of humility, love and service.

By Charlie Self

There are three possible futures for American Evangelicalism. These diverse destinies depend upon the moral, social and theological convictions of the communities and leaders of the different streams. They also represent patterns found in three centuries of American Evangelical history. These futures will also determine whether or not particular communities flourish economically and socially.

By Joseph Sunde

As church attendance continues to decline across the West, many have lamented the spiritual and social side effects, namely a weakening of civil society and the fabric of community life. What’s less discussed, however, is the economic impact of such a decline.

By Dylan Pahman

The term “Good Samaritan” does not appear in the Bible, but it has become the common name for the answer Jesus gave to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) In our time, “Good Samaritan” is a common idiom for a charitable person, especially someone who would do as the Samaritan in Jesus’s parable did:

By Jessica Driesenga

This article is adapted from an essay in The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice, a new collection of writings from Christian’s Library Press.

By Joseph Sunde

When decrying instances of do-gooder activism gone wrong, it’s become rather routine for critics to respond by saying, “good intentions aren’t enough.” And to a great extent, rightly so.