Church

By Joseph Sunde

For many evangelicals, 2 Chronicles 7:14 has become a predictable refrain for run-of-the-mill civil religion, supposedly offering the promise of national blessing in exchange for political purity.

By Chris Horst

For two summers during college, I worked ten-hour days under the hot and humid Pennsylvania sun as a mason tender—or more commonly, as a mud boy. I mixed concrete, hauled cement blocks and attempted to assist our masons. Some days I lugged, stacked, and mixed like a champ. Other days I became the target of creative expletives.

By Joseph Sunde

True justice begins with seeing and believing in the dignity of every human person. It begins with recognizing God’s image in each of our neighbors, and it proceeds with service that corresponds to this transcendent truth.

When distortions manifest, the destruction will vary. But it always begins with a failure to rightly relate to this simple reality.

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.

This essay is adapted from the introduction to The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice, a new book edited by Jordan J. Ballor and Robert Joustra, available through Christian’s Library Press.

By Dylan Pahman

Before Max Weber ever conducted his study of the “Protestant ethic” of hard work and commerce as a matter of one’s election before God, there was the ascetic ethic of the ancient Church.

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 Joseph Sunde

One day, while rowing down the Colorado River, Amber Shannon suddenly realized her vocation. “I really wanted to row little wooden boats down big rapids with big canyon walls,” she says. “That was the life dream.”

It may sound impractical to some, but tour guide John Shocklee calls being a boatman in the Grand Canyon “the most coveted job in the world.” “It’s definitely easier to get a PhD than it is to get a dory here in the Grand Canyon,” he says.

By Richard J. Mouw

This post is excerpted from “Getting the trophies ready: serving God in the business world,” an essay which first appeared in the Journal of Markets and Morality Spring 2015 issue. In this essay, Mouw discusses three “Kuyperian spheres” of service: academia, business and the church.

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.