Church Life

Creating for Good

Our hope isn’t simply to solve a perceived problem, but to address deeper causes.

Stiftelsen / Flickr

There’s a certain entrepreneurial impulse I’ve always admired. To an entrepreneur, problems are opportunities. Read enough business books—or watch a few episodes of Shark Tank—and you’ll recognize the pattern. Someone experiences a problem and solves it with a new business model or product.

It’s human nature to get tripped up by the problem itself, to assume it’s here to stay, or to cynically pass it on to someone else. These days we’re awash in business models that “work” for one group of people at the expense of another. Retailers sell cheap goods crafted by those who barely make a living wage. Media outlets produce content designed to court grievance and controversy rather than empathy. But God has called his people to seek justice, and Scripture focuses on root problems, not merely their outward effects.

Our cover story (p. 40) showcases 20 Christians who have gone further than a surface-level treatment to address such problems. These producers, musicians, writers, and designers saw the world as it was and sought to make it better.

We can all do that in our own spheres of influence. Even without a business model, it’s possible to change the lives of our neighbors and families for the better with an outlook that puts others before ourselves. The church especially has an inherent incentive to look beyond economic motivations and felt needs toward the holistic benefit of others.

Nowhere are problems more evident to me (this is my professional bias speaking here) than in the online world. Thanks to social media and the drive for web traffic, true dialogue and insight are often hard to come by. On Facebook and Twitter, everyone is talking, but few are listening. Put in terms we at CT can understand: Everyone is a writer, but few consider their audience. This current reality is a far cry from what the Internet at its best could be. I see the Internet as a tool to help us reckon with viewpoints different from our own, expanding our world beyond our assumptions and local culture.

With this in mind, Christianity Today recently launched two podcasts. “Quick to Listen” is a weekly look at current events with an eye for their hidden complexity. “The Calling” is a weekly conversation (not merely an interview) with church leaders about their vocation, with an eye toward presenting a full picture of how and why local church leaders do the work they do. We’ve also launched a new section online focused explicitly on the local church.

If you want to know the people and organizations that most consistently seek to construct and create with an eye to the good of their neighbor, look no further than the body of Christ on the ground.

Follow RICHARD CLARK on Twitter @TheRichardClark

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

CT Makers: 20 of the Most Creative Christians We Know

Editorial

Andy Crouch: Stop Engaging 'The Culture,' Because It Doesn't Exist

Kulandei Francis

New & Noteworthy Books

My Top 5 Books on Faith and Football

Review

D. L. Mayfield: โ€˜What If I Made Everything Worse?'

Review

Where the White Working Class Went Wrong

Ajith Fernando: How Church Leaders Can Serve God's Family Without Neglecting Their Own

Manny Pacquiao, Championship Boxer, Has a New Opponent: Philippine Poverty

Testimony

Professional Soccer Was My God

Catalina Bellizzi

Health Is About Way More Than Weight

Why Christians Should End Their Search for 'Relevance'

Porn Is More Criticized and More Popular Than Ever

Excerpt

Why Every Christian Should Be Ambitious

News

Preventative Play: Sesame Street and World Vision in Zambia

Let Deuteronomy Awaken Your Inner Child

Why Married Sex Is Social Justice

Reply All

How Neuroscienceโ€”and the Bibleโ€”Explain Shame

The Gift of My Anxiety

Myquillyn Smith

News

Who Gets to Count That Convert?

News

NGO No-Go: More Countries Make Christian Charity Harder to Give and Receive

News

Gleanings: July/August 2016

Chris and Will Haughey

Andrew Peterson

Lara Casey

Megan White Mukuria

Jeremy Cowart

Eric Wowoh

Christine Moseley

News

Releasing God's Word: Do Copyrights Help or Hurt Bible Translation?

Ryan and Amy Green

David Bailey

Pete Docter

Enoch Ho

Rebecca Bradley

Nury Vittachi

Jon Batiste

Sajan George

Alex Medina

Becca Stevens

View issue

Our Latest

Latino Churchesโ€™ Vibrant Testimony

Hispanic American congregations tend to be young, vibrant, and intergenerational. The wider church has much to learn with and from them.

Review

Modern โ€˜Technocultureโ€™ Makes the World Feel Unnaturally Godless

By changing our experience of reality, it tempts those who donโ€™t perceive God to conclude that he doesnโ€™t exist.

The Bulletin

A Brief Word from Our Sponsor

The Bulletin recaps the 2024 vice presidential debate, discusses global religious persecution, and explores the dynamics of celebrity Christianity.

News

Evangelicals Struggle to Preach Life in the Top Country for Assisted Death

Canadian pastors are lagging behind a national push to expand MAID to those with disabilities and mental health conditions.

Excerpt

The Chinese Christian Who Helped Overcome Illiteracy in Asia

Yan Yangchu taught thousands of peasants to read and write in the early 20th century.

What Would Lecrae Do?

Why Kendrick Lamarโ€™s question matters.

No More Sundays on the Couch

COVID got us used to staying home. But itโ€™s the work of Godโ€™s people to lift up the name of Christ and receive Godโ€™s Wordโ€”together.

Review

Safety Shouldnโ€™t Come First

A theologian questions our habit of elevating this goal above all others.

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