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Responses to our September issue.

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Paul’s Word to Police: Protect the Weak

Romans 13:1–2 tells us that we are to obey our governing authorities, except in areas or circumstances enumerated elsewhere in Scripture, such as Daniel praying against the edict of King Darius. [Esau McCaulley] claims that because Scripture does not delve into the issue of evil rulers who do not govern justly, “we are free to fill in the gap with his reference to Egypt and the wider biblical account.” It is not our job to fill in God’s gaps: It is our job to allow Scripture to interpret itself and accept that there are some concepts in Scripture that are unclear. Nowhere in Scripture does God indicate that he is concerned with our comfort or the fairness of governments; rather, he is concerned with our sanctification along the way, and how we react to difficult circumstances.

Mark Lubenow San Antonio, TX

Allow me to add a perspective that I feel best answers the question posed on your cover. Early in my career, I participated in a Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers event where a speaker posed this exact question. His answer, from Matthew 5:9, had a profound impact, which became my career foundation: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The first responsibility for an officer is to ensure the immediate safety of those involved, as well as his or her own. Most of the time, peace is brought about through skillful personal interaction or negotiation; the best arrest is carried out without any use of force and requires cooperation from the subject. And, sadly, there are times when peace occurs only after the use of deadly force. Peacemaking is no easy task.

Ernie Schreiber Detective (retired), Edmonton Police Service Edmonton, Alberta

When Is It a Sin to Vote for a Political Candidate?

I believe it can be a sin to vote for certain candidates, but many Christians believe it’s a sin to abstain from voting. This seems to be a cultural rather than a spiritual mandate. If there are two bad candidates, many tell me, “I voted for the lesser of two evils.” If we strip that sentence to its core, it says, “I voted for evil.”

Elaine Creasman Largo, FL

True faithfulness will not stop with being anti-abortion. Rather, the sin is in voting for someone who refuses to protect the lives and well-being of vulnerable children and their parents at our borders, as well as those in our country who are in need—we are required to feed the hungry, give water to those who thirst, and clothing to those who have none.

Lois West Duffy Afton, MN

On the Front Lines, Some Pro-Life Activists Think Twice About Supporting Trump

I empathize with Stephanie Ranade Krider’s decision to resign from her position because she couldn’t keep working for the pro-life group as it campaigned for Trump’s re-election. As far as abortion goes, we must ask how can we help these women in unplanned pregnancies? Adopt children. Foster children. Financially and emotionally support women in unplanned pregnancies. I have done all these things. But I also think about how contraception has lowered abortion rates.

Margaret Palmer Ingleside, IL

On Matters of Race and Justice, Listening Isn’t a One-Way Street

I started thinking how to respond to Matt Reynolds’s editorial and kept reading the issue. The two articles looking at policing in the Bible were good, emphasizing that justice is the primary goal, not the protection of any particular method or institution. The best response was included in “Saving America’s Soul with Oral History” [p. 48] when it is noted there has been no public apology for slavery and Jim Crow. If you need any Scripture to persuade you that apologies are in order, look at Matthew 5:23–24. Our black brothers do have something against us, and it is up to us whites to seek reconciliation.

Mark Phillips Kansas City, MO

By exaggerating the call for white people to “shut up and listen,” Matt Reynolds tries to restore a level playing field where white people have just as much right to voice their opinion on current racial tensions as people of color. Maybe there’s a nicer way to word it, but I think “shut up and listen” captures the basic posture we white Christians should adopt for the foreseeable future.

Dave Neumann Long Beach, CA

Little Christs or Little Caesars

I enjoyed Bonnie Kristian’s offerings in The Lesser Kingdom. Her sensitivity to the writings of Menno Simons and the Mennonite faith give us perspective that mainline Christianity too often overlooks. I look forward to her further writings that are prophetic, eclectic, and humble as she promises.

Lloyd Kaufman Des Moines, IA

J.I. Packer: The Bible’s Guide for Christian Activism

This was the highlight of your September 2020 issue.

Jane Brown Silverton, OR

My Savior Had Arrived—but He Wasn’t Elijah Muhammad

Thanks for sharing your testimony, Damon! It is a great story of thinking for one’s self and following the call of the gospel.

@pace_damon

Correction: An incorrect number was provided in “Where the Gospel Beams” on page 18 of September’s issue. Farsi speakers in Iran number 800 times more than the 100,000 Armenian and Assyrian Christians in the country who have freedom to worship in their languages.

Also in this issue

The costs of health care in America are staggering. Those blessed with the right insurance watch mind-boggling medical bills evaporate into the ether, as if by magic. But millions of others risk having their lives derailed by such bills, or they risk the life-threatening consequences of forgoing treatment because they could not begin to pay for it. The modern US system of insurance-based care began as a Christian invention to help the vulnerable, but today it often feels like a punitive system denying medicine to those who need it most. Our cover story this month asks: Can Christians once again find a better way?

Cover Story

Christians Invented Health Insurance. Can They Make Something Better?

Hope Is an Expectant Leap

News

Gleanings: November 2020

Our November Issue: An Ocean of Need

Paul’s Most Beloved Letter Was Entrusted to a Woman

Meet the TikTok Generation of Televangelists

Testimony

I Was a World Series Hero on the Brink of Suicide

We All Know Christ’s Dying Words. But Can We Define the ‘It’ That Is ‘Finished’?

News

At Purple Churches, Pastors Struggle with Polarized Congregations

News

Who Preaches on Politics? Most Pastors.

News

Churches Search for Sounds of Heaven

5 Books That Turn Our Grumbling into Gratitude

News

Creation Care Movement Takes Action with Solar Panels and Petitions

Editorial

Post-Election Civility Is Not Enough

It’s Okay Not to Be Okay

Cultivating Chaos

Joy That Won’t Wither

How Churches Elevate and Protect Abusive Pastors

Review

A True Religion Does Three Things and Answers Four Questions

Review

Share the Gospel with Prisoners. Then Apply It to the System.

New & Noteworthy Fiction

View issue

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Testimony

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Queer love, polyamory, and drugs ruined me. That’s where Jesus found me.

The Book Screwtape Feared Most

Once a bedrock Christian classic, Boethius’s “Consolation of Philosophy” has been neglected for decades. It’s time for a revival.

Being Human

Airport Anxiety and Purposeful Publishing with Joy Allmond

CT’s executive editor learned to care for people as a 9/11-era flight attendant.

The Song of Mary Still Echoes Today

How the Magnificat speaks to God’s care for the lowly.

How Insecurity Thwarts a Kingdom

Herod’s violence reveals the futility of earthly power.

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