Are modern Christians focusing too much on identity or not enough? How should Christians think about injecting their beliefs into civic leadership? What are some words of wisdom for church leaders who are asked questions about public policy?
These are some of the timely listener questions that Russell and producer Ashley Hales discuss on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. They talk about how Jesus navigated a cultural context that hypervalued political alignment. And they consider what it looks like to prosper in confusing times.
Questions addressed during this episode include:
Where does Russell get his news?
How can Christians focus on their identity in Christ?
What is the relationship between Christians and culture?
How can church leaders exercise wisdom as they engage questions of politics and public policy?
What should Christians do when the churches in their community preach dogma over doctrine?
What do love and justice look like in practical, concrete terms (like yard signs)?
Why aren’t people tired of perpetual panic?
What does it look like to maintain hope?
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
“Sphere Sovereignty”
Joseph Loconte
The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Ashley Hales is the producer of The Russell Moore Show, the founder of The Willowbrae Institute, and an author. Find out more at aahales.com.
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
A new study suggests that evangelicals are the most likely religious group to justify torture. Around 60 percent of evangelicals said use of torture against suspected terrorists can often or sometimes be justified, compared to 50 percent of Catholics 46 percent of white mainline Protestants who said the same thing, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. David Neff takes a look at the survey over at CT’s liveblog.
Meanwhile, the latest national survey suggest that overall support for legal abortion is down 8 percent from last August. Just 23 percent of white evangelical Protestants now favor legal abortion, down from 33 percent in August and mid-October and 28 percent in late October.
Also, a new Quinnipiac poll suggests that while Catholics support same-sex civil unions 68 -27percent, evangelicals oppose the unions 61-34 percent. Catholics support gay adoption 61-33 percent, while evangelical Christians oppose gay adoption 64-30 percent.
I received an e-mail from reader John Mills, who express his frustration with how evangelicals deal with torture:
Should we be standing against abortion & gay marriage? Certainly, but we should do the one and not neglect the other. This is an issue with terrible moral implications. If we can boycott Disney for it’s pro-gay agenda and deny communion to Joe Biden for being pro-abortion, why are our churches silent about torture? Why are we not denying entrance to our churches of Bush, Cheney, and the authors of these memos?
The real issue for the church is why are we not talking about this? Why have we not been talking about this? Were are the Christians that work for the CIA and the military that have refused to participate and resigned or been court-martialed rather than participate in a patently immoral activity?
If the church can’t hold a moral line on this issue, which is easy to be against, then we really have lost everything. The church is dead.
Do you agree with Mills?
