Ed Stetzer

Is evangelical Christian morality still viable in American public life? This is the question lurking in recent debates over religious-liberty issues, from the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision to the Christian bakers who object to baking cakes for gay weddings. In discussions of these cases, objections to same-sex marriage and contraception are described as a retreat from "secular society." And in some cases, evangelicals actually have retreated: Since the Boy Scouts of America decided to allow openly gay Scouts to participate, a "Christian" alternative has been created, giving Christian parents a "safe" space where they can send their kids. But these incidences of retreat have actually been rare. Ultimately, the idea that evangelical Christian morality is incompatible with modern life isn't sustainable.

In The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch argued that if the evangelical church is to last long into the twenty-first century, certain parts of its moral codes have to change—American society is progressing, and if the church won't progress with her, then it will be abandoned.

This is based on a popular conception about evangelicals: that they're toxic. The refusal to serve gay weddings is called bigotry. Laws written to protect businesses that refuse to provide such services are compared to Jim Crow laws. Hobby Lobby's unwillingness to pay for certain contraceptives is derided as misogynistic.

Behind all of these charges is the suspicion that evangelicals are simply refusing to accept contemporary American mores; they are privileging their faith over the moral spirit of the age. But for many evangelicals, these beliefs are not actually a sign of retreat from public life. Instead, there is a fear that in an increasingly secularized society, there will be less tolerance for people who wish to act upon their deeply held religious beliefs, except in narrowly defined, privatized spaces. This is a fundamentally American concern: Will I have the right to serve God as I believe I am obligated to?

If you're like me, your greatest desire for your children is that they will love Jesus, love people, and be on mission for His kingdom. There are all sorts of other hopes and dreams that cluster around those three things, but in my prayers for my kids, I find that I keep coming back to those.

Almost anyone will tell you that parenting is tough, but trying to be the kind of parent God wants you to be is even tougher. We recognize there are high spiritual stakes in how we raise our children, which is why we've got to take this responsibility seriously and lean heavily on the Lord for His wisdom and grace in the midst of our failures.

J.D. and Veronica Greear have an 7-session study called Ready to Launch: Jesus-Centered Parenting in a Child-Centered World. Over the last couple weeks, Corina and I have watched the session videos and reviewed the group materials. We found their counsel to be on target, and we believe their emphasis on training for mission is long overdue in parenting studies.

Today, I've asked J.D. and Veronica to join me for a conversation about their approach to parenting:

Trevin: The world tells parents they should be centered on kids; as a pastor, you tell parents they should be centered on Jesus. The primary responsibility of both the church and the home is to teach the next generation the gospel.

Some people may hear a statement like that and think "teaching" in the classroom sense of getting your kids to sit down in rows and hear you tell Bible stories. That's not what you're talking about here. What does a broader vision of teaching your kids the gospel look like?

Sometimes fake leaked footage is convincing, and other times it's so unconvincing that it's only good for a laugh. But it's rare that fake leaked footage is both unconvincing and absolutely amazing at the same.

Such is the case with a new video claiming to be leaked footage from the set of Star Wars Episode VII.