Culture & Public Square

Culture & Public Square helps Christians think biblically about life in society and engage today’s issues with conviction and compassion. Explore articles on current events, ethics, justice, race, technology, public life, and cultural trends—grounded in Scripture and shaped by Christian wisdom. You’ll find guidance for faithful witness, thoughtful dialogue, and making disciples in a complex world, while keeping the gospel at the center. Whether you’re navigating challenging conversations or seeking clarity for ministry and daily life, these resources equip you to live and speak with grace and truth in the public square.

November 22, 2020

Brian Hunt

A Biblical Case for Noncompliance

How We Chose to Deal with the Restrictions and Mandates Placed on Us by State and Local Governments “I had some serious thoughts of suicide in December. I was making headway with the help of my mental health classes and church, then both were taken away from me. Now, with nowhere else to physically go, I’m struggling.” This was a direct message from a church member who reached out to me for help during the coronavirus pandemic. This precious believer was struggling, lost, hurting, and losing hope. It crushed me because I felt helpless to do anything about it. I’m

November 11, 2020

Christian Standard

Small-town Christian Church Member Wins Seat in Congress

By Jim Nieman A first-time political candidate from eastern Illinois who attends a small-town Christian church—where her husband serves as an elder—was elected to Congress with more than 70 percent of the vote, according to unofficial totals. Republican Mary Miller—described as “a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a local farmer, and a business manager,” by her website—is set to represent Illinois’ 15th Congressional District, which includes 33 counties that cover most of the southeastern part of the state. In her spare time, she teaches Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, according to her website. Mary and her husband, Chris, attend

August 5, 2020

Christian Standard

Best Christian Workplaces Listed (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman The Best Christian Workplace Institute has honored 76 faith-based organizations as Certified Best Christian Workplaces for 2020. Among those churches, mission organizations, and parachurch ministries honored: • 2|42 Community Church, Brighton, Mich. • Canyon Ridge Christian Church, Las Vegas, Nev. • Compass Christian Church, Chandler, Ariz. • Northridge Christian Church, Milledgeville, Ga. • StoneBridge Christian Church, Omaha, Neb. • CDF Capital, Irvine, Calif. • Christian Children’s Home of Ohio, Wooster, Ohio • Cookson Hills, Kansas, Okla. _ _ _ News Briefs Hope International University, Fullerton, Calif., will begin fall semester in a remote learning arrangement. In

June 15, 2020

Christian Standard

Four Important Questions to Advance Reconciliation

By Larry Griffin, LaTanya Tyson, and David Fincher (The column about racial justice, equality, and reconciliation was written by three Christian college presidents. Larry Griffin serves as president of Mid-South Christian College, Memphis, Tenn.; Dr. LaTanya Tyson serves as president of Carolina Christian College, Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Dr. David Fincher serves as president of Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Mo., while also leading the Association of Christian Church Colleges and Universities.) As presidents of Christian church colleges that serve the Restoration Movement, we lament the examples of injustice and division that have sadly become too commonplace in America.

June 14, 2020

Rusty Russell

Church & State: Our Relationship with Governing Authorities and How We Respond to Their Commands

(An earlier version of this article was posted at our website in April. This is the version that appeared in our July 2020 print edition.) By Rusty Russell Should we have canceled church during the COVID-19 pandemic? What if the virus rebounds and we are asked to cancel again? What if there’s a less serious pandemic in the future? Will we be asked to cancel the next time there’s a flu outbreak? I was discouraged by how many Christians—even church leaders—quickly made judgments about church closings based on whether they watch Fox News or CNN rather than what God would

June 14, 2020

Bob Russell

The Impact of Politics on the Church

By Bob Russell Imagine that a godly couple unexpectedly inherits $10 million. How should they react? Their first response should be one of deep gratitude both to the benefactor and to God, the giver of every good gift. There should also be an overwhelming sense of responsibility to be wise stewards and not squander their fortune. Unearned wealth could spoil their kids or destroy their faith if unprepared, so they need to train their children to be sensible money managers. The Bible says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians

June 14, 2020

Dudley Rutherford

Pastoring a Church in a Diverse, Left-Leaning State: Three Principles That Guide Us

By Dudley Rutherford It’s no secret that California, where I live and pastor, is a blue state when it comes to the voting majority. However, not everyone leans to the left. Here you’ll find not only Democrats, but also Republicans, independents, and everything in between. Our church, Shepherd Church, is located in Southern California and is a reflection of our city’s great diversity. When I stand up to preach each weekend, we have people from every political persuasion, race, socioeconomic status, and background sitting in the audience of our worship center. Unlike many other churches across the country, every political

June 14, 2020

Michael C. Mack

The Church and Politics: Why?

By Michael C. Mack I’m guessing some of you are wondering why Christian Standard would devote almost an entire issue to politics . . . especially this year. I know—you know, we all know—what a divisive topic this can be. I know our readership, like many of our churches, consists of people across the political spectrum. Some of you may believe we shouldn’t talk about politics at all. We are, in fact, the Christian Standard, with a heavy emphasis on Christian. Some may assert we should stay in our lane and keep our focus on Christian church leadership issues. After

June 14, 2020

Bob McEwen

A Plea to Fellow Christians: Don’t Withdraw from Political Engagement!

By Bob McEwen Is it true that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people? Is it true that when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn? Is it true that blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord? If Scripture is not true, then Christian involvement doesn’t matter. However, if Scripture is true, then anyone with a heart for the hurting will want to follow its admonition to pursue righteousness. Where can one go for righteous counsel and biblical answers to personal, family, and national

June 14, 2020

Mark E. Moore

Did Jesus Engage in Political Debate?

By Mark E. Moore Did Jesus engage in political debate? Well, that depends on your definition of political. I’m not trying to be clever or coy, just clear (an attribute desperately lacking in modern political debate). The word political comes from the Greek word politeuomai which means “to live as a citizen” (Acts 23:1; Philippians 1:27). It had to do with social engagement in the public sphere. According to this technical definition, to be political, Jesus would have to meet these four criteria: (a) Be a public figure—his ideas or vision would need to be declared publicly rather than merely

June 14, 2020

Jim Nieman

Politics in Print

A Review of Christian Standard’s Coverage of U.S. Presidents Since 1866 By Jim Nieman Has Christian Standard’s coverage of politics been slanted during its 154-year history? Undoubtedly. The readership of a Christian journal would demand nothing less. The better question might be: Has Christian Standard’s coverage of politics been fair? We certainly hope so . . . but when you root through more than 7,500 issues of a magazine, you’re bound to find at least a few items that give you pause. When asked to examine the magazine’s treatment of politics since 1866, I decided for expediency’s sake to focus

June 14, 2020

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Unity Despite Politics

By Megan Rawlings We’re entering that time of year. We are inundated with campaign signs, slogans, brochures, and TV ads. Candidates are making promises, doing their best to make their competitors look bad, and trying to convince the public that they are the right person for the job. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. Serious disagreements erupt in the public arena, and even believers get caught up in the drama. But how are we, as Christians, supposed to politely express our political opinions without offending others? Good Manners Had Bad Results Etiquette books fascinate me. I read them and study how

June 14, 2020

Ben Cachiaras

The Separation of Church and Hate

What are you bringing to the political fire? By Ben Cachiaras Our nation is polarized politically. It seems everyone is politicked off. The flames of strife, disagreement, and contentiousness are burning everywhere, and each of us has a choice in how we respond. In one hand you hold a can of gasoline.It’s obvious what happens when you pour gas on a fire. The fire explodes, destruction follows, people are hurt. In your other hand is a bucket filled with water. Pour the water on a flame and you hear that defusing sound: tsssss. The bucket contains the Spirit’s calming waters

June 14, 2020

Steve Carr

Sex, Religion, & Politics

Learning from Our Restoration History—and the Civil War—How to Fight Well By Steve Carr An adage suggests there are three subjects one should not bring up in public conversation: sex, religion, and politics. In this article, I throw caution to the wind and bring up all three, while pursuing how political issues have impacted the Restoration Movement. One of the mottoes of our movement is, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.” In the traditional understanding of this proverb, nonessentials refers to those extra-biblical topics not specifically mentioned in Scripture. While politics would seem to fit in

June 14, 2020

Jim Estep

Dual Citizenship

By Jim Estep Lyrics by Buffalo Springfield from 1966 are coming true: “There’s battle lines being drawn, and nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong . . . singing songs and they’re carrying signs, mostly say, ‘hooray for our side.’” Democrat, Republican, independent. Red, blue, purple. Radical right and social democrats. We live in what may be the most polarized period in U.S. history, short of the Civil War. Regardless of where you live, in what country, within which state or province, we all live in the tension between two worlds. Our dual citizenship between here and Heaven. Living in the Dichotomy

June 14, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

A Political Self-Evaluation

By Kent E. Fillinger CLICK HERE to download the printable version of this list featured in “The Final Word” of our July 2020 issue. The votes of white evangelicals impacted the last presidential election in a measurable way. A Lifeway Research study determined 4 of 5 such voters (80 percent) cast their ballots for Donald Trump in 2016. But it’s wise to understand that “evangelicals” are not a homogenous group. The same LifeWay study found that 4 of 5 black evangelicals (82 percent) voted for Hillary Clinton, while Hispanic evangelical voters were evenly split—47 percent Clinton, 48 percent Trump. Looked

June 14, 2020

Ben Cachiaras

Why Are We Shooting at Each Other?

(This article is a sidebar to Ben Cachiaras’s “The Separation of Church and Hate”; that article and this sidebar both appear in our July 2020 issue.) Three Changes We Must Make to Stop the Infighting and Get Back to the Mission By Ben Cachiaras In his excellent book Dancing in No Man’s Land, Brian Jennings describes the elaborate bunkers used in World War I. Soldiers hunkered in deep trenches for months, close enough to shoot at their enemies but separated from them. They might raise up their head to hurl a grenade or take a shot, but they had to

June 3, 2020

Christian Standard

Churches, Colleges Respond to George Floyd’s Death, National Discord

Christian churches and colleges across the country have called for prayer, dialogue, and reconciliation in response to outrage and demonstrations over George Floyd’s death while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25. Among the many examples: •  Dudley Rutherford, pastor of Shepherd Church, Porter Ranch, Calif., had a conversation with several leaders in the black community, most of whom attend Shepherd regularly, about topics that included Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the current state of our country. (View it at the church’s Facebook page.) • A dozen staff members of Crossroads Christian Church, Corona, Calif., spent about

May 18, 2020

Stuart Powell

The Pledge

By Stuart Powell In many American schools, a student’s day starts by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We publicly recite the pledge to our flag and republic to proclaim our trust in those we’ve elected to ensure the safekeeping of our civic freedoms. Top among those freedoms are living our faith and speaking candidly about our government. A pledge is a public declaration of personal conformity to the rule of law in our country. Those who hear our pledge should be confident that we intend to live out the call of “justice for all.” Peter wrote that the Christian life

March 26, 2020

Christian Standard

Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19: "An Epidemic, Sweeping and Terrible"

Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has quickly spread around the world and across the United States. As of early this morning, there were 475,000 confirmed cases worldwide resulting in more than 21,000 deaths. Hospitals are overwhelmed and hundreds of millions of people have been advised to stay in their homes. Many are comparing today’s health crisis with the 1918 influenza outbreak—commonly called the “Spanish flu” at the time—which was the most severe pandemic in recent history, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At its website, the CDC writes of that flu pandemic: “Although there is not universal consensus regarding

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