When Political News Becomes Spiritual Formation
Political news does more than inform Christians—it can form us. Here’s how churches can resist fear, outrage, contempt, and tribal identity while remaining faithful in public life.
Politics & Government
Politics & Government gathers Christian Standard articles that explore the Christian’s relationship to civic life through a biblical lens. Here you’ll find thoughtful engagement with topics like authority and obedience, religious liberty, public policy, elections, justice, and how believers should speak and act in the public square. These articles aim to help Christians pursue faithful citizenship with conviction and humility—seeking the common good while keeping ultimate allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom.
September 3, 2025
Congress Passed This Bill at a 409 to 2 Vote
The good news of AI is that I believe it will drive people to real relationships. This is something the church should have readily available.
The IRS and the Johnson Amendment: Will Your Church Endorse Politicians?
The Johnson Amendment doesn’t impact the higher law I am bound to as a Kingdom ambassador. Government gets my respect. God gets my ultimate respect.
Congress Passed This Bill at a 409 to 2 Vote
As AI advances, I would like to suggest a few framing thoughts as we think through whether or not new innovations should be supported, rejected, or moderated.
Should Christians Join the Backlash Against D.E.I.?
There is a uniquely Christian approach to DEI that can serve as a third way amid all the cultural warring and political turmoil.
The Anti-Progressive “Vibe Shift” Happening Right Now in American Culture
As Trump begins his second term, we have to name the obvious. There has been a significant “vibe shift” in American culture away from the Biden-era progressivism.
Modern Israel and the Church
A recent interview with New Testament scholar Jon Weatherly on how we should view modern Israel.
February 11, 2025
Keeping Up With Forty-Five Executive Orders
The perpetual onslaught of breaking news is numbing. It makes us care more … at least at first. But over time we get fatigued with the world’s chaos every second of every day, and we lose our ability to care.
January 27, 2025
The State of Our Union
The observance of Communion each Lord’s Day should remind us that the strength of our union, the glue that holds it together, is not in us—far from it. It’s in Jesus and Jesus alone.
January 13, 2025
Transfer of Power
Just as the repeating of the presidential oath of office takes only a few seconds, it takes only seconds to take the emblems of Communion and to reaffirm our loyalty to Jesus.
October 30, 2024
Who is More Religious, the Left or the Right?
The problem with political religion should be obvious. Politicians make big promises but are bad saviors. Political parties make fanatical communities but bad churches. When politics become religion, Christian unity is poisoned and our more meaningful relationships die.
September 1, 2024
Political Engagement that Honors Jesus and Unifies the Body
There is something right and beautiful about grateful, healthy patriotism, as long as it is always subject to our greater citizenship and its responsibilities.
September 1, 2024
Political Engagement in the Restoration Movement: An Historical Perspective
Alexander Campbell encouraged Christians to refrain from getting too involved with governmental affairs, but he also encouraged them to use their available political means to promote Christian values in society.
November 1, 2022
Peace for All Seasons
By Douglas Redford (This article, reprinted here with minor updates, first appeared in Christian Standard on December 22, 1985.) During the Christmas season in 1984, an event occurred which served as a revealing commentary on the times. Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, an Anglican church leader, was in Oslo, Norway, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. But the presentation was held up for more than an hour after an anonymous telephone caller told an Oslo newspaper that a bomb had been placed in the reception hall and would explode in 10 minutes. Although a careful search turned up nothing,
September 1, 2022
What’s the Problem with Politics in the Church?
By Ben Cachiaras Over the last two years I have listened to pastors and witnessed churches across the country share sad stories. They tell of congregations splitting, longtime members leaving, and pastors getting fired. I’ve seen tight-knit small groups blow apart, families feud, and longtime friendships abruptly end. Has this happened primarily because of major scandal in the church or moral failure? Or was it false doctrine—a refusal to recognize the divinity of Christ? Or perhaps a mishandling of Scripture? No. It was politics. We can barely even discuss politics anymore. We polarize over every issue, demonize those with differing
How God Plans to Make America (and All Nations) Great Again
Many American churchgoers are asking: “When will God bring revival to this nation and restore our Christian foundations?” The desire for a country based on Christian morality and for revival is not unlike the concern in Jesus’ day for the restoration of Israel, its freedom, and economic prosperity. . . .
Resolve
The Declaration of Independence spoke great words about freedom, but even greater words were spoken 2,000 years ago.
Christian School Blasted for Teaching Christian Worldview: What We Can Learn from the Situation
My high school alma mater, Christian Academy of Louisville, recently was roundly criticized after a teacher asked students to write an essay imagining how they would dialogue with a fellow student who was wrestling with same-sex attraction. . . .
Marking a Memorable Day
Every Lord’s Day at the time of Communion, we mark a day in history when our Lord Jesus engaged in a battle to reclaim the world to spiritual liberty.
February 14, 2022
A President’s Faith
Jesus fought for our freedom, as president Calvin Coolidge described, “not with the sword, but with the cross.”
