Ethics & Moral Issues

Ethics & Moral Issues gathers Christian Standard articles that apply biblical truth to today’s hardest moral questions and cultural debates. Here you’ll find thoughtful, Scripture-shaped guidance on topics like sanctity of life, sexuality and gender, marriage and family ethics, religious liberty, justice and human dignity, bioethics, and the moral dimensions of public life. These articles aim to help Christians form convictions, speak with clarity and compassion, and live faithfully in a complex world.

May 7, 2011

Christian Standard

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

Cohabitation for Idiots

By Arron Chambers OK, I can hear what you’re thinking. This is an opinion section in the Christian Standard, and you’re going to try convinciing me that living together before marriage is a bad idea. Why don’t you stop wasting my time and tell me why I’m right to believe it’s a sin for women to serve Communion? Well, because I’m not and you’re wrong, but that’s just my opinion and not the point of this opinion piece. And anyway, I’m the one who was asked to write an opinion article about something I care about and I want to

March 28, 2010

Ethics & Moral Issues

Brave a New Ethical World

Mark S. Krause considers medical marijuana, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and the need for Christians to face emerging ethical questions with biblical wisdom rather than slogans.

March 7, 2010

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

Kent Paris homosexuality

Balancing Grace and Truth with Homosexuals

Darrel Rowland profiles Kent Paris, founder of Nehemiah Ministries, and his call for churches to respond to homosexuality with grace, truth, humility, and pastoral care.

March 7, 2010

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

How to Help

Darrel Rowland considers how churches can respond before crisis comes, helping leaders face hidden same-sex struggles with honesty, accountability, and Christlike care.

March 7, 2010

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

homosexuality and counseling

Searching for Causes of Homosexuality

Kent Paris offers a historical and pastoral overview of homosexuality, counseling, family dynamics, and ministry care, arguing that church leaders should understand the complexity behind same-gender struggles.

March 7, 2010

James C. Donovan

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

ministering to gays and lesbians

Our Ministry to Gays and Lesbians

James C. Donovan reflects on the pastoral challenge of ministering to gays and lesbians while holding biblical convictions about sexuality, church fellowship, grace, truth, and unity.

March 3, 2010

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

homosexuality in the church

Some Who Read This Are Homosexuals

Mark A. Taylor reflects on homosexuality in the church, urging Christians to confront sin with biblical conviction, grace, accountability, and humility about their own need for repentance.

December 14, 2008

Ethics & Moral Issues Addiction

Christian leaders and drinking

Reflections from a Bartender’s Son

Chuck Sackett reflects on alcohol, abstinence, moderation, and Christian leadership, urging believers to weigh motives, wisdom, Scripture, family impact, and witness with humility.

January 20, 2008

Robert F. Hull Jr.

Ethics & Moral Issues

Christian involvement in war

What About War?

Christian involvement in war: conscience, Scripture, and the tragic view of life A longtime question haunts the author: how Christians should think about war when Scripture, church history, and human suffering all pull in different directions. The article traces poetry, biblical warfare texts, the just war tradition, and personal experience toward a “tragic view of life” that resists easy answers. The author wrestles with the irony of war and the challenge of God’s participation in biblical conquest. Church history shows shifting Christian positions—from early opposition to later “just war” frameworks. Personal stakes come into view with the deployment of the

November 11, 2007

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

sexual temptation in ministry

Three Stories, One Problem

A sober look at sexual temptation among church leaders—why assumptions of immunity collapse, how secrecy and loose connections enable repeated harm, and why true restoration requires time, accountability, and deep character formation.

November 11, 2007

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

grace is not a license to sin

What Would Jesus Do?

When churches excuse sexual sin and criminal abuse in the name of grace, victims are harmed and truth is buried. This article argues biblical forgiveness includes repentance—and repentance includes consequences and accountability.

October 3, 2007

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

abstinence pledges

Christian Teenagers and Their Sexual Behavior

Two August columns examine research on evangelical teenagers and sex outside marriage. One highlights broken abstinence pledges; another argues weekly church attendance marks dramatically different outcomes—challenging families and churches to model what they teach.

April 8, 2007

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

when pastors fall

Our Motives for Pure Living

In the wake of Ted Haggard’s fall, Greg Allen urges a humble, restorative response—while warning leaders to guard the mind, pursue accountability, and protect marriages so Christ is honored in life and leadership.

December 17, 2006

Ethics & Moral Issues Addiction

How the 12 steps connect spiritual awakening and recovery

The 12-Stepping Church

Alcoholics Anonymous grew from faith-shaped practices that helped its founders stay sober. Learn how the 12 steps frame recovery as spiritual awakening and how churches can wisely support 12-step participation while offering deeper prayer, fellowship, and outreach.

December 17, 2006

Ethics & Moral Issues Addiction

Christ-centered recovery

What a Christ-Centered Recovery Ministry Can Do

Can a Christ-centered recovery ministry do what a “secular” program cannot? One Christian in long-term recovery reflects on Christ’s transforming work through 12-step fellowships and challenges church assumptions about where grace shows up.

June 18, 2006

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

reactive church

The Gospel Offensive

Jeff Krajewski urges the church to move from a reactive, defensive posture to confident witness under Christ’s lordship—reframing the battleground and demonstrating the greatest commandment through bold, truthful love.

May 21, 2006

Vince Antonucci

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

gay people in church

Perplexed

Vince Antonucci reflects on truth, love, and grace as churches respond to gay people who wonder whether they are welcome in a Bible-based congregation.

May 21, 2006

Vince Antonucci

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

what does the Bible say about homosexuality

Questions and Answers About Homosexuality

What does Scripture teach about homosexuality, same-sex attraction, and identity? Vince Antonucci addresses common questions, cites key Bible passages, and urges Christians to speak truth in love with compassion toward friends and family.

May 21, 2006

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

safe place for sinners

A Safe Place to Be a Sinner

A reflection on how churches can become safer places for people struggling with sexual sin—by dropping categories, speaking honestly, and walking patiently with strugglers toward healing in the body of Christ.

May 21, 2006

Ethics & Moral Issues Sexuality

sexual brokenness

Broken Mirrors

Using the image of a cracked mirror, this article explores how early wounds and sinful reactions can shape sexual and relational brokenness—and how God can bring healing that turns weakness into strength.

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