Opinion

Even by measured, more objective standards (think multiple generations, rather than just years), 2020 is turning out to be a year for the record books — a year the world changed. But columnist Christopher Dixon thinks maybe it can be a year that serves as a good reminder.

Bill J. Leonard reflects on Christian conscience and the role it plays in national citizenship. The best of early Baptist history in America, he argues, reflected the belief that citizenship in this new society should be open to all, whether they were Christian or not.

In the wake of Jerry Falwell Jr. taking a leave of absence from Liberty University because of some controversial social media posts, Jeff Mattson & Terra Mattson reflect on how organizations can create environments of truth & grace that hold leaders accountable.

During this campaign season, a Baptist church in Alabama started making “Jesus 2020” yard signs. How would such a candidacy go? Editor Brian Kaylor imagines the race.

It’s a rough time to be a pastor. An election year, national racial unrest, and a global pandemic each challenged the usual methods of ministry. But there’s another challenge: taking on the power of a new religion that’s dividing churches and hurting Christian witness.

No matter what you believe or why you believe it, the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion, known as the “Free Exercise Clause,” does not exempt you from a public health requirement to wear a mask.

As protesters fill the streets in Belarus to protest the recent presidential election, John Jackson reflects on his many trips to the nation and what he has learned about and from Baptists there.

This week we returned to the classroom to teach a weeklong intensive course together at Wheaton College, making it one of the first on-campus college classes to be taught in the U.S. during this new school year. So, of course, there was a  tornado.

What if instead of rewarding the most brash, most aggressive, most self-assured leaders we instead elevated those who didn’t seek the position? What if we took into account which candidates have more humility, self-sacrifice, and even hesitancy when offered power and glory?

We humans can’t live by bad news alone. We need breaks during which we can focus on truth, beauty, and goodness — or on the sublime music of J.S. Bach, sometimes called the fifth evangelist.