Table Of Contents
May/June 2021
Volume 65, Number 4
May/June
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About This Issue
Ministries and other Christian workplaces increasingly require employees to sign non-disparagement agreements and “no gossip” policies. Our cover story this month explores how the Bible describes gossip and how our understanding of it does and doesn’t line up. When does clamping down on rumors help the church, and when does it create conditions for abuse?
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  • All May 2021 Articles
  • All June 2021 Articles

Cover Story

Why Defining Gossip Matters in the Church’s Response to Abuse
Have we tamed the tongue too much? Christians work to recover a biblical understanding of harmful hearsay vs. healthy criticism.

Features

How We Got to the Equality Act
The LGBT movement was shaped by the animosity of populist evangelical rhetoric and tactics.
‘Be Clean’: Jesus and the World of Ritual Impurity
These biblical commands rightly remind us about the significance of our bodies.
Reading God’s Word like a Poem, Not an Instruction Manual
The Bible teaches us, says Matthew Mullins, but its method of teaching always entails more than information and guidance.
The Unearthed Conscience of Black Fundamentalism
A hard racial line divided conservative white and Black Protestants 100 years ago. It didn’t have to be that way.
The Woodstock Generation Swallowed Me Up and Spit Me Out
One summer in a hippie commune soured me on the ’60s counterculture. God met me in my disillusionment.

Views

Returning to Church Won’t Be the Celebration We Once Imagined
Instead of a big party, reopenings bring mixed emotions and a call to everyday faithfulness.
Let the Little Children Come to ‘Big Church’
One lesson from COVID-19: Don’t underestimate the model set by worshiping alongside your kids.
Log Off and Know that I Am God
With all our faith talk online, we're in danger of losing sight of the Lord himself.
Sometimes You Have to Shake the Dust Off Your Feet
Walking out is a way of responding to institutional toxicity.

Reviews

Christians Should Be in the News Cycle, but Not of It
How believers can stay up on the day’s events without becoming prisoners of the moment.
Michael Lindsay: Our Lives Are Full of ‘Hinge Moments.’
The incoming Taylor University president outlines a faith-filled, Spirit-guided approach to life’s biggest transitions.
New & Noteworthy Books
Compiled by Matt Reynolds.
Christians Can Learn from Muslims. But There Are Lines We Shouldn’t Cross.
One writer’s attempt to relate Islam to her faith yields some lessons along with some stumbles.
It’s Okay to Let Your Mind Wander During Prayer
Those distractions aren’t failures of focus, but opportunities to trust God with the deepest truths of our hearts.

News

How Seven Soldiers Carried One Bible into 11 Combat Tours
A gift from the Gideons was a good luck charm—and then something more.
Religious Discrimination Complaints Hit 10-Year Low
Workplace accommodation issues persist for Apostolic Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and others.
Pastors Take to the Streets to Combat NYC Gun Violence
Responding with their feet, ministers bring ‘the simplest form of the gospel’ to tense situations.
Diversity Advocates at CCCU Schools: ‘In Some Ways, You’re Seen as a Heretic’
Racial transformation is hard even when Christian schools are committed to change.

More from this Issue

Our May/June Issue: Discerning Good Gossip from Bad
Our sweeping censure of talking behind backs isn’t biblical.
Reply All
Responses to our March issue.
Paid ContentA Year of Survival and Revival
Paid Content for C12
Christian business leaders advanced through the storm of 2020 with strength in numbers.