The Gospel of Matthew 20:1-16 records a story that Jesus told in his day.

You can read the story for yourself here.

Farms and farmers’ markets were the heart of the economy in Jesus’s time.

Farmers grew food and sold it at markets in the cities.

When farmers needed a labor force to work on their farms, they hired day laborers from the cities.

Likewise, when people in the cities needed money to buy food from the farmers’ markets, they hired themselves out to work on the farms.

So, the story Jesus told is one that would sound so normal to people that it would almost be boring…until the surprise twist at the end of the story.

In this story, a farmer needed laborers to work in his vineyard. So, as any farmer would do, he went to the public square in the nearest town. There, he would find people waiting from someone to hire them for the day.

In this story, the farmer went to the...

Well, if you know that you’re a racist and you like it that way, the answer is “yes.”

But, I reckon your answer to the question is “no, I’m not a racist.”

And you might add: “I’m sick and tired of people telling me that I am one!”

But just between you and me (nobody else is here and I’m not telling anyone), would you say that you’re perfect? Would you say that you don’t have anything you need to work on? Any growth or maturation that God wants to see through in you? Would you say that you no longer have any trace of the sinful nature in you?

If you’re still with me, I know you know that you’re a work in progress. I know you know that God is still growing you through your vices and weaknesses. I know you know that you still pray for grace and mercy every day.

So, then, let’s go back to the question: Are you a racist?

No, but could you confess that you are a sinner? And, as a...

That depends. Which “us” do I mean?

In this case, “us” means Christians in the United States of America.

As long as I’ve been alive and part of the Church of Christ, this has been a question that comes up again and again.

Coming from Christians, it is a strange question.

We are the ones who call Jesus Christ “our Lord and Savior.”

So what do we mean when we ask: “Who is going to save us?”

Most often, the question comes up whenever we talk about politics.

So, what we mean is: “Who is going to save us from whatever cultural or political forces we perceive as threats to our beliefs and norms?”

But here is the question I want to ask in response to that question:

Is our Lord and Savior not able to save us from these things?

Do we believe that Jesus Christ is able to save us from the power of sin, but not the power of a sinful world?

The real question my fellow Christians...

The Gospel of John (Chapter 9) tells a story about Jesus coming across a blind panhandler on the street.

If you live in my city, you know disabled panhandlers are a common sight at a lot of street corners.

The people walking down the street with Jesus saw this blind panhandler and asked: “Teacher, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind?” (Gospel of John 9:2).

Jesus answered right away: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (Gospel of John 9:3).

I wonder: Do we look at people the way Jesus’s friends looked at the blind panhandler? How quickly do we jump to the conclusion that someone must be a sinner? Or that someone must be part of a sinful family?

It’s worth noting, too, that it was this man’s disability and poverty that Jesus’s friends took as proof of his sinfulness.

He must be...

Jesus Christ said to his apprentices:

“You are the salt of the earth” (Gospel of Matthew 5:13a).

When Jesus said that in the first century, his apprentices would not understand him to be talking about something to sprinkle on for flavor.

They would understand him to be talking about something people in those days used to preserve the food they put in storage. Salt would keep food edible for a long time.

How important was that in a world where food was not as easy to get as it is for us today? How important was that in a world where things like canning, freezing, and refrigeration did not yet exist?

Salt, in those times, could be the difference between having enough good food to eat (to stay alive) or having none.

So, when Jesus told his apprentices to think of themselves as “the salt of the earth,” what would they take him to mean?

That the presence of the people of Jesus...

Life is better and richer, healthier and stronger, with tension in it.

The gravitational pull (tension) between Earth and the sun.

The way our muscles contract and relax to move our bodies.

The sweetest sounds we know come from the tension of things like eardrums, guitar strings, and vocal cords.

Great sex takes the buildup and release of tension between two people.

I am thankful for the tension between my wife and me. Before we met, I was loose and sloppy in many things. But sharing life with her–a person who is different from me in so many ways–made the tension that is making me a better man.

Getting better as a person is not just for me; it’s for my wife, too. It’s for my son. It’s for every person with whom I have a relationship. Sharing life with my wife–so different from me in so many ways–makes a tension that does so much good for so many people beyond my wife and me.

When I was a teenager, my passion for American history led to a passion for American politics.

I had a strong attraction to the men and women whose actions, character, and thinking built our nation and society. History.

Likewise, I had a strong attraction to the exchange of ideas among citizens and their representatives in the public square. This is what I believed would build our nation and society for generations to come. Politics.

I think my dad is the person who introduced me to the phrase: “exchange of ideas.” From an early age, I believed that is what politics should be about.

What ideas would build our nation and society into a “more perfect union” with “liberty and justice for all?” These are the kinds of questions I thought about as a teenager (and still think about even more today).

As a young man, I looked for people who felt the same way I felt about politics...

These are the facts:

Since 1990, violent crime in the United States is down at least 33 percent.

Violent crime decreased the most over two periods during the last 30 years:

1) Between 1992 and 2000 (1.9 million violent crimes in 1992 down to 1.4 million violent crimes in 2000), and
2) Between 2007 and 2015 (1.4 million violent crimes in 2007 down to 1.2 million violent crimes in 2015).

You can see these and other U.S. violent crime statistics here.

Over the same period, violent crime in U.S. cities also decreased at a sharp rate. For example: Violent crime in cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C., dropped between 75 and 87 percent from its peak in 1991. For more statistics on violent crime in U.S. cities, go here.

Note: The two periods in which violent crime dropped the most in the last 30 years coincide with Democratic presidential administrations.

I...

“Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint, but happy are those who keep the law” (Proverbs 29:18).

Do you see the link between “prophecy” and keeping the law?

The wise teacher of Proverbs makes her or his point: Lawlessness starts where prophecy ends. No prophecy, no “law and order.”

What is prophecy?

Many Bible translations do not use the word “prophecy” in this verse. Instead, they use the word “vision.” Some use the word “revelation.”

At its root, the Hebrew word that we translate into English means “to see” or “to behold.”

So, what do the people need to behold or see or else they “cast off restraint” and the law is lost?

Now, this is a Bible verse, so a lot of Bible-believing people will say the answer is simple: God’s way or God’s will. The people need to see what God wants them to do so that they can do it.

How do you see what God wants you to do?

...

What you want most in life–what you really, really want–is not something you can get today on sale or shipped free in two days.

Some of the things you want–really, really want–cannot even happen when you are alive! The dreams and hopes you have for your grandchildren or great grandchildren may not come true until after you’re long gone.

I know you know all of this, if…

…you are a parent…

…you are a spouse…

…you are a professional of any kind…

…you are a disciple of a master at anything.

I wish more of my fellow citizens would know this about politics.

You know the ancient Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never sit in.”

Trees grow slow and so do great societies.

Greatness does not happen with the election of one candidate over the other. Greatness does not happen with the passage of new laws.

A great society takes many...