Lighting the Way Back Home

Our ongoing call to offer clarity in confusing times.

Tim Foster / Unsplash

A friend recently asked for my opinion on the greatest challenge confronting American evangelicalism. He listened patiently as I offered a few thoughts. “There’s a deeper problem beneath those things,” he said. “It’s a crisis of leadership.”

The more I’ve considered the matter, the more I consider his words both true and ironic. An older generation of American evangelical leaders has passed away or passed the baton. When it comes to the younger generation, scarcely a week passes when we do not have another noteworthy Christian leader suffering a deeply destructive fall from grace. The ironic part is this: Evangelicals produce and consume countless books, seminars, and events on leadership. We have a thriving Christian leadership industry, yet we’re starving for Christlike leaders. Why is there so much leadership content and so little leadership character?

In our December issue I introduced the first of four strategic initiatives that will shape the future of Christianity Today. As I explained, CT Global will create a kind of central nervous system for the body of Christ, raising up storytellers and thought leaders around the world. The second initiative is simply called CT National. Billy Graham explained that he founded Christianity Today to be a clear voice, speaking with conviction and love. We are rededicating ourselves to that vision, to doing it better than ever.

As we move forward, we wish for Christianity Today to better represent the beautiful (and increasing) diversity of the American church. Men and women of evangelical conviction with a passionate love for Jesus Christ are found in churches of every ethnicity. They should see more of themselves and hear more of their voices in the pages of CT. We are also recommitting ourselves to deep reporting and storytelling here and overseas, so that American evangelical pastors and laypeople can be inspired to think more deeply and more broadly. Finally, we are recommitting ourselves to thought leadership. Sometimes Christianity Today has served as a pulpit, where the most insightful evangelical voices share their thoughts with the world. Sometimes it has served as a table, a place to discuss the vexing challenges we face as a community. We wish to serve both roles with excellence.

We believe Christianity Today is called both to be a leader and to serve leaders. Countless churches are foundering on the shoals of social, political, technological, and generational change. Despair and unbelief ride the tides. In the years to come, Christianity Today will reinvest in its aim to be a lighthouse, illuminating a path through the troubled waters for our brothers and sisters in the faith, and calling more of our friends and family home to the love of Jesus Christ.

Timothy Dalrymple is president and CEO of Christianity Today. Follow him on Twitter @TimDalrymple_.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

The Hidden Cost of Tax Exemption

Cover Story

What A Church Does, in Dollars and Cents

Reply All

News

US Religion Census Maps Changing Churches, Declining Denominations

News

The New Face of Medical Missions

News

Gleanings: Jan/Feb 2020

We Need to Read the Bible Jesus Read

Americans Are Having Fewer Kids. Evangelicals Are No Exception.

New & Noteworthy Fiction

Review

Our Lives Aren’t Conducive to Prayer. But a Better Way Is Possible.

Review

Her Son Took up Heroin. She Was the One Whose World Unraveled.

To Touch or Not to Touch?

Testimony

What Bill Maher, Donald Miller, and John Piper Have in Common

Sacred Duties

News

Should Methodists Split into Two, Three, or Four Churches? Delegates Consider.

God Works Within Us and Beyond Us

Editorial

Christians in the Age of Callout Culture

God Will Not Speak to You Through Skywriting

When Prayer Requests Become Viral Hashtags

Excerpt

What If I’m Not the ‘Submissive’ Type?

Christianity Today’s 2020 Book Awards

View issue

Our Latest

News

Charlie Kirk Aims to Expand Turning Point USA to Evangelical Campuses

But not all Christian campuses have embraced the conservative group.

News

Sarah Jakes Roberts Evolves T. D. Jakes’s Women’s Conference

At a record-setting event this fall, 40,000 followers listened to her preach about spiritual breakthrough and surrender.

Being Human

Walking the Camino de Santiago with Barrett Harkins

The missionary to pilgrims shares wisdom from the trail.

News

The Evangelical Voters Who Changed Their Minds

Amid a hyperpartisan electorate, a minority plan to vote differently than they did in 2016 and 2020.

News

Meet the Evangelical Expats Staying in Lebanon

Shout to the Lord in a Foreign Language

Worshiping God with words we don’t understand may seem strange. But I consider it a spiritual practice.

Jesus Is Still Right About Persecution

Nine truths believers need to understand to pray well for the suffering body of Christ.

The Bulletin

Electioneering

The Bulletin discusses the final presidential campaign push, churches in the age of screens, and the UN’s work in Gaza.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube