The Traditional Missionary Model Doesn’t Fit Today’s Hindu Diaspora

As the Hindu population in the West grows rapidly, Christian leaders rethink how to engage with them.

Jaap Arriens / AP Images

A software engineer in Seattle. A cardiologist in London. A professor in Toronto. As Hindu professionals and families increasingly make their homes in Western nations, Christians are rethinking how they share the gospel across cultural boundaries.

By 2050, 4.8 million Hindus will live in the US—making it home to the world’s fifth-largest Hindu population, according to projections by Pew Research Center. North America’s Hindu community is set to grow by 160 percent, 6 times faster than the region’s overall population.

The traditional missionary paradigm of reaching the poor and marginalized doesn’t reflect today’s reality of the Hindu diaspora. Many Hindu immigrants arrive with advanced degrees, successful careers, and deep cultural roots. This shift presents both opportunities and challenges for Western churches, many of which have limited experience engaging with Hindu communities.

“It is time for us to think of the Hindu Diaspora differently,” wrote Ashok Kumar, coeditor of the newly released book Sharing Jesus with Hindus: Global Witness to Hindu Diaspora. “We need to disciple and mobilize Christians globally to engage the Hindu Diaspora for a credible and sustained Christian witness.”

The book brings together the voices of experienced ministry leaders and cross-cultural practitioners from around the world, including several from Hindu backgrounds. These leaders offer insights on building meaningful relationships while respecting cultural sensitivities, interfaith dialogue, pastoral issues, and contextualized worship.

CT reached out to six contributors of Sharing Jesus with Hindus living in India and abroad and asked them to explain the dos and don’ts of engaging Hindus. Under their names we listed the title of the chapter they wrote in the book. Answers have been edited and shortened for clarity.

P. T. Subrahmanyan

Faculty, India Bible College and Seminary, India

“Dealing with Family after Conversion”

Religious conversion from Hinduism to Christianity in India often leads to three main challenges. First, converts face family rejection, as Hindu families may disown them, viewing their conversion as a rejection of family values and tradition. Second, new believers face social stigma, especially in rural areas. Urban areas tend to be somewhat more tolerant.

Finally, converts face cultural isolation as they become disconnected from their Hindu cultural roots. As their participation shifts to church activities, they lose connection with Hindu community events and festivals, leading to the community labeling them “outsiders.”

Many churches around the world desire new members but are rarely concerned about the complexities of conversion and the challenges that a new believer faces. Converts of Hinduism struggle with a complex dual identity, as they deal with both their old Hindu world as well as their new Christian world. The transition is not smooth or quick; often, this process can take several months or even several years.

P. T. Subrahmanyan’s Dos and Don’ts

Dos:

Do build relationships within the Hindu community before you witness to Hindus.
Do provide training for your church congregation on how to integrate a new convert into the church family. Patiently help him or her acquire a healthy biblical worldview.
Do equip converts to face challenges from their families and communities.
Do modify pastoral care to provide for their concrete needs in their Hindu context. Every new believer’s social, economic, and family context is different, so counseling or practical help should be done on a case-by-case basis.
Do practice cultural integration by encouraging converts to keep some of the good aspects of Hindu culture—such as respecting elders, speaking the truth, practicing charity, dressing modestly, or not consuming alcohol—even after their conversion. This will help build bridges with the Hindu community.

Don’ts: 

Don’t publicly criticize the religiosity of the Hindu community.
Don’t separate the new believer from their family, but instead focus on leading the whole family to Christ.
Don’t treat Hindu converts as second-class citizens in the kingdom of God because they did not grow up in Christian families.
Don’t be judgmental of the new converts’ pace of learning biblical truths or unfamiliarity with Christian practices.
Don’t advertise the number of conversions at your church.

Anil Yesudas

Pastor, Gyan Ratna Mandir, US

“Christocentric Satsang: Contextualized Worship for Hindus”

Christians should make genuine, lifelong friendships with their Hindu neighbors. We should continue the friendships even if our neighbors seem to reject Lord Shri Jesus (Shri is a title of respect). There are certain seasons of life when they may be more open for spiritual conversation. We cannot give the message of eternal salvation while at the same time not having time to live our lives with our Hindu friends.

Unlike Westerners, Hindus are open to prayer because culturally they are spiritually minded. As the Spirit leads, ask if they would want you to pray for them. These prayers should be done privately. Keep prayers short and avoid preaching to them during the prayer.

Use vocabulary that is familiar and understandable to Hindus. Do not use words that are only understood within Christian circles.

The Bible speaks of a personal God and a personal salvation. To those who have not yet surrendered their life to Lord Shri Jesus, we cannot communicate a personal God through impersonal modes of communication. Face-to-face communication must be the primary mode to transmit biblical information. Print media must be secondary. Do not impersonally mass-distribute the Bible but do use opportunities to gift a Bible in the context of genuine friendships.

In general, Hindus are oral-aural people, whereas the Western culture is typographic. The best way to communicate to Hindus is by personal impartation of information through storytelling, proverbs, poetry, drama, dance, and other forms of arts in the context of worship and celebration.

Do not be in a hurry to communicate. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said that he is coming “soon.” So, we should have an intergenerational approach to communication. You might share the gospel with a family, and the parents might not believe during their lifetime, but their children might show receptiveness.

Kamesh Sankaran

Professor, Whitworth University, US

“Ministering to Hindu Students in Western Universities”

Most international students from India, as well as second-generation Indian Americans at Western universities, have a Hindu background. These students have very little knowledge of Jesus or the gospel.

Christians engaging with this audience should be cognizant of two challenges. First, we must see how cultural Christianity in Western culture obfuscates the gospel by replacing relationship with Christ with rituals, replacing the grace of God with morality, replacing spirituality with societal norms, and replacing the costly gospel with comfort. Owning these misrepresentations is necessary for us to accurately represent Christ.

Second, we must know how Hindu theology shapes the minds and hearts of its followers. In addition to the perceived threat to one’s culture, Hindus have a built-in resistance to consider alternative theological ideas out of fear of losing their religious heritage. Yet given the complexity of Hindu theology and the enormous variations in the practice of Hinduism, it is best to hold these insights on Hindu theology and beliefs loosely and to hold on to God’s call to make disciples tightly.

Atul Y. Aghamkar

Director, National Center for Urban Transformation, India

“Witnessing to the Hindu Diaspora in North America”

Hindus are not a homogenous group but are divided into several castes, regions, languages, and socioeconomic levels. Most Hindus in the US comprise the upper and middle caste segments, and many are in high positions in various professions.

Most Hindus are quite strongly bound to their family, caste, and community. They are also conscious of their shame and honor culture. Therefore, approaching them as a family or community unit is the best way to reach them, as witnessing to individuals is often perceived as breaking up the family.

Introducing Hindus to Jesus, his unique teachings, and his miraculous powers is more convincing than preaching alone. Great leaders like Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave (Indian philosopher), and Swami Vivekananda (Indian monk and philosopher) were also very attracted to selective teachings of Jesus Christ but did not believe. Meanwhile when a person experiences Jesus’ healing personally, they are more likely to be attached to the person of Jesus Christ.

There are certain things that Christians should not do when reaching out to Hindus. Direct evangelism is often looked down upon by most Hindus. Instead, Christians can arrange public meetings to discuss global, Indian, and local matters and can invite prominent Indian leaders and Christian thinkers to share their views. This may open doors for deeper engagement with the Hindu community.

Don’t invite any interested Hindu to a church service initially, as Hindus perceive church as Christian turf and normally avoid it. Moreover, most church services are meant for Christians and do not make sense to them. Instead, Christians can organize community events like food festivals and Indian music concerts in neutral places like parks, hotels, and even the courtyards of homes.

Mark E. Sudhir

Missionary and church planter among the Hindu Sindhi and Sikh Punjabi people groups, Philippines

“Ministry among the Indian Diaspora in the Philippines”

Hindus in the Philippines are categorized in three different groups. The first one includes those who have been here in the Philippines since World War II and the partition of India. They are very few in number now. The second group includes the second-, third-, and fourth-generation descendants of those families, who were born and brought up here and think like Filipinos. The third category of Hindus consists of those who have come here in the past five to ten years.

Though these three categories are different in their lifestyles, Christians should take the same steps to engage with them to bring the gospel. It’s essential to respect their beliefs and culture, pray for and with them (if they’re comfortable), and care for them as challenges arise in their life.

We witness about Christ through the way we live our lives and by sharing our testimonies without disparaging their beliefs. It’s also important to emphasize to Hindus the unique forgiveness found in Jesus and to present Jesus as the creator God, sovereign over everything in creation. This establishes Jesus’ unique authority and identity beyond being just another spiritual teacher or divine manifestation.

At the same time, while talking with Hindus, Christians should remember not to make comparisons between the two religions or to rush Hindus to decide to accept Jesus.

It’s better not to inquire about their caste, as that might send the wrong message that Christians are interested in caste hierarchy. Practically, Christians should serve vegetarian food when hosting them and should avoid eating meat in their presence. Most important, Christians should never enter their homes or temples without spiritual preparation.

Krishna Ramsundar

Adjunct professor, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, US

“Ministry among Hindus in the Caribbean”

Between 1838 and 1924, more than half a million Indians arrived in the Caribbean as indentured laborers, primarily settling in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. They brought with them their Hindu traditions, creating vibrant communities that adapted to their new homes while maintaining aspects of their cultural heritage.

The story in Joshua 4:14–24 provides a model for evangelism with Caribbean Hindus. Meaningful experiences can serve as natural bridges for sharing the gospel message. Just as the Israelites used the stones from the Jordan River as a conversation starter to tell future generations about God’s faithfulness, personal testimonies can create opportunities to discuss spiritual truths with those who don’t yet follow Christ.

In Caribbean Hindu communities, supernatural experiences often create pathways for sharing the Christian message. Just as Jesus’ miracles were intended to reveal God’s nature and authority, contemporary miraculous events can guide people toward the Christian faith. Large evangelistic gatherings are particularly impactful when they include demonstrations of divine power, such as healing, deliverance, and other supernatural occurrences. These manifestations serve to illustrate God’s desire for a personal relationship with individuals through salvation.

While ministering to the Hindus in the Caribbean, it is important not to come across as proselytizers. Don’t approach nonbelievers with a superiority complex or judgmental attitude. Leading with messages about someone’s “lostness” or need for salvation can be perceived as arrogant and condescending, making genuine connection impossible.

Christians also shouldn’t get drawn into religious debates and confrontations. Heated theological arguments about religious beliefs typically generate more heat than light, leaving both parties frustrated and further apart rather than building understanding or strengthening relationships.

- More from Surinder Kaur

News

Between Faith and Fight: What Motivated Latino and Black Christian Men to Back Trump

Harvest Prude

Frustrated with status quo politics, minority voters turned to Trump for economic and social stability.

Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images

When pastor Samuel Rodriguez thinks of Donald Trump’s appeal among Hispanic and Latino men, one phrase comes to mind: Fight, fight, fight.

It’s the chant Trump led rallygoers in at Butler, Pennsylvania, after the near miss of an assassin’s bullet.

Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, has supported Trump in the past three presidential races and prayed at his inauguration. But this year, he saw more Hispanic Christian men take his side.

“I can’t deny the fact that the bro factor … was there,” said Rodriguez, who pastors New Season church in Sacramento, California. “It has to do with a man who was down, literally down, bleeding in front of the entire world, and he gets up.”

After the assassination attempt, Rodriguez met with a Hispanic pastor who had voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. This time, the pastor told Rodriguez he’d support Trump. According to Rodriguez, the pastor was persuaded by memories of the economy under the Trump administration, plus sheer admiration for the way the Republican candidate handled the shooting. “I’m all in,” he said.

Rodriguez noticed how Trump’s response to the assassination attempt captured the attention of certain men who weren’t particularly politically engaged. They had been focused on stretching their paychecks, providing for their families, and dealing with economic headwinds, and once they started following the campaign, the message resonated.

While white and working-class voters were the strongest voting blocs for Trump, the president-elect also cut into Democrat Kamala Harris’s margins with Hispanic and Black voters, particularly among men and people without college degrees.

Trump improved his share of Hispanic voters and won Hispanic men outright, a first for a Republican candidate, at 55 percent. He got the highest level of support from Hispanic Protestants; 64 percent went for Trump this year, up from 48 percent in 2020, when Biden took the majority, according to CNN.

Though Harris held the vast majority of Black voters, the president-elect still gained more Black voters than any Republican in close to 50 years, CNN reported. He won 21 percent of Black men, about 2 percentage points more than in 2020.

His improvement was concentrated among Black men under the age of 45: Three in ten Black men in that age group went for Trump. Black Protestants supported Trump at the same level as Black voters who are religiously unaffiliated, just around 13 percent.

There was a larger gender gap among Black and Hispanic voters than among white voters: Trump only won 38 percent of Hispanic women and did not even win double digits among Black women (7%).

Economic dissatisfaction was a fundamental concern this election year across demographics. It was a motivating factor among the minority of Black voters who supported Trump, according to Gina Barr, executive director of Black coalitions for the Trump campaign.

Much of her outreach involved the Black church, including roundtable discussions and nationwide conference calls with Black pastors.

“They see their congregants struggling to make ends meet and getting daycare and finding jobs and, if they have small businesses, staying open,” Barr said. “The pastors are on the front lines. They know this. They know their people are suffering.”

Barr is a PK, or pastor’s kid, as well as an ordained minister herself, so she was comfortable giving pastors a pep talk. She told them, “Look, a lot of times we want to get up and we want to speak out over the pulpit, but we have to mobilize.”

She worked closely with Believers for Trump, a campaign initiative focused on battleground states.

Black leaders who came out in support of Trump sometimes faced pushback from their community—many fellow Black voters fear that another Trump administration would do away with diversity and civil rights initiatives, and they take issue with the president-elect’s stereotypical characterizations of minorities, such as his remarks on “Black jobs.”

In response to the criticism, Barr said it ultimately hinders priorities important to Black voters if they only have the chance to influence Democratic politicians. “When you’re only in the room half the time, that means your issues are going to get dealt with half the time,” she said.

Pastor Marlin J. Reid doesn’t shy away from politics, and his social media feeds are full of political commentary. Reid has been a Trump supporter since 2016 and hosted Ben Carson, who led the Trump campaign’s faith outreach, at his church this year.

New Wine Glory Ministries in Livonia, Michigan, pulls somewhere between 400 and 500 attendees on a Sunday. Reid saw culture war debates—namely, parental rights and transgender issues, as well as their concerns over the US–Mexico border—driving people in his community to vote Republican.

“I think that most people who switched over their vote were not so much voting for Trump,” Reid said. “They were voting against the issues.”

At campaign rallies, Trump brought up transgender athletes and promised to “keep men out of women’s sports.” His campaign dropped $37 million on ads that put transgender issues front and center, according to The Wall Street Journal. One told voters, “Kamala’s For They/Them. President Trump is for you.”

Trump’s team said the ad was most effective with Black and Latino men, and Harris’s super PAC Future Forward said the advertisement shifted the race nearly 3 percentage points in Trump’s favor among viewers who saw it, The New York Times reported.

AP VoteCast, which surveys the electorate about issues and attitudes, found that half of American voters said “support for transgender rights in government and society” had “gone too far.” Among Trump voters, 85 percent agreed.

Rodriguez said he’s heard similar sentiments. “‘Keep your hands off our children.’ That was it. That may have been the tipping point,” he said.

Family was a factor—a majority of Hispanic voters who are married voted for Trump in 2024, compared to only around a third in 2020, CNN exit polls showed.

Libre Initiative president Daniel Garza heard from working-class voters who felt that the Democratic Party had left them behind.

“In the past, the only consideration [Latinos] got was from the Democrats. … Democrats took advantage of that relationship, and what they did was impose their own agenda, their priorities, the green agenda, abortion, these cultural issues,” said Garza, whose libertarian-leaning organization focuses on the economy, immigration reform, education, and health care.

It felt as if segments of the party “looked down on the rest of us for loving America, loving God, and raising families,” he said. “It was insulting.”

Barr said she heard from some longtime Democratic voters who didn’t feel that the party was listening to their core financial concerns.

“It wasn’t just that we had gains. It was also that Vice President Harris didn’t perform as well. And the reason why she didn’t perform as well is because there was no faith in her to fix the problem,” Barr said. “So people would just rather stay at home than to go out and vote.”

“People’s bottom line was ‘I got kids. I gotta feed them. I gotta take care of this house.’ And then the cost of living gets higher and higher,” Reid said. “Gas is higher. Transportation, energy. Buying eggs and milk. I mean, basic stuff. … And it was crushing the working-class people.”

Reid heard from workers concerned about layoffs in Detroit’s auto industry who appreciated Trump’s pledge that “by the end of my term, the entire world will be talking about the ‘Michigan miracle.’”

At Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, senior pastor Michele Jackson had congregants on either side of the presidential race. Trump supporters, she said, typically were concerned with “security, safety, jobs, the economy, and family.”

“While they may have some reservations about all that President Trump stood for, they knew he would protect their values, and those were the ones that were most important to them,” said Jackson, daughter of the late bishop Harry Jackson Jr., a prominent conservative pastor and faith advisor to Trump.

Jackson believes that the range of issues minority voters care about are often overlooked or oversimplified.

“The issues of life and protecting our children, not just in the womb but in society, and the issue of law and order and how we’re going to engage in wars,” she said. “There are things that the media assumes African Americans aren’t concerned about.”

While the economy was a significant factor for Hispanic men, faith communities in border states were also following immigration policy.

After the election, a group of Hispanic pastors in Texas were discussing over text how deportations might impact their churches. One said that the only people who should be worried should be criminals or cartel members.

Jesse Rincones, executive director of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, was more concerned. He pointed to campaign promises by Trump to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history” and pledges by Trump adviser Stephen Miller to seek to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

“The answer means that the families and communities most devastated will definitely be those of our hermanos and hermanas,” Rincones told the others. “Ten misericordia, Señor.” (“Lord, have mercy upon us.”)

Garza also cautioned against Republican overreach in implementing unpopular policies that could cost them in future elections.

Deporting criminals is not controversial, but “you’re talking about dragging family members out of their homes and out of workspaces, people who are industrious and hard working,” he said. “I think you’re going to see a blowback.”

It’s too soon to knowwhether Republicans will be able to earn deeper loyalty among Hispanic and Black men that will last beyond one presidential race.

Some voters, frustrated with the status quo and viewing Trump as a source of change, may not be motivated in future elections when Trump is not at the top of the ticket, Garza said.

“Donald Trump won easily, and some of the [GOP] senators lost. What that tells me is there was a lot of split voting,” Garza said. “An association to Trump or an association to the Republican Party isn’t going to get you a win. You have to do the work in the Latino community. You have to earn their vote.”

“Go to where they’re at. Be a part of the community. Listen to them,” said Garza. “[Politicians] need to make their case: ‘This is why my ideas are going to improve your life and the life of your family.’”

Rodriguez hopes the results are a wake-up call for neither party to be complacent when it comes to earning minority voters’ support.

“I think this fluidity is going to actually be the new norm,” he said. “There’s a segment of the American populace that is no longer locked in to one political apparatus … and that middle ground will now emerge as an independent electorate that will need to be convinced every four years.”

- More from Harvest Prude

Books

Excerpt

Kids Should Learn the Minor Prophets Too

Brian Wright

A new children’s book series explores the neglected prophetic books and how they point to Jesus.

Kids Should Learn the Minor Prophets Too

Book covers of the minor prophets Obadiah, Zephaniah, and Haggai

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Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

Book covers of minor prophets Zephaniah, Haggai, and Habakkuk

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Book covers of the minor prophets Haggai, Habakkuk, and Joel

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Book covers of minor prophets Habakkuk, Joel, and Malachi

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Book cover of minor prophets Joel, Malachi, and Jonah

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Book covers from minor prophets Malachi, Jonah, and Nahum

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Book covers from minor prophets Jonah, Nahum, and Hosea

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Book covers from minor prophets Nahum, Hosea, and Amos

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Book covers from minor prophets Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah

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Book covers from minor prophets Amos, Zechariah, and Micah

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Book covers from minor prophets Zechariah, Micah, and Obadiah

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Book covers from minor prophets Micah, Obadiah, and Zephaniah

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A decade ago, I was teaching through the Minor Prophets in a prison. As a chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, I had the chance to dive into these often-overlooked books with inmates.

The response was incredible. Inmates would come up to me, eyes wide open, to share how they saw their own lives reflected in these ancient texts. I often heard them say that they wished they had encountered these stories earlier in their lives.

As I pondered the powerful impact these scriptures were having on those behind bars, it struck me: My own children, and countless others, were missing out on these profound yet underappreciated books of the Bible. The Minor Prophets are often relegated to the realm of Christian satire, like the clever jabs from the Babylon Bee, but their messages are rich and relevant.

Consider the vibrant ancient world where Amos calls for repentance and justice or where Micah inspires hope and reverence. Hosea shows us the beauty of fidelity and the warmth of God’s love and Zechariah demonstrates grace and boosts our spirits toward obedience. Each of these lessons adds a unique splash of color to the rich tapestry of faith in our spiritual heritage.

So, inspired by both my ministry work and my family, I felt led to do something that had never been done. Why not create a children’s picture book series on the Minor Prophets? Sure, there are books on Jonah and a few snippets of others in various picture Bibles, but most of these prophets and their messages have largely remained unexplored in children’s literature.

I shared my idea and proposal with a long-time friend and mentor, John Brown, and asked whether he’d like to join me on this groundbreaking project. With his enthusiasm and support, we embarked on this exciting venture with Christian Focus Publications. Our goal? To unfold these ancient stories in a fresh, engaging way that connects with young readers and brings these powerful narratives to life.

As seminary-trained pastors and parents, we crafted this series with a deep commitment to theological depth and accuracy. Each book is carefully designed to convey the core message of a minor prophet while linking it to the larger story of redemption and the gospel woven throughout Scripture.

With titles like Obadiah and the Edomites and Joel and the Locusts, we wanted to capture the essence of each prophet’s message through memorable, child-friendly narratives. One way we tried to make the prophets’ messages stick like glue was to add some catchy rhymes. For instance, at the end of Habakkuk, rather than just saying he composed a song of praise, we crafted a fun rhyming song that still echoes his original message.

We paid close attention to historical accuracy in the illustrations, from Assyrian armies to Babylonian gates, to give children an authentic glimpse into the world of the Minor Prophets. The characters are portrayed realistically to emphasize their historical significance, and the language mirrors the original Hebrew texts, ensuring that the series remains true to Scripture.

By integrating archaeological insights and theological research, we’ve aimed to create a series that stands out in its commitment to accurately represent God’s inspired Word. Our hope is that these books will not only excite children about this often-neglected part of the Bible but also provide parents and teachers with a valuable tool for teaching these important truths.

Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

The book of Habakkuk concludes with a song from the prophet himself. Therefore, we end with a song featuring memorable rhymes that capture the essence of the Hebrew text.

Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

Just as Jesus used “all the Prophets” to teach about himself (Luke 24:27), each minor prophet directs us to Him. Zephaniah, for instance, foretells a time when people will call on the name of a mighty one who will save—whom we know as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

The five messages of Haggai are dated in the Hebrew text, and Bible scholars and historians have translated these into modern calendar dates. This provides a tangible reminder that Haggai was a real person who really spoke these words to God’s people on these specific days.

Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

While many children’s picture books on Jonah focus primarily on the big fish, this series explores the full story, including chapter 4, where Jonah becomes angry and departs from the city of Nineveh.

Courtesy of Christian Focus / Edits by CT

Among the many prophecies found in the Minor Prophets, this one in Malachi describes the messenger sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah. We now know him in the New Testament as John the Baptist.

Brian J. Wright is the founding pastor of Redeemer Community Church in Pensacola, Florida, and author of more than a dozen books, including The Rhythm of the Christian Life and Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus.

- More from Brian Wright

Theology

Yours, Mine, and ‘Our Father’

Carmen Joy Imes

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus calls his divided followers to pursue unity as the family of God.

Illustration by Mallory Rentsch Tlapek / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons

The church today is divided, polarized by the many social and political factions vying for our attention and allegiance.

In the US, we’re emerging from a contentious election season in which many Christian voters felt strongly about their choice (whether to vote for a particular candidate or to abstain altogether) and expressed dismay at fellow Christians for choosing differently.

As we look toward gathering with believers who think very differently than we do—whether our fellow congregants at church or our friends or family members for the holidays—how can we aim to be agents of reconciliation instead of polarization?

Perhaps it starts with prayer; and specifically, learning the way Jesus taught us to pray.

The Lord’s Prayer is familiar to many, but I’ve been experiencing it with fresh eyes recently. Not only does it radically reorient and reform the community of saints as God’s people, but it undermines some of our persistently problematic ways of navigating life. Jesus’ prayer takes aim at our self-centeredness—including our rugged individualism, selfish ambition, and attempts to justify ourselves—replacing it with a bold invitation to belong to a countercultural community.

Let me show you what I mean.

Have you noticed the pronouns of this prayer? Instead of I, me, and my, the Lord’s Prayer tutors us to pray with collective pronouns: our and us. “Our Father” is the one to whom we pray (Matt. 6:9, emphasis added throughout). God is not my personal genie in a bottle, ready to grant my wishes. He is the divine parent in whose family every follower of Jesus finds a home.

To pray to God as our Father recognizes simultaneously that you are my sister or brother. Instead of thinking only of myself, I must immediately think of others.

It’s worth noting that in the first-century world, the sibling relationship was primary, exerting a strong force of loyalty—greater, even, than that of a marriage. Brothers and sisters were deeply committed to one another. Jesus redefines the boundaries of loyal commitment by speaking of the community of believers as a family.

One of his most startling teachings was the one that subordinated the concerns of his birth family to the family of faith: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? … Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (12:48, 50). If you and I are siblings in this newly formed family, then we bear a deep responsibility for one another.

This same message is emphasized in the rest of the prayer.

“Give us today our daily bread” (6:11). I do not pray only for my needs but for our needs to be met. Jesus’ prayer is for daily provision, the bread for this day. God does not guarantee a successful financial portfolio. He offers provision for today. This daily provision begins in the wilderness of Sinai, where God gave the Israelites manna—enough for each mouth, enough for each day.

Any extra manna collected would spoil because it wasn’t meant to be hoarded. It was meant to ensure that everyone had enough. This suggests that if I have more food than I need, I should participate in sharing to meet the needs of others. The Lord’s Prayer recognizes the urgency of daily food and makes us aware of and sensitive to the needs of others.

“Forgive us our debts” (v. 12). Not only does the prayer make us siblings who recognize our shared needs, but also it lumps together our respective liabilities. In other words, your debts are our debts. What I owe is what we owe. We share a collective responsibility for the harm we’ve done to others or for the promised goods we’ve withheld. The forgiveness Jesus urges us to pray for is no easy way out; it causes us to confront the consequences of our communal failures … together.

“As we also have forgiven our debtors” (v. 12). Together, we are called to forgive those who have harmed us or who have kept us waiting for what we are owed. There is a reciprocal relationship between the forgiveness we extend and the responsibility we have to follow through in our commitments to others.

The Lord’s Prayer undermines our self-centeredness by redefining us. If God is our Father and this is our food and these are our debts, then we’re meant to work all these things out together. Your neighborhood is my neighborhood, and I am your neighbor, no matter how far apart we might live. We are, in a sense, rightly entangled.

The prayer decenters us in other ways as well. “Hallowed be your name … Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus does not invite us to approach God with our plans and seek his stamp of approval. He affirms that God’s will is the one that should occupy our hearts and focus our energies. His name is the only one we must seek to honor.

Honor for God’s name undercuts our fantasies about the platforms, pulpits, penthouses, and political offices by which we can build our own kingdoms. The kingdom of God is the one we pray into being. Lord, let your kingship continue to exert its influence. Let your will be put into effect in our midst.

There’s no room for us to pursue personal power or to angle for our own agendas. All this is surrendered in our quest for God’s kingdom, God’s will, God’s glory, and God’s name. The kingdom of God will outlast any other, and it is the only one to which we owe our allegiance. In other words, we surrender our will so we can embrace God’s.

To be blunt, as a friend pointed out, every time we pray this prayer, we are ultimately praying for the end of America and every other nation-state on earth—because when God’s mission is finally accomplished on earth as it is in heaven, Christ alone will be ruler over all creation. All forms of human government will be dissolved, and we will bow at Jesus’s feet. What a powerful reminder in an election year!

For Jesus, this prayer was not simply lip service. When he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane “Not my will but yours be done,” it cost him everything (Luke 22:42). It may cost us everything too. Jesus’ prayer is a powerful wake-up call for us to rethink our priorities and get to work doing what matters to God.

When Jesus prayed “Hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9), he surely understood that God’s reputation is attached to the people who bear his name. Throughout the Old Testament, we read of generations of covenant unfaithfulness who had seriously compromised the mission of representing God well among the nations.

In his prayer, Jesus demonstrates commitment to a life of holiness and righteousness—of living faithfully according to God’s commands—and he models how to fulfill our vocation. For God’s name to be revered, God’s people have to take seriously their mission to bear his name well (see Ezek. 36). How can we make God’s name holy? In the same way: by living according to God’s commands.

Jesus’ prayer closes with a fervent request to “lead us not into temptation.” We all depend on God to protect us from times of trial and testing. Our attitude should never be Bring it on! I’ve got this! Offering an antidote to our self-sufficient mindset, Jesus’ prayer recognizes our human vulnerability and calls upon God for protection.

He also prays for God to “deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13, ESV). This phrase can also be translated as “the evil one,” that is, the devil—whom Jesus himself faced during his temptation in the wilderness. But even in the more generic reading, “deliver us from evil,” scholar Daniel Block suggests we should read “evil” with the lens of Deuteronomy, where YHWH’s punishment would come “on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me” (Deut. 28:20, NRSV).

The Old Testament repeatedly testifies that our greatest threat comes at us not from the outside but from within. In essence, Jesus prayed for God to rescue us from the evil of apostasy, especially given the impact on God’s reputation when his people are unfaithful. That’s what should motivate our prayer for protection.

We find ourselves in one of the most segmented and polarized times in modern history. It takes little to start a fight on social media, and it’s become increasingly difficult even to hold a civil conversation about our disagreements. Right now, the only thing succeeding in politics is cancel culture, and it’s happening on both sides of the aisle. The levels of angst and fear are alarming.

In this hostile environment, it can be easy for us as Christians to forget our purpose. We bear God’s name and our mission is to represent God to the nations. We cannot do this if we are busy digging trenches and stockpiling weapons to use against the “other side.” We’ve got to be willing to cross the street, shake someone’s hand, and listen to their story.

Jesus’ remarkable prayer has the potential to heal our divided nation. It begins by decentering my needs and my agenda, forming instead a loving community in which we recognize shared needs and responsibilities. It resets our priorities by orienting us toward God’s kingdom and God’s name.

Instead of pointing out the faults of others, it cultivates an honest dependence on God by acknowledging our collective vulnerabilities in the face of universal temptations.

The Lord’s Prayer is so familiar that we often switch to autopilot when we pray it and so miss its weighty implications. But if we slow down and really think about what Jesus’ words mean and what they demand of us, something truly transformative can begin to take root.

In the wake of the recent election, what if Christians from across the political aisle were to kneel together and pray for God’s kingdom, God’s glory, and God’s name to be exalted in our nation?

Carmen Joy Imes is an associate professor of Old Testament at Talbot School of Theology and the author of Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters.

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Ideas

Train Up a Village

Bonnie Kristian

CT Staff; Columnist

Modern parenting can be isolating and exhausting. But in the church, raising children is a shared responsibility.

Illustration by Elizabeth Kaye / Source Images: Getty

When I learned I was pregnant with our youngest, I knew our church shopping had to end.

My family had moved to Pittsburgh about a year prior, and it took us longer than we expected to find a church. We arrived in the summer of 2021, when many congregations weren’t back to full post-pandemic capacity. Most had in-person services again, but childcare was iffier. With 2-year-old twin boys, nursery was a must-have if we wanted to retain anything from the sermon.

So we spent six months trying one church (big, older congregation, hard to meet people), then six months at another (small, and services during our dinner time meant cheese and crackers in the pews). Then we visited a third church—they’d finally gotten the nursery going again—and, two months later, I found out about the baby.

We were leaning toward joining this church anyway, but looking at that pregnancy test, the decision was made. It felt like running for shelter when you see a storm on the horizon, scanning for cover at that first sniff of rain. Was there even a choice? We had to commit. We couldn’t have a baby without a church.

People do, of course, and I can only suppose they’re more courageous than me. I can’t imagine navigating those early months with a newborn without the support of a local congregation. It’s not just the casseroles, though certainly those are a boon. It’s knowing that there are dozens, even hundreds, of people physically nearby who care that you had a baby—people who will help you, tangibly and spiritually, now and for years to come.

They will help not because they’re all blood relations or even good friends. Some you may barely know. They will help in ways large and small because they and you are the church together. They will do this informally and institutionally, but they will also pledge their help—explicitly, publicly, before God and each other—and train one another, one generation to the next, in how to make good on that promise.

In some churches, this happens during infant baptism. In others, Christians dedicate babies and baptize them later. In either case, the congregation’s part tends to be the same: We promise to support the children and their families in their lives and faith. We welcome them into the community, and we actively commit ourselves to their care.

This may not seem like a big deal if you’re a cradle Christian. Isn’t that standard? Isn’t it just what you do? Let me assure you: It is a big deal. It’s always a big deal, but it’s a particularly big deal in a culture like ours, where parenting often feels isolating and exhausting, where it’s socially permissible to opine that young and imperfectly behaved children should be banned from many public spaces, where the work of child-rearing is increasingly expected to fall exclusively on parents’ shoulders.

I should pause here to note that the modern West is wildly inconsistent in how we think and talk about kids (even before you get to the politics of it all). We have anti-child misanthropy alongside pro-child graciousness. We have falling birthrates and ever more elaborate and exacting parenting practices.

Some pockets of culture are more pro-child and pro-parent than average. Still, it seems clear that the average has moved in a decidedly lonely and “family unfriendly” direction. As Atlantic contributor Stephanie Murray has observed, the rising norm is that your kids are your problem, a personal project to be kept out of everyone else’s way until they’re old enough to be reliably appropriate and useful.

The trouble with this view is that it’s not how parenting or maturation work. Raising kids is primarily parents’ right and responsibility. But it’s also “a fundamentally social endeavor,” Murray writes, in which everyone has some role—a role more and more adults are “essentially renouncing” in our increasingly low-trust society where parenting is seen as an optional lifestyle with consequences to be borne by those who choose it.

Growing up is a social endeavor, too. Kids are part of society, and they only learn how to act around other people by being around other people, especially other people who care enough to issue corrections and offer a hand after a fall. When the village renounces its role, parents aren’t the only ones who feel alone and adrift.

At church, though, you can’t renounce that role. You verbally affirm it with every new baby. In infant dedications and baptism, we deliberately welcome children and their parents qua parents into Christian life together. In promising to help parents “train up a child” (Prov. 22:6, KJV), we train ourselves, too, in what it means to be a community.

Much has been written recently about growing secular interest in Christianity’s practical benefits: how the church can encourage good behavior and foster friendships and stabilize society. With that talk has come warnings against instrumentalizing our faith—that is, societal advantages aside, it matters whether Christianity is true, whether Jesus really is God, whether he really defeated sin, death, and the devil (Heb. 2:14–18), whether we really can expect him to come again and complete his redemption of the world. We don’t go to church only for community and casseroles (or, if we do, we likely won’t go for long).

Yet neither are community and casseroles irrelevant. We don’t “want people joining churches for the social perks,” as theologian Brad East recently wrote for CT, but the “Lord and his family come together.” We don’t have to disambiguate our allegiance to Jesus and enjoyment of the benefits of his church. In fact, we shouldn’t try. They are of a piece. The church is not a building, as my mother always drilled into my head, but it is a sturdy shelter in all kinds of storms.

Bonnie Kristian is the editorial director of ideas and books at Christianity Today.

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Theology

How to Get Through the Next Four Years

Russell Moore

Editor in Chief

The nonstop news cycle will be crazy. You don’t have to be.

Illustration by Christianity Today / Source Image: Getty

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsle t ter. Subscribe here.

Someone walked up to me in an airport last week and said, “So, what do you think about the election?” I was in a less-than-ideal mood at the moment, for reasons that had nothing to do with the election, but I stopped myself from saying sarcastically, “What do you think I think about the election?”

The last thing I wanted to talk about, after ten years of talking about him, was Donald Trump. Now the news cycle will be the Donald Trump Show all day, every day, for four more years.

The nonstop news cycle and drama won’t be some unforeseen circumstance. It’s what the American people voted for. The theory that people would want to “turn the page” on all that, offered by Vice President Kamala Harris, proved false. Turns out most people liked the drama just fine. So here we go.

I have very little to say that I haven’t already said, very little to write that I haven’t already written, and there are very few people who think like I do. I can’t control that. But neither can you. As a matter of fact, there is very little any of us can do to control the next four years—with a news cycle that will be, like the last near-decade, all Trump, all the time.

Just like during the last near-decade, those who support Trump and those who oppose him will continue to look at one another the way Adams and Jefferson did over the French Revolution: “How could you support (or not support) that?” You can control very little of that either.

And that’s surprisingly good news.

The passivity of Americans in their own civic order is always a problem. The word woke—before it became associated with identity politics—spoke to the sense of waking people from their slumber about injustice. The opposite of passivity, though, is often not responsibility or engagement. Sometimes it’s a kind of passivity that feels like “doing something.”

Wherever someone falls on the political spectrum, that’s where “doomscrolling” comes into play. We feel we are informed by having a steady stream of drama in front of us, our emotions driven up or down by the news cycle.

We’ve seen the end result of that. The constant flow of (real and fake) information spikes our adrenaline, activating our “lizard brains.” We throw our limbic systems into the sense of having to support or to oppose something—when, much of the time, there’s actually nothing we can do about it. And this works because many people like it.

What we call “politics” these days offers people a sense of meaning and purpose, an interruption to the dead everydayness of life. A jolt of adrenaline can feel almost like life—for a little while.

This kind of political “drama” is related to actual political life the way that pornography is to intimacy. Porn gives the same physical sensation as sexual union. The nervous system responds the way it is meant to respond in the union of a husband and wife; it just does so by getting rid of the love, the connection, the other person. In other words, it gives the physical sense without what actually brings about the joy.

Someone might think that porn use will kick-start their flagging passion, that it’s a temporary step toward intimacy. That person is left, though, feeling deader and lonelier than before. A news cycle can be like that too—ultimately leaving people not more informed and thoughtful but with worn-out attention spans and burned-out expectations.

One of the things you owe your country is your attention. By that, I do not mean your constant focus. I mean, quite literally, your attention: your ability to think and to reflect apart from the roar of the mob.

During the tumult of the 1960s—war, civil unrest, assassinations—Thomas Merton argued that his ability to speak to all of those things was not in spite of but because of his vocation as a Trappist monk, devoted to silence and solitude.

“Someone has to try to keep his head clear of static and preserve the interior solitude and silence that are essential for independent thought,” Merton wrote. He continues,

A monk loses his reason for existing if he simply submits to all the routines that govern the thinking of everybody else. He loses his reason for existing if he simply substitutes other routines of his own! He is obliged by his vocation to have his own mind if not to speak it. He has got to be a free man.

Merton concludes by saying, “What did the radio say this evening? I don’t know.”

I believe in the priesthood of all believers and, in this way, I suppose, in the monkhood of all believers too. News and information are important in helping a free and attentive mind discern what’s happening and how to make sense of it. News and information as sources of a sense of personal “drama” or belonging, though, will fray your attention, scatter your thinking, and affix you to whatever mob it’s easiest to mimic.

It’s hard to maintain sanity with a mind like that. It’s hard to love your country with a mind like that. It’s hard to love the Lord your God with a mind like that.

The stakes are too high for us to see our country as a reality television show. You can’t opt out of the country, but you can opt out of the show. In some ways, you get there by subtraction. Don’t rely on social media for your news, for instance. Don’t fall into the trap of every-ten-minute hits of dopamine about how your side is losing something or winning something.

But maybe an even more important factor is not subtraction but addition. You are meant to have a life of drama and adventure and excitement. Politics—of the left, right, or center—can’t deliver it. News cycles can’t replicate it.

For those of us who are Christians, we already have it. We need no Jungian hero’s journey. We are joined to the life of Jesus of Nazareth. His story is our story. Our lives are hidden in him (Col. 3:3). We are crucified under Pontius Pilate. We are raised out of the grave. We are seated at the right hand of the Father.

All of that is true, right now, for those who are joined by the Spirit to the life of Christ. And we are waiting a trump—not a Trump—to tell us when the action of our lives will really get interesting, in ways we cannot even imagine yet.

Realize that this is true for you. You don’t need to be part of some make-believe drama. You don’t need to adopt some politician as a father figure. You have an actual Father who is making plans for you. And when you realize how temporary, how fleeting, and how pitiful much of what is counted as glory is in this moment, you can learn how to love it without placing on it the burden of making you happy or driving you crazy. We always come to hate our idols—whatever they are—because they never give us what we want.

That means you will need the Bible—and more than just the devotional cherry-picking or doctrinal proof texts to which modern American Christianity is accustomed. You will need to immerse yourself in the stories there until you gradually start to sense they are your stories. You need to plunge into the poems and songs there until you find they are telling you the story of your own life too.

You need to spend enough time with the Jesus found in the pages of Scripture that he starts to surprise you again. You don’t have to understand what you’re reading all the time. Read it anyway. Let the Word do its work. Don’t immediately Google “How to understand Psalm 46” or “What does Colossians 2 mean?” Wrestle with it. Be baffled by it.

And sooner or later you will start to hear, as though calling to you personally from those words: “Who do you say that I am?”

The news cycle will be crazy for the next four years. You don’t have to be.

Russell Moore is the editor in chief at Christianity Today and leads its Public Theology Project.

Culture

‘Heretic’ and the Truth That Sets Us Free

Paul Marchbanks

In the Hugh Grant horror movie, Latter-day Saint missionaries are entrapped in more ways than one.

Chloe East as Sister Paxton, Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed, and Sophie Thatcher as Sister Barnes in Heretic.

Kimberley French / A24

Years before gifting our daughters with pet rats, I tried my hand at training one of the furry critters myself. My psychology professor had tasked me with conditioning my subject to press a lever for food, but I fantasized instead about designing a convoluted maze and teaching my little Theseus to win freedom from the enclosure in record time.

I had no interest in distressing my diminutive friend. Instead, I conceived my plan in humane terms. Pushing his tiny brain to its limits would help him develop his full potential, winning my gratitude and a monstrous hunk of cheese.

The Greek myth of innocent Athenians escaping a labyrinth and its man-eating minotaur has spawned many a variant over the centuries. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Pit and the Pendulum,” a captive of the Spanish inquisition struggles to survive a lethal dungeon. Wrongly imprisoned brothers strategize escape in the popular TV series Prison Break. A kidnapped, routinely assaulted young mother risks death to free her child in Emma Donoghue’s critically acclaimed novel Room (and its equally lauded adaptation by Lenny Abrahamson).

Each tale provides audiences the opportunity to imagine what they themselves might do if confronted with capture, their options as limited as their mobility. Which relational ties would we preserve, and which abandon, to gain our freedom? What ambitions would suddenly appear trivial? Which values disposable?

And what of faith? Can we never know the mettle of belief until our lives are on the line?

Jesus proclaimed himself the path to true freedom, audaciously redefining an ideal grasped tightly by a people under Roman occupation. Granting “freedom for the prisoners” (Luke 4:18) meant not a reordering of the social matrix but a recalibration of expectation—a transformation of desire itself. Becoming “free indeed” (John 8:36) had little to do with political revolution undertaken to eliminate stigma and usher in material equality. Instead, this new freedom promised first an escape from the weight of sin (Rom. 8:1–2), a release enabling radical, equalizing acts of caritas (Gal. 5:13) hidden from both a spectacle-hungry public and one’s own ego (Matt. 6:1–4).

One might, like Paul and Silas, remain truly free while yet a prisoner, retaining invisible agency though a victim of injustice.

The film Heretic, directed by screenwriting duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, explores the plausibility of this kind of freeing faith. Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) has entrapped two young Latter-day Saint missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) in his home.

It’s the sort of situational crucible familiarized by 21st-century horror. Instead of being forced by a hidden antagonist to saw off limbs or kill a friend to obtain freedom, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton verbally spar with a captor they can see while seeking a way out of his underground maze.

The adversarial dialectic which unfolds touches on the evolution of world religions, shifts in church doctrine, and the nature of personal belief. At the center of this ideological maelstrom—an exchange that grows stormier once the women realize they have been kidnapped—lies a question once posed by the Roman governor of Judea: “What is truth?” (John 18:38).

Mr. Reed claims to have found a definitive, ancient answer following years of academic study, and he attempts to methodically break down the missionaries’ own belief system by spotlighting the malleability of religious truth. He opens by asking, in a deceptively gentle manner, how they feel about polygamy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose to outlaw the practice in 1890, he notes, because the determination to grow their numbers kept stumbling over public disdain. He steamrolls Sister Paxton’s argument that God temporarily consecrated this ancient practice, suggesting instead that Joseph Smith desired license for an uncontrollable libido.

Physical passion, Mr. Reed implies, is a universal imperative, a physiological truth religion has only sanctioned when it has benefitted particular leaders. And fickle emotions, not intellectual assent, he argues, motivate the faith of many a layperson. When Sister Paxton observes that she knows the Book of Mormon to be true because of how it makes her feel, Mr. Reed pounces. Is emotion the final arbiter of human destiny, a shifting but foundational truth beneath all other apparent truths?

Or could it be that the unshakable fact of human existence is the one Mr. Reed ultimately discloses, a conviction that frees him to practice cruelty without moral scruple? I’ll allow you to discover for yourself.

The two missionaries presumably live by a code of honesty, a key virtue in Joseph Smith’s 13th Article of Faith. Yet they begin lying as swiftly as they cease proselytizing once they suspect Mr. Reed’s motives.

Is integrity of word and mission a principle held only when safe and comfortable? What happens to prayer and a belief in miracles when we’re shut up in a cage with no key? Are these twin elements, rooted in transcendent reality, vital organs that work the harder when life hangs in the balance or skins we quickly shed to escape constricting circumstances?

Heretic poses, rapid-fire, even more questions than I’ve framed here, doing so in a way that avoids the didactic and eludes easy answers. Fortunately, we don’t need to share the missionaries’ religious affiliation or Mr. Reed’s cynicism to appreciate the film’s aggressive interrogation of faith. Belief in Christ rooted more deeply than rhetoric will only grow stronger in the face of such a challenge. A determination to know the Truth is more than enough to set us free.

Paul Marchbanks is a professor of English at Cal Poly State University. His YouTube channel is “Digging in the Dirt.”

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News

And the Word Became Accessible: Publishers Release Dyslexia-Friendly Bibles

Rachel Pfeiffer

Designer hopes a new, custom typeface will be a life-changing tool for those with reading disorders.

Courtesy of B&H Publishing

The lines land with slightly thicker strokes and dashes at the bottom. The letters leave little spaces inside as they curve up, like a stencil.

This new typeface, a curly variation of a slab serif font, is called Grace—made especially for millions of Christians who struggle to read Scripture due to dyslexia.

Major Bible publishers partnered with a specialty design firm to develop the Grace typeface and are now releasing Bibles using the new lettering.

Lifeway Christian Resources has made two dyslexia-friendly versions of its Christian Standard Bible (CSB): CSB Grace Bible for Kids, out now, and the CSB Grace Bible, coming in February. Crossway Publishing, which prints the English Standard Version (ESV), plans to release the ESV Holy Bible: Dyslexia-Friendly Edition in January.

Graphic design company 2K/Denmark specializes in typesetting and production of complex texts like Bibles and spent years developing the typeface. 2K/Denmark was founded by Danish designer Klaus Erik Krogh, who has been called a “living legend of Bible design.”

Krogh was teaching at an Evangelical Christian Publishers Association event in Nashville five years ago when a woman approached him to discuss funding a Bible that was easier for people with dyslexia to read than typical Bibles, which have narrow fonts and thin pages.

“She just got the notion that she had to go to this conference to find somebody that might be able to help her to create a dyslexic typeface,” Krogh said.

Krogh decided to take on the project. 2K/Denmark began testing typefaces, designs, and concepts to make a Bible specially for those whose learning disability makes focused study difficult.

Up to 20 percent of people in the world have difficulty processing language due to dyslexia, though only a fraction receive a diagnosis for the condition. 2K/Denmark worked in partnership with Cambridge University, where researchers have spent decades developing methods and tools for testing reading and reading disabilities.

The Grace typeface was created to help make letters and words easier for people with dyslexia to read. The thicker weight at the bottom of the letters “anchors” them to the baseline, mitigating the tendency for letters to bounce or float in readers’ eyes. The letters have different spacing or serifs within them to make it easier distinguish between similar letters, like b and d or p and q.

Plus, there’s more spacing throughout the text. Designers optimized the size of the type and the leading, or space between lines, to ensure the best possible experience for readers with dyslexia. None of the sections run longer than 11 lines. The font is 11 point, and there are no bold or italicized lines and no footnotes.

Working with Cambridge, “2K can then present solutions that are better than the ones they tested,” Krogh said. “We have full accessibility to all their electronic reading testing tools, and we use those as an inspiration to try to develop typefaces that actually are more efficient.”

The new typeface appears in a pair of new releases from Lifeway, including the first dyslexia-friendly children’s Bible, called CSB Grace Bible for Kids.

“We knew that this segment of readers was being underserved in the market when it came specifically to Bibles. Once we heard that some of our partners were working on the special typeface for dyslexic readers, we knew we had to do it,” said Andy McLean, publisher for Bibles and reference at Lifeway’s B&H Publishing Group. “Our goal as a Bible team is to help people of all ages engage meaningfully with God’s Word.”

Crossway decided to publish a dyslexia-friendly ESV Bible for similar reasons.

“We care deeply about making the Bible as accessible to as many people as possible. This particular edition flows out of that passion,” chief publishing officer Don Jones said. “All of the design elements are really exciting for us. We are hopeful that taken together this Bible will help those with dyslexia encounter the life-changing power of God’s Word.”

McLean said the early feedback has been positive after Lifeway distributed the new Bibles to families with reading challenges within their households. The kids’ edition also contains colored overlays, which are designed to reduce the contrast on the page and therefore reduce the visual stress for the reader.

So far, parents say the new Bible is working—they’ve seen kids spend more time reading.

Other companies have identified the need in the market as well. YouVersion has made the OpenDyslexic font available on the Bible app for better accessibility.

The British and Foreign Bible Society completed a dyslexia-friendly Bible earlier this year after starting with the Psalms and the Gospel of Mark in 2014, publishing the series in short volumes that are easier for readers to navigate. The UK Bibles are “laid out like novels rather than in traditional columns and use shorter paragraphs” and “use thick paper so words don’t show through from the next page.”

Krogh hopes to expand the use of his dyslexia-friendly font design to include other books as well, enabling readers with dyslexia to have better access to a range of materials beyond the Bible. Typically, his company sells its products to a singular publisher to own, but he intentionally opted to make the Grace font nonproprietary.

“A typeface like the Grace typeface works better the more you see it and get used to it,” said Krogh. “I’d like to have it out in all translations.”

Beyond Bible publishing, he plans to make the typeface available for a fee for both commercial and nonprofit organizations and free to individuals for personal use. Sarah Grace Publishing, a UK imprint dedicated to accessible books, including Christian kids books, has already adopted the new font for its offerings and on its website.

“I think the ability to do good—not necessarily to make the most money but actually to change people’s lives by giving them a tool where they read better—was suddenly more important for us than necessarily squeezing out the last dollar of the idea,” Krogh said.

“What really is the difference of a good life and a mediocre life is that you have the ability to read a novel, read maybe even a collection of poems, or sing your hymns from a hymn book,” he said. “That’s my faith, to use whatever God gave me to enrich other people’s lives. Something this important you should use to the best of your ability.”

- More from Rachel Pfeiffer

News

Church of England Leaders Kept Evangelical Beatings Secret

Daniel Silliman

Archbishop Justin Welby resigns after abuse report exposes cover-up dating back to 1982.

Justin Welby became archbishop in 2013 and learned about abuse allegations against evangelical lay leader John Smyth, but did not investigate.

Gareth Fuller / Associated Press

The British evangelical lay leader John Smyth beat boys at a Christian camp and a boarding school in the 1970s and ’80s, telling them the violent punishment would cure them of their sins, including masturbation, dishonesty, and pride. He beat them until they bled and had to wear diapers.

More than a dozen Church of England ministers knew about this and kept it secret, according to an independent report commissioned by the Church of England in 2019 and released last week. The ministers didn’t notify higher church authorities or the police, though at least one acknowledged at the time that the beatings were “technically all criminal offences.”

Victims, some as young as 13, described Smyth sweating and heaving as he hit them with a cane on the buttocks and back of the legs.

“He sounded like a Wimbledon tennis player, a man serving,” one told an investigator. “There was kind of like this grunt every time he did it.”

Another recalled Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018, breathing hard as he struck him ten times, took a break, struck him ten more times, took another a break, then continued with another rep of ten, drawing blood. Each blow, the victim recalled, was “absolutely ferocious.”

Some victims bled for weeks after Smyth beat them.

When an Anglican minister wrote a confidential report about the abuse in 1982, he spoke to a psychiatrist who told him Smyth’s behavior was sadomasochistic. But church leaders discussed Smyth’s “Christian usefulness” and the need for secrecy. They said keeping it private would be better for everyone, including the victims and their families, as well as the evangelical ministries they believed would be harmed by scandal.

“I thought it would do the work of God immense damage if this were public,” one of the men told investigators Keith Makin and Sarah Lawrence, who compiled the 251-page report.

According to the report, people who knew of Smyth’s abuse in the early 1980s include:

David Fletcher, who ran the Iwerne Camps
Peter Wells, a minister at the Iwerne Camps
Mark Ruston, the Cambridge vicar who investigated in 1982
Hugh Palmer, a vicar who ministered to one of Smyth’s victims in the hospital and who would go on to serve as rector of All Souls, Langham Place
Alan Martin, head of the Scripture Union
John Eddison, a traveling youth minister
Mark Ashton, a prep school chaplain
Andrew Cornes, a canon who went on to be a member of the General Synod
Michael Green, rector of a church in Oxford
Peter Sertin, rector of an Anglican Church in Paris
John Trillo, a bishop who reviewed Smyth’s application for ordination
George Carey, the principal of a theological school in Bristol, who would go on to become Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, worked at the Christian camps while Smyth was there and knew Smyth. One victim claimed Welby learned about the abuse in 1978. Welby said this is not true. He said he heard some vague accusations from a minister in Paris 1981 but didn’t learn detailed allegations until 2013, when he became archbishop.

In 2013, Welby was told that the matter had been reported to police. He did not inquire further. There is no evidence that a police report was actually filed.

“The review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated,” Welby said in an apology.

On Tuesday, the archbishop announced he would be stepping down.

“I must take personal and institutional responsibility,” Welby said in a letter he posted on X. “I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church.”

Victims’ advocates said one resignation is not enough, though.

“The Church’s failings on safeguarding are systemic & not limited to one individual,” Richard Scorer, a lawyer specializing in abuse cases, wrote on X. “Mandatory reporting and independent oversight cannot come soon enough.”

If Welby had pushed for accountability in 2013, Smyth could have been brought to justice before he died. Others had the power to stop him from abusing more boys 31 years prior but chose to deal with it discreetly, “trying to put up their own spindly fences around John Smyth,” as Christian writer Lucy Sixsmith described it, “assuming, with breathtaking levels of entitlement, that the matter is theirs to deal with amongst themselves.”

In 1982, the church leaders who knew about Smyth’s abuse of boys at the camp and boarding school negotiated with him, offering him their discretion if he agreed to some conditions. They wanted him to see a psychiatrist, cut off contact with his victims, and agree not to work with children anymore.

Several of the leaders called this the “price of our silence.” The report argues that this constituted a cover-up.

“This interpretation of what occurred has been questioned by many,” the report says, “but our firm conclusion is that a serious crime was covered up. The correspondence includes words and phrases associated with ‘keeping things quiet’ and ‘secrecy.’”

The church leaders who negotiated conditions with Smyth later told people that he had signed a statement agreeing to the conditions and that no one needed to be concerned, because he would never work with children again. The investigators could not find a signed document, though. And if a piece of paper ever existed, Smyth had no trouble ignoring it. He did not go into therapy, maintained contact with many of the young men he’d abused, and started his own evangelical Christian camp in Africa, where he beat more boys.

According to the report released last week, Smyth abused at least 26 boys in England and another 85 in Zimbabwe.

Some of Smyth’s victims told investigators he used evangelical theology and the Bible to justify his violence. He liked to quote Hebrews 12:4, which says to resist sin “to the point of shedding your blood,” and Isaiah 53:5, which says, “By his stripes we are healed” (NKJV). Smyth would change the words of the prophet slightly, telling the boys that by their stripes they would be healed.

“John Smyth used these verses to suggest to us that the time had come in our spiritual growth to begin to show proper repentance for the sins that we were committing,” one victim said.

Some of the boys said they were later able to see that Smyth was twisting Scripture. Others could not separate Smyth from their faith.

“I just rejected everything,” one told the investigators. “I rejected my friends, I rejected my faith, I rejected everything.”

Smyth moved to Zimbabwe in 1984. Leaders over him were warned of his behavior in England, according to the investigative report, but decided it wasn’t fair to disqualify Smyth from ministry just because he had “once fallen in a particular fashion.”

In 1987, parents heard reports Smyth was frequently naked with the boys at the Christian camp, slept with them in the dormitories, and beat them with table tennis paddles. The punishment left bruises.

Smyth assured his trustees these were misunderstandings and agreed to make changes to avoid causing concern in the future, the report says. But he appears to have continued his abuse, unchecked.

In 1992, a 16-year-old boy named Guide Nyachuru was found dead, drowned naked in a pool. His body was bruised from one of Smyth’s beatings.

The death prompted a group of Zimbabwean ministers to ask for an independent investigation and sparked a criminal prosecution. Smyth was arrested by authorities in 1997, but the case got bogged down in legal technicalities and was postponed indefinitely.

Smyth relocated to South Africa in 2001 and lived there until his death at 77.

According to the investigative report, the ongoing impact of his decades of abuse is “impossible to overstate.” It could have been stopped, but church leaders preferred to keep things secret or chose to look away.

“Further abuse could and should have been prevented,” the report says. “The steps taken by the Church of England and other organisations and individuals were ineffective and neither fully exposed nor prevented further abuse.”

- More from Daniel Silliman

Church Life

A Solution for Seasonal Overwhelm

Steve Cuss

Guest Columnist

Focusing on the few in front of us makes a tangible difference in our local communities.

Illustration by Keith Negley

The world has been profoundly broken for some time—really since the beginning of time—but doesn’t it feel particularly broken right now?

Social media and 24-hour news ensure our amygdalae and nervous systems get little relief before the next injustice or tragedy arises. These passing issues are serious and real, but they come at us like kindling. They burn quickly and turn to ash before we can grasp them, and the next issue lights the next fire.

Now, at the end of 2024, we find ourselves on the heels of another divisive presidential election and its side effect: the brink of permanent overwhelm. The culture wars and infighting distract us from long-term, complex issues like child poverty, trafficking, and the foster care crisis, to name just a few.

If we’re not careful, this barrage of news becomes the wrong constant companion. David reminds us in Psalm 139 that God is with us no matter where we go, but sometimes the brokenness and overwhelm become an accidental substitute for his presence. We might end up rewriting David’s words:

Where can I go from your problems? Where can I flee from the issues? If I go to social media, you are there; if I turn on cable news, you are there. If I make my bed on the far side of the sea, even there you hold me fast.

Some people solve this overload by adopting a permanent state of outrage. Even if it’s justified, it risks putting us into a spiral of self-righteousness. It feels good, but it often doesn’t change anything. It gives us someone to blame, someone we feel we can treat without nuance. It turns humans into two-dimensional caricatures.

Other people cope with the onslaught of brokenness through ignorance. They stay uninvolved, like the man in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:26–37) who asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” and did not like the reply of the person in need. Both approaches are what we call “attempted solutions” in my field. They either change nothing or make the problem worse.

But there is another path forward, and the Advent season is a good time to walk it. When we first think of Advent, many of our minds go to anticipation. We anticipate the coming hope of Jesus—the already and the not yet. I’ve always appreciated and reflected on John 1:5 during the Advent season: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

But Advent provides something else: a reminder on bleak, overwhelming days that the gospel is local. Jesus was born into a specific zip code, and that place was soaked in systemic injustice and downward-trending statistics.

Herod was so unhinged that the whole city’s mood had become enmeshed with his. “[Herod] was troubled,” writes Matthew, “and all Jerusalem with him” (2:3, ESV). The people were on edge because their well-being was linked to Herod’s whims. Rome was no picnic: It wielded its sword right next to extreme taxation, offered peace at the threat of death, and was conquering and enslaving as much as it was innovating and building. The place where Jesus was born was profoundly marginalized, poverty-stricken, and traumatized.

It helps me in these anxious times to remember that Jesus came to save the world—of course—but he focused on his particular place. His hyperlocal ministry began the astonishing spread of a kingdom that is still spreading in 2024. Jesus’ ministry thrived in a broken locale. People came to faith, they were healed, and they were deployed to make a difference.

When I focus on the people and events around me locally, I find much evidence of God’s goodness. In my own church, rather than getting bogged down by every single issue, we’ve focused on two efforts: care for foster and adopted children and affordable housing. Both are complex and long-term needs. We’ve encountered significant setback and discouragement in our efforts, but we’ve kept it local and have seen remarkable progress. Other congregations work with prisoners or unhoused people or domestic violence survivors. We’ll help anyone who comes through our door—in fact, we’re known for that in our city—but we focus our efforts on those two primary systemic issues. We cannot tackle every injustice, but we can move the needle on a couple in a meaningful way.

What about problems on the other side of the world? Should we stay just in our zip code? Not at all! If we travel the globe to share the gospel, we know that when we arrive, we will focus on a particular place and people, just like we do at home. We collaborate with those who live there long-term and join what God has been doing well before we arrived.

Focusing on outrage-causing issues, reading the statistics, and ranting on social media won’t feed a child or rescue a trafficked person or help a teen who’s aged out of the foster system. But efforts rooted in a hyperlocal gospel can accomplish these things, and God is pleased to use his global church as we attend to the few in front of us.

Madeleine L’Engle once wrote,

[Someone] passionately interested in the cause of the … leper, very carefully avoids speaking to the leper in his path, in order to get on with the cause. And it occurs to me that Jesus couldn’t have cared less about the cause or rights of the leper. … Jesus stopped. And healed. And loved. Not causes, but people.

I am grateful for those who are called to policy work and focus on larger systemic issues. We need those people. But for most of us, the path is local.

In the Gospels, we discover that Jesus really didn’t speak about systemic issues, and he didn’t tackle Herod or Rome. Born into a highly anxious and broken culture, Jesus submitted to his own creation. He kept his ministry hyperlocal, to the person in front of him. As we enter the Advent season, let’s cast our eyes away from the beckoning of outrage and instead on the one who is coming as we focus on the few in front of us.

Steve Cuss is the host of CT’s podcast also called Being Human.

This article appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Christianity Today as "The Few in Front of Us".

Being Human: A column by Being Human’s host, Steve Cuss.

- More from Steve, Cuss

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