Ask most Americans – certainly most politicians – what is the peculiar source of much of the current hand-wringing through the land, and I suspect they’ll say, “The economy.” All that uncertainty about the housing market, the jobs situation, the lack of a federal budget, growing indebtedness – the usual suspects.

But the financial and economic crisis of the moment is really a disguise for a deeper crisis, a crisis of ethics. The country is ethically and morally adrift, without a common anchor, and the result is a profusion of various kinds of ethics, most of them rooted in some combination of relativism and pragmatism. Sure, it might work for you, but what about all the other folks who will be affected by your actions? Without trust in God, this is where ethics ends up. How can we help people to understand this? 

Resources for this topic

“Recovering Ethics,” by Allyne Smith

“Enlightened Ethics? The Failure of Secularized Morality,” by Charles Colson

“Biblical Foundations of Business Ethics,” by Hershey H. Friedman

“Business Ethics and a Return to the Core Questions,” by Gerald Zandstra

“The Failure of Modern Ethics,” by Rick Wade

“Medical Technology, Medical Ethics,” by Robert A. Sirico

“The Pursuit of Happiness,” by David Horne

“The Ethics of Bioethics,” by David B. Fletcher

“Struck Dumb: Has Harvard Forgotten the Question?” by Charles Colson 

Our new DVD series, Doing the Right Thing, can help you to understand the importance of ethics and how to help others think about this important issue. Order your copy today from our online store. 

Activities

1. Does your church provide any teaching on ethics? Meet with your pastor and talk with him about it. What suggestions can you come up with to help make sure that the members of your church are being given opportunities to learn Christian ethics?
2. Talk with some unbelieving friends about your perception of the current crisis of ethics. Do they agree? What is the source of their thinking about ethics? Can you find an article in the list above that you might share with them to get them thinking about this topic?
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter you can use to explore the views of your friends and co-laborers on the role of ethics in society: “Some people think we’ve lapsed into a crisis of ethics in America. Could this be? Does it matter what we think about ethics?”

We’ve been making the point, these past couple of weeks, that one of the greatest services Christians can render to their unbelieving friends is to start asking good questions about the really big issues of life. Jesus was a great question-asker, as we know, and we can be effective in helping those around us think more seriously about their lives – and about the Gospel – if we will learn to use good questions in our conversations with them.

This is not as difficult as it might seem. After all, people love to talk, and when you’re asking questions, you put them in the place of offering information and opinions, which most people are ready to do. And it’s good for us to learn what our neighbors believe, so learning to ask good questions will benefit us as much as them. 

Resources for this topic

“Ask the Right Questions,” by Charles Colson

“7 Questions Skeptics Ask,” by Rusty Wright

“Against the ‘Answer Bank’ Theory of Religion,” by Stephen Prothero

“Quest for Understanding,” by T. M. Moore

“Answering the Big Questions,” by Sue Bohlin

“College Questions,” by J. Budziszweski

“Challenging Questions as Glorious Opportunities,” by Steven C. Wright

“Hope for Generation X: Asking the Right Questions,” by Charles Colson

“The Relevance of Christianity: An Apologetic,” by Rick Wade 

Our new DVD series, Doing the Right Thing, can equip you with a wealth of questions to ask in thinking about contemporary moral and social issues. Order your copy today from our online store. 

Activities

1. Read a couple of the articles in the list above. Make copies for some friends. Ask them to read them, then meet together to discuss ways you might help one another become more consistent and effective at asking questions of your unbelieving friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Set some goals, then meet regularly to discuss your progress and pray for one another.
2. Ask some of your unbelieving friends what they consider to be the most important questions in life. Ask why these are important, then ask how they answer these questions. Look for ways to keep the conversation going after your initial queries.
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.
 

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter that you can use to initiate a conversation about the big questions in life with an unbeliever: “These are uncertain times. What do people cling to in order to make sense out of their lives when the economic and political situation is so volatile and seemingly unstable?”

The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview exists to help the Church further its mission of making disciples and renewing culture, as Chuck explains in this week’s, The Colson Files. Worldviews matter; they make all the difference in how we think and live. Like the sons of Issachar (1 Chron. 12:32), contemporary Christians need to understand the worldviews among which we live in our day, so that we may know how we ought to seek the Kingdom and build the Church.

Understanding worldviews, and constructing a Christian worldview, are critical aspects of our calling as disciples. Here are some resources and activities to help you make progress in this crucial area of your discipleship: 

Resources for this topic

“The Importance of Worldview Training: Instilling a Christian Mindset,” by Chuck Edwards

“Introduction to the Christian Worldview,” by David Naugle

“Writing Your Worldview,” by Steven C. Wright

“Worldview in a Nutshell: Everything You Need to Know,” by T. M. Moore

“Why Evangelicals Care So Much About Worldview,” by John Stonestreet

“Is There a Future for Worldview?” by John Stonestreet

“Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview,” by J. Mark Bertrand

“Worldview and Truth,” by Kerby Anderson

“Words to Live By: A Basic Worldview Vocabulary,” by T. M. Moore 

For more insight to this topic, here are two excellent books that you can order from our online store: How Now Shall We Live? by Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey and Why You Think the Way You Do, by Glenn Sunshine. 

Activities

1. 1. What do your pastors and church leaders teach about worldview? What place does Christian worldview have in the teaching and disciple-making of your church? Ask around. Meet with your pastor, some church leaders, and some of the better-known teachers in your church. Ask them how they try to bring teaching about Christian worldview into their ministries. Select one or two of the resources listed above and give a copy to each of the people with whom you speak.
2. Get a few friends together and watch this week’s Two-Minute Warning about the importance of worldview. Ask them what they think, how they respond. Does worldview matter to them as much as it should? Give them an article or two from the resources above and ask them to read them. Then agree to get together again and discuss the importance of having a Christian worldview.
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.
 

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter that you can use to begin a conversation about worldview with your Christian friends: “I’ve been thinking: following Christ must mean more than just being forgiven and going to heaven when we die. Shouldn’t Christian discipleship affect every single area of our lives?”

China is the elephant in the world’s room, except that it can no longer be ignored. Marxist leaders have parlayed a skillful blend of repressive politics and cautious free-market economics into a boom time for the world’s second largest economy and most populous nation. At the same time, Christianity has been experiencing something of a revival in China, though not without opposition.

How should Christians in America and the rest of the world look at China? What should we try to do on behalf of our brethren who are persecuted there? What are we seeking the Lord for concerning China? Here are some resources and activities to engage you in these and related questions. 

Resources for this topic

“What to Make of China?” by Richard W. Ohman

“Christianity in China: An Irreducible Complexity,” by David Lyle Jeffrey

“Good for Business: Christianity in China,” by Charles Colson

“The China Syndrome,” by Joseph R. Wood

“Whither China?” by Terence Halliday

“Christianity in China: An Open Secret, but Often a Dangerous One,” by Faith McDonnell

“Fostering Enterprise and Openness in China,” by Joseph Klesney

“A Second Look at China: Taking Stock,” by Charles Colson

“Ignoring Christian Oppression in China,” by Faith McDonnell 

For more insight to this topic, get the book, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power, by David Aikman, from our online store. 

Activities

1. What can your church do to encourage Christians in China? Ask your pastor or church leaders about this. See if your missions committee has any ideas. Go online and search for some resources about Christianity in China, and share them with your church leaders. Ask them to join you in praying that your church will be able to find some way to encourage persecuted believers in China.
2. How do the members of Congress from your state and district feel about the repression of Christianity in China? Why not try to find out? Send them some data, which you can easily gather online, or share one or two of this week’s resource articles with them.
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.
 

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter that you can use to talk about the state of religious freedom in China: “As a nation, we do more business with China than with anyone else. They need us, and we need them. Should Americans use this strategic relationship to augur for more freedom of speech and religion in China?”

The Islamic world is suddenly alive with cries of “Freedom now!” Dictators who have foisted decades of oppression on a largely submissive populace are now being shown the door. Will real freedom result from these remarkable upheavals? What is real freedom, anyway? What does it mean to be free? Is freedom really a right, and, if so, what is the source of such rights?

These are questions we tend to take for granted, but they’re being asked again in some of the world’s most unlikely places. We should be talking about freedom as well, especially the freedom that comes from God and His truth (Jn. 8:32). Here are some resources and activities, as well as a conversation starter to get you going. 

Resources for this topic

“The First Freedom and the First Right,” by Austin Ruse

“The First Freedom,” by James V. Schall

“Let Freedom Ring: But for Whom?” by Chuck Edwards

“Linking Liberties,” by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch

“Redefining the First Freedom: More Than Worship,” by Charles Colson

“What is Freedom?” by Wim Rietkerk

“Free Press & Pulpit,” by Patrick Henry Reardon

“The Theme is Freedom,” by Charles E. Rice

“A Secret Your Teenagers Should Hear: The Christian Roots of Religious Freedom,” by Charles Colson 

For more insight to this topic, get the book, So Help Me God: The Ten Commandments, Judicial Tyranny, and the Battle for Religious Freedom, by Roy Moore, from our online store.

Activities

1. How much do your fellow church members understand about freedom? Why not ask them. Put together a little questionnaire, and ask some of your Christian friends to define freedom, explain where it comes from and why it matters, and offer their opinions about the state of freedom in America and the world. Then get them all together to discuss what you learned.
2. Show some friends at work the Two-Minute Warning for this week. Get their thoughts, and talk with them about the nature of the freedom that we can find in Jesus Christ.
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.
 

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter that you can use to engage a conversation about freedom: “The people of Libya and other Islamic countries are crying out for freedom. But what does that mean? Can they really be free as long as Islam is the only religion they will allow?”

Our society continues drifting into the morass of secularization, in which nothing is sacred and everything is disposable. Such as the traditional view of marriage, or the life of an unborn, unwanted child. The rapid pace of secularization should give Christians cause for alarm, and ought to renew in us a desire to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven to our neighbors.

But is it? Sadly, many contemporary Christians and their churches appear to be merely circling the wagons against growing secularization, with little passion for the lost and little interest in evangelism. If we understood this condition better, perhaps we’d take more seriously our calling to be salt, light, and leaven in an age in flight from God. 

Resources for this topic

“What’s Left of Secularization?” by Bill Edgar

“The Real Story of Secularization,” by Philip Jenkins

“Innocent as Serpents: The Worldly World,” by Charles Colson

“Skating on Thin Ice,” by Douglas Sweeney

“Subject to Change: Can Traditional Societies Survive the Power of Modernity?” by James Hitchcock

“Mere Spirituality? What the World Needs Now,” by T. M. Moore

“Racing Toward Secularism: The Power of a Worldview,” by Charles Colson

“The End of Secularism,” by Jennifer Roback Morse

“Re-enchanting a Disenchanted World,” by T. M. Moore 

For more insight to this topic, get the book, Scaling the Secular City, by J. P. Moreland, from our online store. 

Activities

1. Make a list of what you consider to be the defining features of secularization. Ask your pastor or some church leaders about their ideas on this matter. Then study the list in an attitude of prayer: To what extent, and in what ways, do these characteristics of secularization affect you? Can you see them at work on or in your life? What should you do?
2. Download the free study, Renewing Vision, Restoring Landmarks, by T. M. Moore. Read through it, then consider getting together with some friends to study and discuss the implications of our nation’s shift from a transcendent to a secular worldview.
3. Email today’s Talking Points column to several Christian friends. Challenge them to read some of the resources, watch the Two-Minute Warning, and take on one of the activities.

A conversation starter

Here’s a conversation starter that you can use to encourage your fellow believers to think about this situation: “Our country is becoming increasingly secular! Is this inevitable? Should Christians just draw back and let this process continue? Or is God calling us to renew our vision and mission?”