Kerby Anderson
Natasha Crain warns Christians in her new book, When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square. She begins by talking about the hostility Christians often face when they articulate a biblical perspective on cultural issues. We shouldn’t be surprised since Jesus warned us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18).
One of the significant criticisms from non-Christians, and even from Christians, is the claim that Christians should not impose their views on others. We also hear that Christians should not seek power. We are told that getting involved in politics harms our witness and can disrupt unity in the church. And we are told that Christians should not be partisans.
To evaluate those objections, she proposes slavery as a test case. Here are her five key statements using those objections: (1) Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because we shouldn’t have imposed our views on others. (2) Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because that involved seeking power to do it. (3) Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because getting involved with a political issue harmed our witness. (4) Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because it disrupted unity in the church. (5) Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because Christians shouldn’t have been partisans.
Would we accept those objections today? We would reject such reasoning and can see how we shouldn’t have applied such arguments two centuries ago. We were called to speak truth then and are called to speak truth today.

Kerby Anderson
Health care officials warn that “vaccine hesitancy” is one of the top health challenges of this decade. It appears that both sides of the vaccine debate seem to be painting with too broad of a brush.
Most parents routinely have their physician give their children the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella. At the same time, those same parents may express concern about giving their children the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, they are often labeled anti-vax and blamed for the latest measle outbreak in the US.
It is true that the percentage of children receiving the two doses of MMR vaccine dropped a bit (from 95% five years ago to 93% recently). But there are other factors, such as the measles spread from unvaccinated travelers or even undocumented immigrants.
Parents who vaccinate their children but express concerns about the COVID vaccine should not be called anti-vax. Likewise, parents shouldn’t refuse all vaccines simply because of legitimate concerns about the COVID vaccine.
By now, you may be wondering why I say there are legitimate concerns with the COVID vaccine. A recent Yale study has confirmed what many suspected and has been referred to as “post-vaccination syndrome.”
The COVID vaccine in a small number of people may have led to a constellation of side effects. These include fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, and dizziness. Some people show distinct biological changes in immune cells, reawakening of a dormant Epstein-Barr virus, and the persistence of a coronavirus protein in their blood.
While this is just a small study, it highlights potential health concerns and calls into question the efficacy of the COVID vaccine. That is why many parents are concerned about the vaccine and why some states have banned vaccine mandates.