Paul describes Christ’s dispensing of gifted leaders to the church to equip the saints for ministry and to edify the church so that it can be unified around sound doctrine and achieve growth and maturity in Christ.

Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has created disruption and chaos in American civilization. It fostered an economic recession but also a new way of communicating (e.g., Zoom). But certain expectations have also has been proven to be wrong. For example, many social science specialists predicted a boom in the American birthrate. Apparently, it has had the opposite effect. For a number of years, America’s birthrate has been declining and the pandemic has not reversed that trend. Furthermore, technology has fostered novel ways to become pregnant, with devastating consequences. I will argue that both of these trends provide further evidence of a civilization that has lost its way.

Paul describes the walk of unity, which, as with our Trintarian God, manifests a unique diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.

In mid-February, conservative talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh died of lung cancer; he was 70 years old. Ross Douthat captures his importance: He “was probably the most influential figure among the men who defined conservatism after Ronald Reagan. He was the presiding genius of a media revolution that still reverberates today—on your podcast as much as talk radio.” But Limbaugh as a cultural phenomenon needs to be placed in a historical context.

Paul prays for the Holy Spirit’s transforming power, for Jesus to be the controlling force in our lives and for the capacity to fully understand and know the riches of God and His love.

Equality: An important and foundational term in America’s democratic–republic, central to our founding documents—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Jefferson’s triumphant declaration, “all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights . . .” is complemented by the Bill of Rights, which articulates the equal rights that all citizens are guaranteed. Equality is also an important biblical concept.

Paul explains the “mystery” of Jew and Gentile sharing equally in New Covenant blessings in the church.

Paul describes the unified body of Christ—Jew and Gentile together—as a new kingdom, a new family and a new Temple.

A major premise of Scripture is that leaders are always called to a higher standard. Indeed, spiritual leaders in the church and in ministry are called to be “above reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2). Leaders in ministry are to be servant leaders, modeling the biblical truths they espouse (see Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:21-30 and John 13:1-17). Leaders are to avoid even the “appearance of evil” in their lifestyles and in their words (1 Thessalonians 5:22). For that reason, when a spiritual leader falls its effect is catastrophic.

Virtually everyone agrees that a democratic society must maintain a high degree of trust or the democratic institutions that undergird that society will collapse. As we begin 2021, the American democratic-republic is in a serious crisis—a crisis of trust. Trust takes many forms. People may trust each other but distrust institutions like the federal government or mainstream media, for example. Furthermore, COVID-19 is testing America’s institutions in ways not seen for decades. Trust in government in America in 2021 is fairly low compared with some other wealthy societies.