Yesterday, we published a list of the articles you said were your favorites. Today, we look at the cold hard facts: Which articles did you read the most?
So, without further ado, here are the 10 most read Intersect articles of 2016.
1. “Homosexuality Is a Sin to Be Mortified, Not a Behavior to Be Modified”: Rosaria Butterfield on Sexual Orientation
As you browse this list, one thing will become abundantly clear: Evangelicals want to know how to think about issues of sexuality from a Christian perspective.
Few people address this issue as clearly and winsomely as Rosaria Butterfield, and thousands of you watched and shared her videos (including “Counting the Costs: Rosaria Butterfield’s Journey from Lesbian Feminist to Christ Follower“). Butterfield says,
Everyone loses when we define ourselves using categories that God does not. People who identify as heterosexual and homosexual have much to lose by defining themselves according to the category of sexual orientation
2. What Would Really Happen if We Defunded Planned Parenthood and Ended Abortion?
Many of us talk about ending abortion and defunding Planned Parenthood. But what would happened if we succeeded? Would the church be ready to serve? Ashley Gorman asks these questions and more in this pointed yet powerful piece.
If we protest for a baby’s life, it will cost us ours. It will cost us our time, our energy, our resources, our lifestyle, our preferences, our daily routines, our guest bedrooms, our extra money, our lives. It will cost us everything. And that’s a good thing…
3. Four Ways to Pray for Christian Teachers
Back in August, Nathaniel Williams urged us to pray for Christian teachers in public schools. This call to prayer resonated with many of you. He wrote,
Teachers can show love to children from broken homes, a love that flows from the heart of Christ. They can give wisdom to a child who needs direction, a wisdom forged in hours of quiet study of God’s word. And they can model integrity to a student who has never seen it before, integrity developed over decades of faithfully following Christ.
4. The Geek Contextualization: Putting the Gospel Where the Geeks Are
Geeks need the gospel, too. Chris Poirier challenges us to move from a position of judgment to one of love and gospel compassion. He writes,
Yet Geeks aren’t a group to be excluded; they’re a people to be reached. Non-believing Geeks need a vision of the church that is different than people standing outside convention halls waving signs of condemnation at them, which is a sad (but accurate) account of how many Geeks view the church.
5. The Mommy Wars Within Me
Should mothers work outside the home or inside the home? This simple question burdens many mothers, and it too often causes strife and division. Amy Whitfield shares her own story, and in so doing helps us to see reframe the conversation.
Our search for identity can never stray too far from the truth that we were created in God’s image, and we were all created to be workers. Even after that relationship was broken, He sent His Son to restore it and to make us new creatures sent on a mission that He established.
6. “The Church Must Be a Place Where It’s Okay Not To Be Okay.” Matt Chandler on Homosexuality & the Church
Churches can be scary places for people struggling with same-sex attraction. That shouldn’t be the case, says Matt Chandler in this much-watched video. He says:
The gospel bids us to come into the light; it doesn’t shame us into the darkness. So the church must be a place where it’s okay to not be okay.
7. Mark Yarhouse: Do You Really Want to Minister to Your Homosexual Neighbor
In this video, Mark Yarhouse asks a pointed question: Do you really want to minister to people struggling with same-sex attraction? Sadly, he says, many churches don’t. He explains,
Most people in ministry really don’t want to minister to gay people. They would rather them not be in their youth group. They would rather them not be in their church. They would rather them not be a part of their ministry. It makes ministry more complicated.
8. A Pro-Life Ethic: Loving the Abortion Worker
This debut piece from Laura Thigpen looks at the abortion debate from an unexpacted angle: that of the abortion worker. She writes,
Should the Lord bless you, or someone in your church body with the opportunity to build a relationship with an abortion worker, be prepared to walk with them through the hardship of transitioning out of the abortion industry and into life affirming work.
![Black Lives vs. Blue Lives: You Don't Have to Choose. By Tony Webster (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://cfc.sebts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/black-lives-blue-lives-dont-choose-1024x683.jpg)
9. Black Lives vs. Blue Lives: You Don’t Have to Choose
Do #BlackLivesMatter or do #BlueLivesMatter? Krystal Wilson — who is both a black woman and a former police officer — is uniquely qualified to discuss this topic. After you read it, you’ll understand how it made the top 10. Krystal writes,
We must be careful not to allow the few to represent the whole. We cannot see a few officers who have misused their power and assume that all officers adhere to such practices. We cannot see a few black males that committed a crime and assume that they were all up to ‘no good.
10. Confessions of a Christian Who Struggled with Gender Identity
“I was born a girl, but I want to be a boy.” With these words, Jean-Yael Wallis begins one of the most powerful narratives you’ll read this year. She writes:
People need to know that it is okay to struggle, but it is not good to struggle alone.
Honorable Mentions.
Just outside the top 10, four articles were neck and neck for 11th place. As an added bonus, I wanted to share them with you as well.
- What Did Jesus Really Teach about Wealth and Poverty?
David W. Jones gives you the facts about Jesus’ teaching on wealth and poverty in this handy resource.
- A Pro-Life Hypocrisy: Misogyny and Silent Oppression
Before the election, Laura Thigpen soundly rebuked misogynistic rhetoric in no uncertain terms.
- ‘Stuck’: Christians and the Transgender Narrative
If you want to understand your transgender neighbor, start with this enlightening article from Amber Bowen.
- John the Baptist Died Believing Character Matters
Does character matter? John the Baptist was so convinced that it did that his head was served on a platter, says Nathaniel Williams.
Which article was your favorite, and why? Tell us about it in the comments.
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2016-12-15 08:40:20
Editor's Choice: My 10 Favorite Intersect Articles of 2016 | Intersect
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