We all bring baggage with us when we approach Scripture. It might be personality quirks like introversion and self-reliance, or culturally conditioned philosophical concepts like individualism. These things act as static that we must try and tune out. When we do, we are better placed to hear what Scripture teaches on community.

Our so-called “connected lifestyles” have often failed to help us encounter other people in truly satisfying ways: being a virtual friend or subscribing to a newsfeed is no guarantee of closeness to another human being. We need to find meaningful community that is realistic in today’s world.

Covenant Eyes is a popular provider of internet accountability software. It has recently launched its new Screen Accountability software, where Artificial Intelligence is used to detect pornographic images. I have used Covenant Eyes for several years, so when they launched this change I was interested to see how it worked.

In an increasingly busy and individualistic world, and in a church culture which seems to promote nuclear family relationships over singleness, it can be challenging to build meaningful friendships within the church, especially for a childless person to build relationships with nuclear families. And yet Jesus calls for radical community centred around Himself and the gospel.

In this interview, Stefan and Stuart explore how to have a fruitful dialogue with those you disagree with theologically. You could present the most fantastic case for belief in Christ but do so in a way that isn’t helpful. Rather, you are seeking to win people to Christ, not just winning a point in a conversation.

Despite the clear call to speak God’s message, the Church has always faced the pressure to keep quiet, especially when it comes to articulating areas of the Christian message that are more counter-cultural than others. For the modern Church in the West, the pressure to not talk about God’s perspective on same-sex relationships has grown.