America is a deeply divided nation, politically and culturally. With each month that goes by, our public rhetoric seems to grow more angry, our tolerance less and our ability to live with each other more and more uncertain. Increasingly we see our politicized Culture Wars inside the Church as well as outside. Can Christians engage as citizens in the debates and controversies that roil our society without compromise, but also without being sucked into the anger and hatred? In this lecture we’ll be trying to step back from arguing about what our positions should be on every issue and grapple with the question of how we as Christians should engage with political, social and cultural questions and with people who disagree with us about them - both inside and outside the Church. Click for Slides Ian Barrs was born and raised in the South of England, growing up close to the English branch of L'Abri. He studied History at the University of Wales Lampeter, where he gained a BA in History and a Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies. Following an ancient tradition, he met his future spouse at L’Abri, which eventually led to him moving to her hometown in Iowa. For the last 19 years, Ian and Buffy have lived in SW Iowa, and now have 3 children from ages 17 to 8. Ian is interested in just about everything, but especially History, Politics, culture and cultural differences, subcultures and discussing and debating those and more! He became a US citizen as fast as legally possible, voted in his first primary weeks after becoming a citizen and at various times has been involved in local and state politics in different ways. In 2015 he ran for the Republican nomination for State Representative, and in 2017 he was involved in trying to start a new political party (...it didn’t work). From 2017 to 2021 he was a regular weekly co-host for the “Politics” segment of FaithWorks Live, a live talk show on Des Moines Christian radio. He serves as an Elder at GracePoint EFCA Church in Atlantic, Iowa.