The Next Christians pt. 2

For a little while I have worried that I have comprising my faith.  I worried about what all the critics say about preaching today, its soft on sin, hell and the sovereignty of God (all of which I believe in). I have worried I am focusing too much on the love of God and not enough on how sinners have offended God and rebelled against him. I have worried I am not teaching all of God’s word and for the sake of being palatable, non-confrontational and easy to swallow I am skipping the hard truths of Scripture.  I have worried the demographics and the open/accepting environment of our church as caused me to focus on the more accessible portions of the Bible and theology. I have worried about selling out to the culture of today instead of trying to restore the culture of the kingdom. I have worried that being in someone’s life was not as important as being in their face!

It was in this state of mind I read Gabe Lyons' newest book.  And it was in his book I found consolation and encouragement.  In short, it was in his book I found a place to belong, a tribe to call my own and validation of the worldview I have been using. It was confirmation of my feeling and efforts.

Even though my theology has changed little from my self-righteous, holier than thou, fundi, SBC days, my approach to ministry and church as changed a lot. What I heard in Lyons’ book was my recent approach was not compromise, but the new reality for those wanting engage culture. I understood my methodology changed not because I was infected by Post-Modernism, the emerging church (ha!) or because I was getting soft and theologically “liberal.”  It was because the thinking of those who don’t know Jesus changed out from underneath me.  They still need the forgivingness secured by Christ, they still need to understand him as God and they still need to acknowledge the truth of his teaching, but how they do all this, how they approach Jesus, spirituality and Christianity has all shifted.

This meant I had to change too. And that change is not bad, undesirable or compromising. It can be hopeful, beautiful and purposeful.

In the end I found a person who understood what my faith, my friends and my church are trying to do as we seek to live a vibrant, authentic and honest faith in Jesus.