Call To a Deeper Discipleship

Last night before 4,000 people at the National Conference on Christian Apologetics, Josh McDowell and his son Sean--who is an outstanding speaker and apologist in his own right--spoke forcefully, not on how we can know Christianity is true, but on how we can connect with our generation today so that they will be open to listen. For the Christian church has not been doing well in this lately. As Josh said repeatedly, it's not our convictions that are getting in the way. It's our attitudes. It was not the early church's attitudes that earned them persecution. It was their convictions. We have it backwards today.

Both McDowells drew extensively on the recently released unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity ... And Why It Matters, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. I reviewed this book about three weeks ago, starting with the line, "I've lost several hours of sleep" over what the book is saying. Negative impressions of Christians doubled between 1996 and 2007. Not because of our convictions, but because of our attitudes. This morning, my related article on this book was published in the Newport News Daily Press.

Making a Difference
Research shows that life habits--including gambling, sexual activity, drinking, drug use, and so on--are only barely different between those who claim to be Christians and those who do not. No wonder people outside the church aren't impressed with Christ! But Christ actually does make a difference among those who pursue him faithfully. About 3% of youth, and up to 9% of older generations, espouse a Biblical worldview (defined in my review on unChristian), and among that group a genuine, positive difference shows up clearly.

It Matters
What we believe matters. How we live, and how we love, matter. God is calling us to a deeper discipleship, discipleship of our hearts and of our minds.

There is much more to be said, but the conference kicks off early this morning so it's your turn. Christ followers must look this square in the eye, which means looking at ourselves in the mirror, and in the light of God's word, and asking how we're doing in our discipleship. This is not easy or light stuff. Please feel welcome to comment with your reactions and suggestions.

Posted: Sat - November 10, 2007 at 06:55 AM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

Call To a Deeper Discipleship

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson