Lead Worship

unChristian – Chapter 4: Get Saved!

Posted on June 26th, 2008 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: unchristian.

“Our research among outsiders shows that Christians have a reputation similar to that of the Mormon evangelists. When it comes to matters of faith, young outsiders feel they know what Christians want before any words are uttered. Although Mosaics and Busters generally resonate with spiritual topics, they don’t like feeling ‘cornered’ into conversations about faith. A generation reared in a marketing-drenched world is quick to sniff out what they believe to be the underlying motivations and superficialities” (page 68).

“Among young adults, process trumps product and the journey is more important than the destination” (page 68).

“Youth outsiders generally do not get the impression that Chritians have good intentions when it comes to trying to ‘convert’ them. Most reject the idea that Christians show genuine interest in them as individuals” (page 68).

“When outsiders question our motives, it neutralizes their interest in Christianity. Only one-quarter of young outsiders firmly perceive that Christinaity offers them ‘hope for the future’ (23 percent), and only one out of every seven strongly believes say that Christianity is ‘genuine and real’ (15 percent). Despite the fact that most young outsiders say that Christianity has good values and principles (79 percent), a majority say that the Christian faith teaches pretty much the same basic ideas as other religions (81 percent)” (page 69).

“The most effective efforts to share faith are interpersonal and relationship based. When we asked born-again Busters to identify the activity, ministry event, or person most directly responsible for their decision to accept Jesus Christ, 71 percent listed an individual-typically their parent, a friend, another relative, or a teacher”(page 70).

“In our research with some of the leading ‘mass evangelism’ efforts, we found that often these measures create three to ten times as much negative response as positive” (page 71).

“Obeying the command to make disciples does not give us license to offend people, especially when those offenses are actually inhibiting us from fulfilling that very commandment”(page 71).

“Most people, by personality, are not logical thinkers and are not likely to change their beliefs because of elegant argumentation or apologetics” (page 72).

A person with a biblical worldview believes that:

1. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life,
2. God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he still rules it today,
3. Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned,
4. Satan is real,
5. A Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people,
6. The Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches,
7. Unchanging moral truth exists,
8. Such moral truth is defined by the Bible. (page 75)

“Only one out of seven outsiders describes Christianity as something that seems genuine and real. Just one-third believe that Christians show genuine interest in them”(page 77).

“Many outsiders actually miss the chance to experience true life in Christ because we cheapen the message of Jesus to church membership or denominational loyalty” (page 79).

“Most people do not have a clear sense of what spiritual transformation is or what it should look like” (page 80).

“People who have a biblical worldview are much more likely to act like Jesus because they see such things as life, people, and crises differently than most people do…We are learning that one of the primary reasons that ministry to teenagers fails to produce a lasting faith is because they are not being taught to think” (page 81).

“If we are being transformed by our faith, the way we perceive and love people, including outsiders, will change” (page 81).

“A third outcome of transformation is the ability to listen-to God and to others…God is constantly communicating with his people, How can we orient our efforts as Christians to learn and respond to the ways he speaks?” (page 82).

“It is a picture of what the Hebrews called shalom, or peace, or wholeness, extending to every facet of lief: the sick healed, the captives freed, the oppressed released, right relationships restored with God and humanity” (page 86).

“The local church has to be responsible for ‘making the invisible kingdom visible” (page 87).

“The gospel cannot be merely a private transaction. God didn’t break through history, through time and space, to come as a babe, be incarnated, and suffer on the cross just so you can come to him and say, ‘Oh, I accept Jesus and now I can live happily ever after.’ That’s not why he came…Jesus came as a radical to turn the world upside down. When we believe it is just about Jesus and yourself, we miss the whole point” (page 87 – quote taken from Chuck Colson).

“Here’s my advice to Christians who want to change culture’s perception of Christianity:’Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’ In other words, do something that causes people to look favorably in God’s direction. I still believe that everybody spends eternity somewhere. If tht’s the case, getting this right isn’t a marginal issue. It is the issue” (page 88-89 – quote taken from Andy Stanley).

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