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Reaching post-Christians
By Jeremy | March 13, 2007
These are individuals who at some level are open to the idea of Christianity and, given the right circumstances, could see themselves embracing it. Maybe this is a man who grew up in a Catholic home but had never grasped the message of grace. Maybe this is a woman who grew up in a church youth group, lived the crazy party scene in college, and after graduation begins looking again for spiritual roots. Maybe this is a person who had no church experience, or at least no negative impressions. There are a variety of hues in the Pre-Christian portrait, but the common element is a relative openness to the gospel that, with the right approach, could be cultivated.Post-Christians:
These are people who have seen Christianity somewhere along the way and have decided they are not interested. For example, a young man who grew up in a Christian home and was disillusioned by his parents' messy divorce. Or someone who had attended church but witnessed something as painful as a nasty split or as subtle (yet subversive) as hypocritical Christians who said one thing and did another. Other Post-Christians have no church experience at all, but their experiences with Christians, even if only through the media, have been negativeâ€â€they consider Christians preachy or legalistic or untrustworthy. Sometimes it's as simple as negative interaction with the idea of Christianity; after seeing public scandals and watching a diminishing reputation, they decided they didn't want to be associated with it.So how do we reach them? Read the article for all of Pastor Daniel's insights, but I was partial to this one:
It's interesting that Jesus never once called someone to become a Christian. He simply laid out a powerful two-word invitation: "Follow Me." This is important to remember, because if our Post-Christian friend declines an invitation to church, this isn't the end of the road in our spiritual friendship. There are lots of ways to invite someone to experience Jesus besides attending a church service. One of the most powerful of these opportunities is when we invite friends to discover God's heart for the poor, disadvantaged, and oppressed. These experiences are often reserved for the already-convinced in church life, but we emphasize that many times a Post-Christian's problem is with church, not with the activities of a Jesus-follower.
Topics: daniel hill, emerging church, evangelism, faith | No Comments »
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