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The Next Christians 1

The Next Christians 1

Last updated on: October 1, 2010 at 12:08 am by Scot McKnight

The Next Christians 1 2010-09-30T16:02:51-05:00 Scot McKnight

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Gabe Lyons represents – indeed leads – a rising generation of Christians who not only think changes need to occur but are making those changes in a constructive manner. Gabe, with David Kinnaman, burst on the book scene with their bestselling UnChristian. In the hallways of a conference I met Gabe once and hoped we could stay connected.But it was not until last Spring’s Q Conference that I had another conversation with him – well, excepting a phone conversation or two.

Just prior to the Q Conference Gabe informed me he was writing a new book about a rising generation of Christians and he asked me if I’d read it … which I did, which I liked immensely, and which is now the subject of a new series on the Jesus Creed blog.

I think this book will be a landmark book for many, and it may well give folks a handle for understanding how the “next Christians” think and live. I recommend this book for all pastors.

Question: What do you think of his categories for Christians in America? How would you “categorize” Christians if you were asked to give “five sorts” to someone? Is this generation “tired” of the former way and actually mapping a new way of being Christian?

The book is called The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America, and it opens up with some sketches of the scene:

His first idea forms the ground on which he builds: Christian America is fading. He’s right: the Christianity of my father and of Gabe’s father, which once defined Christianity and shaped how to relate to culture itself, is over. Gabe sees it in the passing of Jerry Falwell, or at least sees Falwell’s death as indicative of a major shift. The fundamentalist Christianized culture that Falwell fought for is all but gone, and here are three categories that are arising on the scrapped buildings of a former way of life:

Pluralism

Postmodernism

Post-Christian

But Gabe sees here not the death of the Church, nor does he appeal as so many do to some apocalyptic fears. Instead, there’s good news here and there’s a “harnessable wind” that can fill our sails for a birth of what he calls the “next Christians.”

But before he gets to the “next Christians,” Gabe tells the story of being asked to sketch the kinds of Christians in America – and to do this Gabe chose to see it all through the lens of how we relate to culture. I like this for a simple reason: instead of grouping Christians by theology, or by denomination, Gabe groups them according to the sort of Christian life they embrace. I’d be interested in what you think about his groups.

There are three groups:

The Separatists.

In this group are the insiders, who live in a Christian bubble – schools, friends, churches, books, etc.

There are also the culture warriors, who are driven to bring America back to God and who fight their zealous battles in the public forum, and he uses the Ten Commandments rock in Alabama as a good example.

There are the evangelizers, who use every opportunity – not all of them good – to proselytize.

The Culturals.

In this group he speaks of blenders, who are mostly brought up in the faith – he seems to have in mind traditional denominations – but who do all they can to make sure they fit into the culture and don’t stand out as weirdos.

Another group here are the philanthropists, who obviously spend their time by giving themselves for those in need.

The Restorers.

Gabe’s focus in this book is on the Restorers, whom he calls the Next Christians.

First, they embrace the whole Story of the gospel – creation, fall, redemption and restoration (including consummation). Instead of the truncated gospel of fall and redemption, which focuses on getting out of earth and into heaven, the Restorers see their task on this earth to be kingdom restoration.

Second, they don’t accept how things are. They are driven by a kingdom vision, by how things ought to be. He tells a good story here about “Cat,” who saw the possibility of what prisoners could be. (He tells her full story.)

In our next post sometime next week we will begin to sketch the six characteristics of the Next Chrisitians.

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