“they like Jesus…not so much the church…”

   

    So, I reccently picked up a book entitled, “They like Jesus But not the Church” by Dan Kimball…and the main point of the book is obvious. As time has gone on, Christians have built up what seems to be their own little “sub-culture,” in which everything is Christian…even if it’s a t-shirt or even gum….you throw the word “christian” on it…and it’s worthy of our money. As we’ve created this sub-culture that we call the “Christian-Industry”….(hmm..), filled with music, movies, novels, and even food, it seems as if we’ve tried our best to block out the rest of the world, which goes against God’s very command to GO and make disciples….if we’re emersed within our own little culture of always christian-all the time…how will we effectively reach those who don’t know Christ?

…is this truly effective evangelism to the everyday non-christian?

   I’m not saying that we need seek out non-christians to simply convert and then continue on our search to “Cleanse the world of EVIL!”, but we should be seeking out non-christians so that we can get to know them, find out their story, and truly just bond with them as we would with any other friend. If we are friends with non-christians, we should be setting an example of what christians are really like. Most non-christians believe that christians are weird-know it all fools who are seeking to block out the rest of the world and consider Jesus as their “bestest boyfriiiennd!”…which might come partly from the christian sub-culture we’ve created. Non-christians think that christians are simply close-minded Homosexual-hating bigots who aren’t willing to accept anyone but their own.

   As christians we need to get out of our little Christian-bubble that’s filled with Christian music, literature, and friends that are strictly christian and open our eyes to what the world is really like! If we aren’t going into the world and befriend non-christians and experience what the world is really like…then we are simply Christians with no-purpose. Sure, we need to be growing in our personal walk with God, but we shouldn’t simply focus on that. God has called us as followers of Christ to follow in Jesus’ example.  Jesus was radical…preaching love and peace and telling the world that what we see isn’t all there is! Jesus didn’t come to hang out with people who knew what he knew, but he came to tell the world about love and peace and the grace we can find in Christ.

   So many times as Christians we get comfortable. We read our bibles and Christian “make yourself better” books…and we find ourselves focusing on ourselves and while we may becoming closer to God through this…How close to God do you think you will be when you’re praying for your close friends who don’t know Christ? If we’re not getting involved in the non-christian society in which we live in…we’re worthless! Here we are as Christians sitting still with the knowledge and love of God that could change the face of our society and we’re doing nothing to share it! We’ve got something beautiful…and we’re not sharing it!

The radical ideas of Christ were not meant to be kept as a secret…they were meant to be told to everyone…and shown to everyone through those who choose to believe it!

If we follow Christ’s example with our actions and our life in general…people will notice!