Just found this article I wrote for special edition of Youthwork Magazine last year. I feel really challenged by what I wrote...!
Yes, there are some fantastic things going on across the UK that are attributable to the work of God through Christians - but for the sake of this blog...let's put that kind of rationality and pragmatism aside for a second. The question is this... are we SATISFIED with the Christianity we are churning out in the emerging generation? - Is the world being impacted as much as we all believe it could and should? Is there a sneaking suspicion somewhere deep within you that whispers to you that we have become a rather impotent bunch of comfy Christians; at worst a secretive sort of gang with a quirky ideal about life that does a lot of things but doesn't seem to achieve very much more than papering it's own cosy burrow... (Yes I know that's harsh-we're being dogmatic realists for a second here, remember?) Compared to this vision of what true disciples were/are like – proactive, influential, history-making Jesus freaks – we're not really doing too well are we?
So – the $64million dollar question that we have all been searching for the answer to for so long... “What's gone wrong? Why are we not doing as well as the first Christians?”
Jill suggests, as many others are also suggesting these days, that we suffer from a post-modern ailment whose symptoms seem to be thus: acute apathy in the majority (or overt workaholism in some) but both side effects of severe spiritual dehydration and biblical malnutrition – ie. life does not flow from authentic connection with God that permeates and influences everything – rather life flows from nervous addiction to modern life with sporadic lip service paid to God and his values only in certain contexts.
We are not being authentic disciples of heaven, we are at best part time employees who clock in and out of heaven's service at will.
To put it bluntly, we don't have the balls to put down all our possessions and way of life and live sharing everything, to trust completely and to expect the greatest. Materialism has more of a grip than we realise and we have counted the cost and found it too expensive. We deep down can recognise the cost of true discipleship involves losing everything that we might gain what we truly desire – but the sacrifice of our whole life is too painful a price.
What is needed is not more programmes, strategic events and networks, we do not need a bigger budget particularly or more fancy gadgets. To be steeped in all this is as The Irresistible Revolution describes it “Spiritual Masturbation.” No, young people are responding to a need for affinity (see Youthwork 3.0) Therefore any attempts we make to this scenario must be birthed in true community and real relationships – between us all – and with God himself.
Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus:
“They display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven….. they are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless..”
Is this article too strong for you? Why?
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