Part II New Millineum Christian

As I mentioned in the first blog, I wanted to discuss the changes our society has developed in relation to the church and biblical beliefs throughout the years from a humanistic and religious point of view. In my opinion, the humanistic view for change came because each generation began to develop their own beliefs based on "feelings" instead of biblical principals. If we would truly be honest with ourselves, living our lives based on "feelings" will result in many people ending up in jail, divorced, or even dead. (For those that are perfect, I'm not speaking to you) It's so easy to base your morals on something that makes you feel good. But not everything that feels good is good for you. Paul said in I Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable". If we could understand that God gave us his word to help us live a good life and not make things miserable for us, just imagine where most of us would be today?

The final perspective I would like to give concerning the changes in our nation in relationship to God is religion. I'm going to try my best not to be misunderstood but that's what happens when you talk about religion. There is a difference between "religion" and "relationship" with Christ. Many people today think that going to church once or twice a month and being nice to people qualifies you as a Christian or God-fearing person. But Jesus explained that there will be many people that will claim to have done many acts or works for Him yet He will say that "I never knew you". What I'm trying to say is that just like you know your wife, mother, or siblings because you spend time with them, Jesus wants the same thing from us. Everything else is just religious works and requirements.

Throughout the history of churches in America, I believe religion has left a sour taste in many peoples mouths to the point that they have either left the church or didn't take it seriously. I'm so thankful for all the great preachers of the past like Billy Graham, Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Kuhlman, and many more. They did great things with the healing revivals and introducing many to Jesus Christ. At the same time as generations past along, a lot of legalism and separation from the unbeliever was preached so much that it moved many people away from Christianity. And yes believers are not to live or be negatively influence by our "worldly system" and the messages the media brings to us. At the same time we live amongst the unchurched or non-believers. Because of this separation from society based on different religious teachings, the church was not infiltrating various areas in society that would have changed our worldly system or society. A couple examples of important areas that could have been affected but wasn't due to this separation from our society was the entertainment and judicial system. If we had more Christians as judicial leaders maybe some of the decisions that were politically significant in American like Roe vs. Wade would have went another way. And as far as entertainment goes, while preachers were telling their congregation that going to the movies was sinful, non-Christian movie producers were making sexually explicit movies. What would've happened if more Christians producers made movies that were entertaining but with a gospel message during the 60's and 70's?

I've exhausted the majority of this blog to say that with the changing of generations and belief systems must come a changing of Christians. I didn't say Christian standards but we as individuals have to do what has never been done by those in the faith before us. We must become what I call a "new millennium Christian". You may ask, "What makes one a new millennium Christian?" The first thing this type of person must do is not allow the course of our society to discourage one from moving away from believing in God's word. We know that with the current issues of the economy, war, immorality, etc, it can be easy to take matters in our own hands and live based on feelings. But our faith is something that we must hold on to no matter what the circumstances are.

Another characteristic of a new millennium Christian is that as our society changes we must make adjustments in the way we relate to people in order to be relevant change agents. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying compromise your way of believing or conduct as a Christian. What I am saying is that we must become more relatable and not so religious when communicating with the unbeliever. For example, if you were trying to witness to a teenager but didn't know anything about their culture, how could you relate to him or her? You can't witness to the non-churched teen today and think your going to get their attention starting the conversation with talking about Jesus and his disciples. We must use wisdom in the methods that we relate and witness to them. It's just like comparing the way we taught our kids in school ten years ago to today. When I was in high school back in the early 90's, the teacher stood in front of the classroom and talked for an hour. I think we had more patients back then. Today a teacher couldn't do that and keep the students attentive for an hour. In order to be relevant today teachers must take advantage of all the new technology and teaching methods in order to effectively educate. I guess it all comes down to we must keep up with the things that's going on in our society in order to be more relevant and be an influence to the non-believer.

This new generation believer has to also be more loving and less judgmental. At the end of the day there is only one judge, and that's God alone. The problem today is that many non-believers think Christians are hypocrites. Ed Setzer of LifeWay research claimed that 72% of the adults in his survey about peoples view on Christianity said that the church is "full of hypocrites". People need to see that believers are human just like the non-believers except we do our best to live for God and ask for forgiveness when we fall. Many of them believe that the standards are too high and you must be perfect before being a Christian. If perfection was the requirement, no one would serve God. People need to know that grace and mercy is for everyone and they need to feel more welcome and loved by believers. When people see how genuine, accepting, and unconditionally loving believers can be it becomes very attractive to the unchurched to listen to the gospel message. Ed Stetzer a director for LifeWay said that he felt good about critics' views of organized religion. He cites the finding that 78% would "be willing to listen" to someone tell what he or she believed about Christianity. So the harvest is right, we just have to reach them in a loving and less judgmental way.

Finally, we must not be of this world but reach into the world and be an influence for Christ. In other words, we need new millennium Christians in politics, sports, music, and movies. Television, radio, and entertainment are some of the greatest ways to spread the gospel of Christ. So in order to reach the non-churched who don't watch Christian television or radio, we must go into the avenues where they are at. I love it when God-fearing athletes at the end of games give God the glory during interviews or movie producers making more entertaining movies with a gospel message. These are platforms where believers can spread the word of God, non-believers can get a better understanding of Christianity, and ultimately many can be brought into the body of Christ.

For more information about Jesse Duckworth and his new book, check out his website at Jesseduckworth.com