Christianity has an image problem. If you’ve lived in America for very long, I doubt this surprises you. Over the past few decades, Christians have lost their influence in culture because they’ve handled it so poorly. They had power. They had dollars. But instead of using power and the dollars to reach out and love people well...
Christians used power to make a point and dollars to demand their way.
We created an us-versus-them mentality. The church communicated to unchurched people that we didn’t like them because of what they did. How they looked. How they behaved. How they voted. What they believed. And now people feel minimized—or worse, demonized—by those who love Jesus.
What’s interesting is Jesus never did this. Not once. He had all power and He had every legitimate reason to demand His way, but this is not the example He set. Instead, He leveraged His power to love and serve others, and then He told us to follow His example.
Against
For Clarksville, Part 1
April 8, 2018 • Chris Edmondson • John 3:16, Ephesians 5:1–10
Give
May 6, 2018 • Chris Edmondson • John 3:16, Romans 8:31–32
There’s a tension every one of us faces. We say we love God, but we don’t honor Him with our money. We live in a culture where an increasingly larger portion of what we have is being spent on things that have no impact on God’s purposes. Great stewardship requires being in a position where everything we have is at His disposal.
Invitation of a Lifetime
April 29, 2018 • Chris Edmondson • John 3:16, Mark 2:14, Matthew 9:9–13
The people we engage with—as well as those we avoid and judge—reveal a great deal about our hearts condition. With more people open and searching spiritually, are we willing to invest in other people's lives by spending time with them and start to dialogue with them about God? You have the power to change the trajectory of someone’s entire life. All it takes is an invitation.
Neighboring
April 22, 2018 • Chris Edmondson • John 3:16, Colossians 4:3–12
Every relational connection in our life is built on conversations. The deeper the conversation, the deeper the relationship. In Colossians, Paul suggested that we leverage this approach beyond our marriage, friendships, and parenting, by bringing this principle into our interactions with everyone—including those who don't believe what we believe. This is how Christians can be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.