CROSSOVER

There is at least one thing Christians have in common with non-believers--we’re both uptight about evangelism.

There is a huge cultural divide today, where people know less and less about Jesus Christ. Most young adults today don’t pray, don’t worship, and don’t read the Bible. In a survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% said that they’re ”really more spiritual than religious.”

We need to “crossover” with the message of the gospel to our culture today.

We live in a time in which people are “customizing God” like apps for their phone. They borrow a little Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and a bunch of New Age mantras, and create their own little “iGod.” And the predominant mindset of people like this is they often see Christians as narrow-minded, argumentative, condemning, holier-than-thou jerks.

Sadly, sometimes this mindset is accurate. Why is that? Because we just don’t know how to crossover.

Far too often, we are unnecessarily offensive, hopelessly lame, and generally inept at communicating with people about our faith. We are more known for what we are against, rather than what we are for.

The bottom line is that many of us are just no good at evangelism. The whole idea of talking to a friend about our faith intimidates us, because we fear that they may no longer want to be our friend if we share the gospel message with them. And the idea of going to a stranger with the gospel frightens us because we are afraid we will not have all the answers, or we fear that they may laugh in our face.

In the coming days, I will preach a sermon titled “Real Christianity--Sharing the Gospel" based on how 1st Century Christians shared their faith. Can we ever forget that the greatest movement in all of history (Christianity) began with a group of 12 misfits? We'll spotlight how they did it.

Stay tuned.