Blog? Want Free Books? Let's Chat.

The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons

by Todd Lynn

December 11, 2012

@thetoddlynn

Being an avid reader, I love picking up books by authors who I am unfamiliar with. Gabe Lyons is one of those authors. With this being the first book I have read by Gabe Lyons, I was unsure what to expect but what I came across was a very well written and thought through book. Gabe helped start Catalyst as well as founding a “learning community that mobilizes Christians to advance the common good in society.” This is evident from the moment you open the book.

In today’s society, Christians have not been defined as being “thinkers.” Most people would probably define them as hypocrites, judgmental, and other similar demeaning words. However, this is far from the purpose God founded the church and what He desires from His followers. In Gabe’s first book, he wrote about how society/culture is having a growing disregard for Christians. The Next Christians speaks of how Gabe notices a trend of new Christians who are actively beginning to engage society and culture in a new way.

The Next Christians takes an invigorating look at how Christians can begin to truly impact culture. The previous generation did its best to avoid culture and tried to stay away because of how they were worried culture would impact them. Unfortunately, remaining on the defensive did not keep the culture from impacting the church in a negative way. Now though, as Christians, we need to actively engage the culture for us to have any chance at impacting the world for Christ. We have to be what the Bible calls the “hands and feet” of Jesus. And we have to do this in ways that Jesus did, by going to the broken. Jesus came into the world as a baby and lived among those He desired to reach and save. If we want to see a world changed for God’s glory, we need to do the same thing, be willing to go to where the hurting and broken live.

Towards the beginning of the book, Gabe writes about three different types of Christian approaches to the world: Separatist, Cultural, Restorers. While I might not completely agree with everything in this part of the book, I have to agree with the following statement: “Telling others about Jesus is important, but conversion isn’t their only motive. Their mission is to infuse the world with beauty, grace, justice and love.” If Christians were to truly live this way, the world would begin to change because they would see what following Christ is all about. And when people see genuine examples of Christ followers in the world, they take notice and people change.

This book was a great challenge and I would highly recommend it for anyone to read, especially for someone who feels God leading them into any form of ministry. It is a refreshing book that gives new light on how the younger generation, the next generation, of Christians can truly make a difference for Christ, and Gabe gives some great guideposts to how this can be done. Go ahead and pick up a copy, it will be worth your read.

Thank you for taking the time to read this review. I hope it gives you an idea of what this book contains and whether you want to take the time to read it or not. Feel free to check out any of the other book reviews on my blog: http://thetoddlynn.wordpress.com/ and follow for any new blog posts or reviews.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as a part of their Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.