I’m going to be spending some time over the next few days looking at the book The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons.
In the second part of the book, Lyons seeks to give us an idea of what the “Restorers” look like, these Next Christians that he’s writing about. He does this by describing certain attitudes, then giving examples from real life of people who are living them out.
The attitudes are presented in a series of contrasts which are:
- Provoked, not offended — This is the idea that instead of merely condemning non-Christian aspects of our society and withdrawing from them, the restorer is moved to action. Rather than being judgmental, these Christians look to address brokenness and shine light on darkness. Lyons says they choose engagement over condemnation, grace over judgment, courage over comfort and faithfulness over reputation.
- Creators, not critics—Instead of complaining about the state of tv, movies and music in our culture, restorers set to create things of beauty, using excellence to defeat immorality. They create culture that celebrates beauty, affirms goodness, tells the truth and serves.
- Called, not employed—Restorers reject the religious vs. secular dichotomy, looking to reintegrate the message of the gospel into neglected areas of culture. Lyons identifies seven channels of cultural influence: media, education, arts & entertainment, business, government, the social sector and the church. Virtually every legitimate career falls under one of those categories, and Lyons argues that Christians are called to be active in all of them. Every channel of culture needs restoration. It is up to Christians to discover their vocation. Lyons says, “Where your gifts and natural skills collide with your deepest burdens—you have calling.” (p. 124)
- Grounded, not distracted—These Christians are aware that operating in the midst of culture requires being rooted in Christ. This is sought through the spiritual disciplines: being immersed in Scripture instead of entertainment, observing the Sabbath instead of being productive, fasting for simplicity instead of consuming, choosing embodiment instead of being divided, and being postured by prayer instead of power.
- In community, not alone—The restorers that Lyons describe live in contact with one another, looking to combine their resources to better serve. They are also part of their community, making a conscious decision to engage the people around them.
- Countercultural, not relevant—Christians have often tried to be countercultural in three ways: separatists, antagonists or relativists. Lyons’ next Christians reject the old ways which often reflected the opposite of the Christian message. They seek to be a preserving agent in a decaying world, seeking to redeem the world rather than defeat it. They seek to live an inverted lifestyle, flipping the values of this world. They seek to make sense of the world by offering an alternative lifestyle.
I like Lyons’ use of the contrasts to present a picture of how he views restoration. I also like the use of real-world examples that are given in the book.
What do you think of these outlooks? Are they different from what the church has been in the past, or is Lyons arguing against a stereotype? Is there anything you would add to this list?
Seems to me this is similar to what I saw when “youth ministry” was making a move to “youth and family ministry.” I was thinking, “Isn’t that what we were supposed to be doing in youth ministry?”
I wholeheartedly agree with the points Lyons is making as to this is how we should be approaching life. When people outside churches of Christ or the Restoration Movement start picking up some of our “battle calls” and making progress with them, it makes me wonder why we seem to want to leave our heritage behind? At what point could “heritage” or “tradition” become “luggage” that slows us down? What do we need to do to redeem those sterling traditions that are actually biblical, and apply them to our lives as God always intended us to?
(Sorry for any “non-Restoration Movement” folks who may be reading this… you might not get the point of my comments. Some of my brethren may not understand my queries, either! LOL)
BTW, Tim, where can we find the book in print? Your link goes to an audio CD version. This seems to be something I want to underline and review.
Barry,
I have some of that feeling as well, both with Hunter’s book (that I examined earlier) and Lyons’ book. It’s easy to say, “The previous generations missed this, but now we’re doing it right.” It’s also pretty naive.
I fixed the link. Thanks for pointing that out.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Tim,
I think we could find “restorers” as he uses the term in every generation of Christians throughout history but I believe his contrast are hitting the target for a North American Christianity that has become, due to the shifts taking place in the surrounding social culture, preoccupied with the preservation of its own culture at the table of public dialogue (e.g., the entire political war over the public use of the phrase “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays”).
Barry,
I’ve read the book and learned quite a bit about my own heritage, the Stone-Campbel Restoration Movement (RM). I don’t believe the way Lyons uses the term “restoration” in the same way that term has been used in the RM. The former is talking about restoring life while the later thought of restoration in terms of restoring a primitive form of church…two entirely different concepts of restoration. So I would not say that others are picking up on RM language even if they are using the same terminology. Also, I am one who has serious doubts about the biblical-basis of trying to restore a primitive form of church but that is another issue.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
Even though I do not follow church traditions and doctrine steeped in misguided folly, I find the term “restoration” and battle calls a little disturbing. This assumes that the party making the battle calls is absolutely right in their approach to understanding, what the call is. I sure would like to know what that might be. The term restoration means that something needs to be restored that has either been destroyed or damaged.
What that might be? It sounds quite arrogant in the fact that from someone’s view point it has been assumed that a particular viewpoint is the only viewpoint.
H.B., in this case, Rex’s description of the use of the term “restore” is correct; Lyons is talking about Christians working toward the restoration of the world to its pre-Fall state.
Your comments, however, do have some relevance to the Restoration Movement. Many within that movement have operated from the type of viewpoint you describe.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Wow, to move God, I would imagine thru prayer would be the path taken for the restoration to take place. My question would be why? This sounds like what the Jehovah Witness pray for. Is this the Lion to lay with the lamb? In my opinion this is beyond rational thought. But I guess if your sitting with a group of people that believe this can be accomplished, then in your own world, its possible. If a person says to himself “I will live forever” enough times it becomes believable……
Heaven Bound,
I believe that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead as the “first fruits” of the resurrection of the dead and therefore the old is becoming new (restoration)…so says the victorious claim of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. And therefore our work in that endeavor is not a work in vain either (cf. 1 Cor 15.58).
Grace and Peace,
Rex
Sounds good though I have not met a great many people engaged in this in my area.