I’ve done a review of this book in the past for the Ichthus, but my experience with UnChristian certainly didn’t end there. Every once in a while I still refer to the Afterword, in which pastors and leaders in the Christian community were invited to pen their vision of what they would like Christianity to look like in the future. I bookmarked this passage when I read it last year, and I would like to share it with you today.
This is quoted from the passage written by Gary Haugen, founder of the International Justice Mission:
Thirty years from now, Christians won’t be known for what they say or what they hope to be; they will be known for one thing–the way they live. We can’t change what we are known for unless we change how we live.
I want my grandkids to have the perception that followers of Christ are very courageous. The great yearning in our world today is for an answer to the many fears we all share….
I would love thirty years from now for Christians to have such faith in
God that they carry themselves with courage and humility in the world. Both courage and humility are pictures of strength. This doesn’t mean that all fears disappear, but rather faith points the way to a strength that allows one to do the right thing even when it’s scary.
With that confidence and strength, you can not only go out into the world, you can live out a gospel that is attractive. In a world where there is much fear, people will gravitate to those who are living with a surprising lack of fear.
I like the point he makes about fear; not only are we combating fear, but we are living with it ourselves. It is something to courageously overcome through the gospel, and then the duty falls upon us to share with others how they might also overcome that fear.