The Next Christians: 7 Powerful Ways to Live the Gospel and Transform the World - Inspirational Christian Book for Personal Growth & Faith-Based Community Building

The Next Christians is a must read for those seeking to explore examples of the current reformation of the Christian experience in America in the twenty-first century, which Lyons terms restoration. While his earlier work, UnChristian, relied heavily on research, focused on what is or is perceived to be wrong with Christians and Christianity, and was sound modern scholarship this new book relies heavily on stories of real people, focuses on what is or what he perceives to be experiences that exemplify Christianity in its intended form, and is told in a primarily postmodern way. The book is divided into three parts. Part one provides an overview of how Christianity in America has changed in recent years and how the faith has become sidelined in American culture. Part two is the strength of the book; it includes a chapter on each of the six characteristics of the next Christians or those who embody what is right about Christianity. Part three suggests that the work of restoration now underway is setting the stage for the next big shift in Christianity and calls upon individuals and faith communities to move in this direction through properly emphasizing what matters most and embodying the characteristics outlined in part two. This book affords readers an opportunity to interact with the stories of well known and largely unknown followers of Jesus, explore the supportive biblical texts, and consider the possibility of restoration.The six characteristics of the next Christians also known as restorers:*provoked, not offended: Christians are proactive not reactive*creators, not critics: Christians act to construct something new not just destruct that which is undesirable in culture*called, not employed: Christians expand influence to all spheres of life rather than utilizing it primarily in the church and also reclaim a rich understanding of vocation*grounded, not distracted: Christians commit to spiritual disciplines and ongoing growth rather than shallow discipleship that fails to stand up to cultural temptations*in community, not alone: Christians are involved in authentic Christian community and engaged in their geographic Community (Lyons uses the upper cased Community when speaking of a place)*countercultural, not relevant: Christians engage rather than withdraw the existing culture as salt that seeks to restore the common goodLyons writes extensively about culture, cultural engagement and cultural restoration. While he adequately explores how Christians have historically interacted with culture and rightly suggests that going forward Christians must be intentionally involved in all "seven channels of cultural influence" (media, education, arts and entertainment, business, government, social sciences, and church) in order to create and/or restore culture, he doesn't explore the commonly accepted idea that culture is created only or at least primarily by elites. Instead, he simply encourages all believers to impact as many channels as possible.