The Next Christian by Gabe Lyons

I just finished reading Gabe Lyons' new book, The Next Christian. It's basically his summary of trends he is seeing in the next generation of Christians. He calls them restorers. Their different way of living flows from an understanding of the whole Gospel - creation, fall, redemption and restoration. They see the broken world and, instead of just seeing what is, they see what "ought to be" and try to make it that way.

I found the book both encouraging and frustrating. It is very encouraging to know that God is using Christians to restore the world. It is frustrating that the examples he gave are not very practical. He kept saying that you didn't need to start a new career to be a restorer, just start restoring where you are, yet every example he gave was someone who left their career to start a non-profit, or create a magazine that celebrates beauty and truth in art, etc. What about ordinary Christians, the ones who don't have the resources or contacts to do something on that scale, what can we do?

"Bring the Flavor and Get your Gleam On" (Salt and Light)

On Nov. 8, 2009, Rob Bell and Don Davis preached on Matthew 5:13-17. 

It follows the Beatitudes, where Jesus declares all kinds of people we wouldn't expect are blessed by God.  When you take a look at the disciples, they are not exactly the most stellar group of people - they don't understand many of the parables Jesus teaches, they spend their time arguing about who is the greatest.  Some of them have questionable pasts.  And yet, these are the people who Jesus declares are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  He chooses to work through unschooled, ordinary people.  You can see that all through scripture.

This sermon has reminded me that I am one of those people.  It's my job to "put flesh and blood" on the Kingdom for the people I am around.  To "get my gleam on", as Don put it! :)  I need to remember that I am a representative of the Kingdom of God and live that way.