But as a mother standing by watching my son face this; well, that requires a different set of skills: love, patience, discerning when to speak and when just to simply and actively listen.

How about young adults who were raised in “Christian” homes, some tyrannical and downright mean, some just über-conservative, who now have a huge problem with their particular (and former) brand of Christianity?

*I* can understand it and even empathize. I remember taking several years to come to a peace about that myself. It took years to forgive abusive elders that I knew, but forgive I did.

The issue is more difficult for college age, idealistic kids to grapple, perhaps moreso those raised in Christian homes, therefore the most ghastly and ugly truths about the worst of/in us are a bit more difficult to bear. We all have very likely heard that they were there when we were younger. Hearing someone’s story third or fourth hand and before sufficient brain development and maturity (from both physical and spiritual growth), is quite a different matter than when you hear it from a new best friend who has set Jesus and the Bible (as complete truth) on the shelf, perhaps only for a time, because of horrific, and possibly never discovered abuses. Oft times those undisclosed abuses cause the deepest, sharpest Buddhists and atheists, but that could be a discussion for another time.

That is the case for many of our 19.5 yo son’s house mates and friends. I think the ugliness of the fact is the biggest blow for him, and now he is tempted to put most all Christians in the category of “abusive.” He was not really very sheltered. We always talked about these issues throughout his lifetime, and more concentrated in his high school years.

Instead of trying to convert or reconvert them, or make sure they were Christians in the first place, he is still in the “anger” phase of grief over the harshness of those realities. I really believe he will come through this, just like I did. You and I both know that the percentage of abusive and radical Christianity is quite small in comparison to the total population of those who profess to at the very least believe in God and in the Gospel of Christ. I have shared with him to search Barna reports for better statistics.

I will listen to the podcast to see what all is addressed!

Thanks again for sharing the blog on Sunday.

First, there is widespread thinking among evangelicals that the major reason for our problems within church and society is the fact that we have miscommunicated the gospel. The argument includes the idea that “Easy Believism” is leading us down the wrong path.

Proponents of this view argue that the gospel is more than “Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again.” It is not enough to trust that He died in your place; you must also agree to turn from your sins in order to have eternal life.

Second, there is the view that the world is getting better and better. As this improvement continues, the Christian worldview will gain prominence transforming our entire culture including, schools, government, media, etc.

This second argument includes the thought that the problem in our day is the dead-end theology that society will continue to get worse, culminating in a Great Tribulation.

There are godly men and women who hold to various end-time views. There is room for disagreement.

However, what’s nice about the Redeeming the Culture blog is that it will encourage Christians concerning the importance and effectiveness of sharing the simple gospel in the realm in which they find themselves.

We do not need to be discouraged by thinking that our gospel message is wrong, that our end-time view is somehow contributing to the decline of society or that the solution requires us to engage in sweeping and radical macro-transformational efforts such as implementing the Old Testament laws as part of our judicial system.

Evantell has always championed the clear communication of the simple gospel message. I’m glad that Evantell continues to teach people how to communicate this simple gospel as well as provide resources to assist.

The average person can make a difference by merely sharing this simple yet transforming message.