I'm Back

So where have I been?  Writing a book, it required all my creative juice. It is called CHRISTLIKE: The pursuit of an uncomplicated obedience. It challenges every reader to rethink what it means to be Christian. Look for it in January of 2010, when your credit cards come due, and you have joined the health club, and promised yourself once again to shed the unwanted weight. That is usually the time we decided to get serious again about religion. The book's asks how a small group of non-elite people grew from 120 to over 33 million over 300 years and became the dominant force in the Greco-Roman world. The main truth of the answer is they believed a gospel that included transformation through the process of discipleship. By 325 the Church was officially the Roman Religion. But 85 years later in 410 Rome had imploded and was sacked by Barbarians. The church had become compromised, soft and superficial. The gospel of 325 was very different than the one preached by the early christians. In fact, if the early church would of preached the same gospel as the official gospel of 325, the church would of never gotten off  the ground. The gospel that made the church vibrate included discipleship, i.e. a choice to be a student and follower of Jesus for life. The Gospel that allowed the Roman world to collapse was primarily about getting your sins forgiven and getting a ticket to heaven. This was followed up with special attention to sacraments and right beliefs. Today's Western Church is similar in that the primary gospel taught is self-centered and focused on a formula of a sinner's prayer and assurance of heaven. It is a gospel that does not have room for discipleship as a part of the redemptive process. When we lose discipleship, we lose the permission and ability to teach people deeply. That is why the church is not being shoved to the margins, we are willingly moving to the margins of society. More importantly, in our everyday  common lives, we have abdicated from being the presence of Christ where we live work and play. C.S. Lewis said what makes Christianity unbelievable is a bad life. Ok, this seems a bit dark and negative, but there is hope. We can turn it around, Lewis also told us that a Christian society will not become a reality until we want it, not until we become fully Christian.