All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. —Acts 2:44-47
What was compelling about Christians was not what they believed, but how they
A community of believers decided they would radically devote their lives to
They prayed fervently, loved irrationally, and
“The message of Jesus was considered weak, offensive, appalling…Christians refused to abandon the sick. They adopted abandoned children. They extended compassion and generosity to people and groups who could not or would not return the favor. They deemed women equal to men. Slaves were to be treated as brothers. In the end what was considered appalling became contagious.” – Andy Stanley
In the first century, the cross represented
By the fifth century, the cross represented
Christians welcomed those
Paul is making clear that the Christian is free except from the obligation to
Like Paul, we correctly and courageously
We refuse to alienate
“You can’t hate people and engage them with the gospel at the same time. You can’t war with people and show the love of Jesus. You can’t be both outraged and on mission.”– Ed Stetzer, Dean and Professor, Wheaton College
The pledge of allegiance is to “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
Fundamental attribution error describes our tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to their character, while attributing our behavior to our
The number one enemy of the church and nation is
The number one, most important thing to Jesus is
Disagreement is
Jesus followers have a specific responsibility to live
We don’t take our cues from
“In a cancel culture, we appoint ourselves the arbiters of right and wrong…Sounds harmless but the reality is that if you say one thing I disagree with or don’t like, I discount everything you’ve ever said, along with everything you’ve ever accomplished. You’re dead to me…cancel culture is the modern version of banishment.” – Andy Stanley
We love and serve others because
Good News
Americans
The majority of Americans believe that there are too many
Seven in ten Americans believe they have
We long to be united, with
We can disagree politically and
You don’t have to
And I don’t have to
What to Do?
As Jesus followers we don’t withdraw or seek
“Christians in the first, second, and third centuries were arrested, beheaded, fed to wild animals, and burned alive because they refused to prioritize allegiance to the state over allegiance to the commands of Christ.” – Andy Stanley
Disparaging words about anyone who voted for “that candidate” push people
All statements that begin with “All Republicans…” or “All Democrats…” are
Pay attention to how you “talk politics” in front of your
“Are you more concerned about your kid’s political views or their faith?” – Andy Stanley
You can’t make disciples of people you
Jesus’ agenda encompassed all nations…specifically people from all nations.
The real question is, “Are we willing to prioritize our
Don’t
“Those who condemn the church for its blind spots do so by gospel principles, arguing for the very moral values that the gospel originally set loose in the world…Human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, minority rights, gay rights, disability rights, animal right – the success of these modern movements reflects a wide-spread empathy for the oppressed that has no precedent in the ancient world. Classical philosophers considered mercy and pity to be character defects, contrary to justice. Not until Jesus did that attitude change.” – Philip Yancey
The Jesus movement was characterized by uncharacteristic compassion, generosity, selflessness, and
Better
Action Steps
Be a
Think through your core values, beliefs, and convictions, and
Take
Refuse to
We do not need others to