Marketing the Gospel

If you've had your ears open around church, you've heard the term "postmodern." For more than a decade, culture specialists and sociologists have announced the coming of the postmodern generation—a generation that would upset all we know about the growth of Christianity.

Gone are the days when the Bible was commonly accepted as the inspired Word of God. Other systems of belief are as readily accepted and considered valid as Christianity. The conventional icons of Christian belief are not to be accepted at face value. Truth is no longer received as truth simply because it could be proved factually, by scientific evidence, or because it was written in the Bible. Truth is accepted if the individual experienced it.

Those of us who are involved in youth ministry are aware that postmodernism arrived long ago. Whether you're involved in youth ministry or have held an extended conversation with anyone younger than 25, you've probably noticed that they view everything differently than you do, especially faith. Suddenly, faith is cool. But not necessarily Christian faith.

Faith in any religion will do. A person doesn't have to settle on just one, either. He or she can mix and match beliefs from as many religious creeds as desired, creating a new belief system. Ideas like this are also being spread rapidly among the media elite and Hollywood, making it even more the rage. Once the screen stars shunned all morality and hunger for religion, but now being religious is in for them too. Well-known celebrities claim to be devout Scientologists, flaunt the spiritual benefits of Kabbalah, or enthusiastically embrace Buddhism.

What's scary is that these other religions focus as much on evangelizing the masses as we Christians do. They have their own crusades, festivals, and seminars designed to proselytize would-be converts. Oh, they're making a difference too. Recent reports show that Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the U.S., right behind Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. That growth is accelerating rapidly.

This in light of reports that Christianity is on the decline. In a recent conversation, a youth pastor colleague expressed his reservations to me that today's kids seem more open to everything but Christianity. I believe his exact words were: "It worries me that my students are more open to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology than they are to Jesus and salvation." In talking to him I sensed a spirit of gloom and doom, as if leading anyone to the Lord from now on is almost a dead issue. He seemed to feel that Christians could not compete with the rest of the religions.

As I consider this, I think the real question is: why all the pessimism? This isn't the first time in history that other religions have threatened the growth of Christianity. While the postmodern mindset now makes it culturally acceptable to explore other religions, the truth is that for a long time many people have called themselves Christian, but haven't lived Christian lifestyles. We've all heard the comments about people who are Sunday-only Christians, haven't we? They "live for God at church," and "live like the Devil" the rest of the week.

In view of today's cultural mindset, I'm also reminded of Paul's experience as he spoke to the Athenians (Acts 17). Athens was filled with multiple belief systems, philosophies, and gods. Culturally speaking, they prized philosophical debates, allowing all people to speak their minds and develop their own sets of rules regarding their faith. Sound familiar?

Although this mindset troubled Paul, he didn't let it stop him from preaching the gospel.

In fact, he worked within the culture, using their writings and desires to debate religions and philosophies to his advantage. Because the Athenians were open to hearing his beliefs, he could preach what he knew about salvation through Jesus Christ. As a result, some turned to the Lord and a new congregation was planted.

For youth—or anyone of almost any age for that matter—the postmodern exploration of faith should make it easier to engage people in spiritual discussions. Our message doesn't change because of this alteration in cultural mindsets. Only our approach changes. Rather than standing on our beliefs as the one and only truth, we approach it as truth according to what we've learned and experienced.

It means we allow the Holy Spirit to move people's hearts rather than depending on a persuasive argument backed up by historical evidence and facts. It means the old style of "Romans Road to Salvation" evangelism may not work anymore, and that people accustomed to that approach may be uncomfortable. But is that so bad? If the trend of exploring other faiths opens more doors to talk about Christianity, quite frankly, from that perspective I'm okay with the other religions.

Not everyone will accept what we share. But, like Paul learned in Athens, not everyone will reject Christianity either.

Some will accept our beliefs. Some will be ignited by the Holy Spirit with a passion for God.

And isn't that what we want to inspire anyway?

Jeff Edmondson is a 15-year youth ministry veteran. He is currently the company manager for Barefoot Ministries, the youth ministry resource branch of Nazarene Publishing House and Nazarene Youth International.

Holiness Today, January/February 2007

Please note: This article was originally published in 2007. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.