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Print By Kent d Curry Pentecostal Youth are about to hit critical mass on an important issue. Young people are always idealistic, but this generation is becoming something special. It seems to be in the Millenials DNA to remold our culture—not for selfish reasons, but to revolutionize society. Our church kids, too. Frankly, it appears to be a generational response to the Me-First selfishness of the Baby Boomers, though I doubt it’s a conscious decision by most. Idealism Ablaze It’s blossoming in some interesting and unusual places:
These aren’t isolated incidences, but an emerging pattern. There’s probably dozens of other Apostolic examples I’m unaware of, but you even see it being modeled by NBA superstar Dwayne Wade. When the pampered share their time to better inner-cities, you know something’s changed. Paradigm Shift, Evolution or Trainwreck-in-Waiting? After all, we’re God’s active agents on earth. God didn’t blunt paganism in ancient Israel, Elijah did. God didn’t spread revival throughout the Roman Empire, build an ark to save humanity, Noah did. God didn’t end slavery in 19th century England (and soon enough, Europe), British MP (and devout Christian) William Wilberforce did. God didn’t end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda…uh, no one did. Of this, Gary Haugen, International Justice Mission founder, said, “When you are standing in a mass grave in Rwanda, the question that came to my mind was not the question that was coming to everyone else’s mind perhaps. I’ve had people ask me, where was God in the midst of all of this?...The more relevant question for me was, where are God’s people?”1 So, Where Are God’s People? Of course, it can’t just be to implement a social gospel (as exemplified by most mainline denominations since the 1960s), where good works in the name of God are done with little emphasis placed on salvation. However, attempting to mend some of society’s ills provides us with greater credibility to share salvation with our neighbors. Too often, we see the unsaved as numbers (without personalities or physical needs), eager to save them without bothering to know them. This remedies that. We can avoid the mistakes of the Baby Boomers, whose idealism for overturning intractable race and poverty issues ran amok into ever more divergent causes, by channeling this urge into biblical direction. For instance, let’s:
Living Example “Pastor Cho in South Korea instructs the people of his church what to say when they are asked about the intentional acts of kindness they perform (which is part of their small group evangelism strategy). When asked by those who are blessed by them why they do their kind acts, they are told to say, ‘I am a disciple of Jesus. I am serving him by serving you because that’s what he came to do.’”2 McNeal is a Baptist talking about the Pastor of the world’s largest Christian church (80,000 people), who also happens to be Spirit-filled. Of course he has his critics, but he has mastered an effective mix of spiritual/social influence in the 21st century that we would be wise to examine. None of these efforts lessen the importance of salvation. Some of this will upset other Pentecostals. All of it will take a humility that comes with seeking the best path in fear and trembling (I Corinthians 2:3) with the support of a discerning pastor. Yet, this shift creates a broader path for the unsaved to find Christ because then we are the living salt and light throughout our entire society, not just in the church building and our workplace. Idealism is always the best motor for positive societal change, but Bible-based idealism is the best power to create unstoppable spiritual transformation. Let’s not be afraid to change the world to fuel that transformation when God directs our hearts and talents into some unusual—and uncomfortable—territory. ninetyandnine.com © 2007, Kent d Curry ------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com, a college and career speaker, and lifelong Cheesehead. Footnotes 1. Relevant Magazine, March-April 2007, p. 52 |
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