{"id":651463,"date":"2013-11-13T21:29:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T21:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?p=651463"},"modified":"2013-11-13T21:29:08","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T21:29:08","slug":"post-christian-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Christian Era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s said that we\u2019ve entered into a \u201cpost-Christian era\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019d suggest that rather we\u2019re entering into our first true<\/em> Christian era. An era encompassed by believers that will alter<\/strong> this damaged and highly negative perception outsiders have of us as Christian\u2019s. All the while Engaging within the world and caring about all<\/em> as opposed to just each other. It\u2019s moving in the direction of inclusion, as opposed to exclusion.<\/p>\n

The fact of the matter is, as I\u2019ve stated many times before: W<\/strong>hat we\u2019re doing, is simply not working.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s heart wrenching for me to write a post<\/a> on issues such as loving the poor, diversifying congregations, putting our money towards others before the needs of ourselves, things that are seemingly quite orthodox to what we\u2019ve know Christianity to be, and yet receive such extreme strong criticism.<\/p>\n

Though the questions remain, \u201cHow does this happen? How have we gotten a Christianity that is now defined by its\u00a0exclusivity<\/em>,1.7 million dollar homes,\u00a0<\/em>oppression of women & gays, and condemnation of anyone or anything that is not\u00a0<\/em>adhering to their doctrine?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Before we address this I think we need to differentiate between saving the life of the Church and saving the life of an institution<\/strong>. It\u2019s mistaken that our culture is at odds with Jesus but I\u2019d suggest our culture is at odds with his supposed \u201cfollowers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yes 76% of Americans still yet identify themselves as Christians its speculated that only 20% of these people actually attend church<\/a>. Majority of which are embarrassed to wear the label \u201cChristian\u201d. The numbers are weening, the people are leaving, and the ship is sinking, and I\u2019m having such a hard time understanding why so many church pastor\u2019s are not changing?<\/p>\n

Our lack of acknowledging the facts, numbers, and statistics showing us that there is a big gaping hole in the ship doesn\u2019t change the fact\u00a0that there is still yet a\u00a0BIG GAPING HOLE IN THE SIDE OF OUR SHIP.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, the Church isn\u2019t dying, in fact it\u2019s thriving. I think that the Churches best days have yet to come. It\u2019s the institution, many have mistaken as the church, that\u2019s dying. This institution is only a means in which we\u2019ve used to fulfill the purpose of what the Church is called to do.<\/p>\n

The old is going, and whether we like it or not, the new era is coming.<\/p>\n

I think this means that it will be uncomfortable, messier, and much harder than what we\u2019re used to. It will mean that we will have to eventually engage with questions having to do with science, sexuality, and the presently given \u201cprogressive\u201d culture.<\/p>\n

I hope we can understand that our voluntary submission as the body of Christ is not a matter of altering our theological disposition while denying any pleasure or comfort found in our present model of Church. Rather,<\/em><\/strong> it is the exact opposite! This is about a testimony of the coming kingdom of heaven already portrayed through the life of Christ and His early Church\u2026<\/p>\n

This is our mission. This is our call. The ship is sinking. The institution is dying.\u00a0BUT the Church is still yet thriving!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s said that we\u2019ve entered into a \u201cpost-Christian era\u201d\u2026 I\u2019d suggest that rather we\u2019re entering into our first true Christian era. An era encompassed by believers that will alter this damaged and highly negative perception outsiders have of us as Christian\u2019s. All the while Engaging within the world and caring about all as opposed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2493,"featured_media":653075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,16],"tags":[25,475,179],"class_list":["post-651463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian","category-church","category-culture","tag-andy-gill","tag-church","tag-post-christian-era"],"yoast_head":"\nPost-Christian Era<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Post-Christian Era - I think this means that it will be uncomfortable, messier, and much harder than what we're used to...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Post-Christian Era\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Post-Christian Era - I think this means that it will be uncomfortable, messier, and much harder than what we're used to...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-13T21:29:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/\",\"name\":\"Post-Christian Era\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-13T21:29:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-11-13T21:29:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\"},\"description\":\"Post-Christian Era - I think this means that it will be uncomfortable, messier, and much harder than what we're used to...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/post-christian-era\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Post-Christian Era\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Gill\"},\"description\":\"Andy Gill has studied theology for two years in Princeton and graduating from Eastern University stepped into pastoral ministry in southern California. 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