I feel like Matthew Raley is on a flying carpet and he’s singing to be.
“I can show you a world!”
The world that he’s showing me is very different from the one that I’m accustomed to, and it doesn’t seem to be shining or shimmering.
The world that Raley is describing is post-modern America. A place very different from the South. A place where not only are Christians in the minority, but a place where people aren’t even familiar with the popular Bible stories. The stories I learned as a kid: Jonah, David and Goliath. Samson and Delilah. Moses and the Red Sea.
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We’ve been reading Raley’s book “Diversity Culture” and it’s been eye-opening. I’ve always heard that things were very different outside of “The Biblebelt” but I don’t think I even understood how different.
Here in the South, most people have been to church at least once. A lot of people have had church experiences when they were younger. Those who don’t attend church currently generally have in the past and had a bad experience that turned them away from the church.
The world that Raley describes is drastically different. Not only are people not as accepting of the Gospel in these regions, they are more likely to never have heard the Gospel before. They’ve never been to church, even as a kid, because that’s not part of the cultural experience. They’re more likely to be turned off to Christianity because they heard about a Christian overreacting or saying something offensive rather than actually having a bad experience firsthand.
Instantly there are barriers. We’re not starting out on the same level. They’ve got assumptions about who I am as a Christian based on what they’ve heard about other Christians. I have assumptions about their understanding of the Bible.
It’s certainly easier to witness to people when they’ve already had the basic introduction. And I guess missionaries encounter people who’ve never heard the gospel before all the time. But those people live in remote locations. It’s hard to believe that there are people in America you’d have to start at Step One with, and in some cases even have to put in extra work just to get to Step One because of the negative opinion of Christianity that some people have.
It can seem like a daunting task. But I like the challenge that Raley throws out. Jesus took the challenge and broke through the misconceptions and misunderstanding by unpredictable and understanding. Instead of jumping to conclusions about the Samaritan woman, he showed an interest in starting a conversation.
I’ve found Raley’s book equal parts fascinating and terrifying. I’m interested to see where his flying carpet takes us next.
The world that Raley is describing is post-modern America. A place very different from the South. A place where not only are Christians in the minority, but a place where people aren’t even familiar with the popular Bible stories. The stories I learned as a kid: Jonah, David and Goliath. Samson and Delilah. Moses and the Red Sea.
File not found.
We’ve been reading Raley’s book “Diversity Culture” and it’s been eye-opening. I’ve always heard that things were very different outside of “The Biblebelt” but I don’t think I even understood how different.
Here in the South, most people have been to church at least once. A lot of people have had church experiences when they were younger. Those who don’t attend church currently generally have in the past and had a bad experience that turned them away from the church.
The world that Raley describes is drastically different. Not only are people not as accepting of the Gospel in these regions, they are more likely to never have heard the Gospel before. They’ve never been to church, even as a kid, because that’s not part of the cultural experience. They’re more likely to be turned off to Christianity because they heard about a Christian overreacting or saying something offensive rather than actually having a bad experience firsthand.
Instantly there are barriers. We’re not starting out on the same level. They’ve got assumptions about who I am as a Christian based on what they’ve heard about other Christians. I have assumptions about their understanding of the Bible.
It’s certainly easier to witness to people when they’ve already had the basic introduction. And I guess missionaries encounter people who’ve never heard the gospel before all the time. But those people live in remote locations. It’s hard to believe that there are people in America you’d have to start at Step One with, and in some cases even have to put in extra work just to get to Step One because of the negative opinion of Christianity that some people have.
It can seem like a daunting task. But I like the challenge that Raley throws out. Jesus took the challenge and broke through the misconceptions and misunderstanding by unpredictable and understanding. Instead of jumping to conclusions about the Samaritan woman, he showed an interest in starting a conversation.
I’ve found Raley’s book equal parts fascinating and terrifying. I’m interested to see where his flying carpet takes us next.
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