Gospelbound How Your Church Witnesses to the World
Gathered Church As Primary Witness
- Ecclesial apologetics reframes evangelism: the church's gathered witness is the primary way neighbors see the gospel lived out.
- Bob Thune credits Lesslie Newbigin for urging a missionary posture toward Western culture where church life interprets the gospel's plausibility.
Campus Conversions That Didn't Stick
- Bob Thune recounts campus ministry conversions that stalled because new believers weren’t connected to local church life.
- He observed many who came to faith but didn’t integrate into a Christian community, prompting his emphasis on ecclesial formation.
Welcome Outsiders With Conviction And Listening
- Practice hospitality by making space for outsiders to find their way into church life while holding conviction and listening.
- Host conversational settings—one-on-one, small groups, or classes—where differing views are heard and discussed respectfully.
When we receive applications for fellows at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, we ask them to answer the question, “What one thing should Christians do right now to introduce their neighbors to Jesus?” It’s not that we think there’s only one answer. It’s that we want them to identify the top priority. Last year we were surprised when every applicant gave the same answer. They talked about the public witness of gathered Christians, the church.
Maybe they were responding to negative press about the church, going back 25 years to the Catholic abuse scandal at the same time the internet became ubiquitous. Or maybe they were expressing renewed appreciation for the gathered church after the COVID-era shutdowns and public disorder. Either way, they were going back to biblical concept rooted in Israel’s testimony to the nations, and the early church in the book of Acts that found favor with all.
Bob Thune is a fellow for the Keller Center and writes about this so-called ecclesial apologetics in a chapter for our new book, The Gospel After Christendom: An Introduction to Cultural Apologetics, published by Zondervan Reflective. He’s also a featured teacher in an exciting new video small-group curriculum called Making Sense of Us, published by The Gospel Coalition and Keller Center. His session, recorded against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, covers the cultural narrative we tell each other in the modern West about liberty. We believe this curriculum can help you, especially young adults, to both evangelize and edify. When you watch and study with other church members, and even non-Christians, you can learn together about the Bible’s better story about liberty, which we live out together in the church.
In This Episode:
00:00 – A deeper freedom: set free from self for love
00:32 – Keller Center fellows: why the gathered church matters for witness
01:41 – Introducing Bob Thune, ecclesial apologetics, and Making Sense of Us
02:39 – Lesslie Newbigin and a missionary posture toward the modern West
05:06 – Is Omaha post-Christian? Modern Western culture everywhere
06:34 – Ecclesial apologetics despite church messiness
09:17 – Gospel doctrine and gospel culture (truth, goodness, beauty)
11:03 – Christian hospitality: making room for outsiders with conviction and listening
17:03 – Why this differs from the seeker movement
19:10 – Transition to Making Sense of Us: liberty and the Statue of Liberty backdrop
20:16 – Modern misconception: freedom as “freedom from” (negative liberty)
22:17 – Galatians 5: freedom subverted and fulfilled—freedom for love and service
24:48 – Choice as happiness: dislodging the assumption pastorally
26:55 – Cultural pressure points: teen mental health, friendship decline, obligation
29:15 – Autonomy and assisted dying/euthanasia debates
31:56 – More choice, more frustration: speech platforms and “Netflix paralysis”
33:50 – Patience for contested proposals (post-liberalism, nationalism, etc.)
35:01 – “Freedom for” the common good and a shared human project
39:13 – Three church roles: solidarity-bringer, subversive fulfillment, alternative city
43:27 – Augustine’s lesson: church power, loss, and enduring hope
44:05 – Recommended reading and resources roundup
Resources Mentioned:
- The Gospel After Christendom by Collin Hansen
- Making Sense of Us by John Starke, Rebecca McLaughlin, Sam Chan, Trevin Wax, Rachel Gilson, Bob Thune, Glen Scrivener, Michael Keller
- The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
- Democracy and Solidarity by James Davison Hunter
- City of God by Augustine of Hippo
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