Engaging and resisting culture with Christlike faith | with Patrick Miller

Stephanie here! Do, you, like me, feel more like an outsider in the American culture today than you did ten years ago, as a Christian? If that's the case, you're not alone. The question is, what kind of outsider will we become? Will we become a combative outsider and rage against your enemies? Will we become a conformist outsider and mirror the world around us? Will we become a conflict-averse outsider and avoid confrontation at all costs?

GIWEAWAY COMING UP! In our February newsletter, we will give away THREE copies of "Joyful Outsiders" in partnership with Patrick and his publisher, Zondervan. We will also give 3 copies of our previous January book interview ("Happy Lies" by Melissa Dougherty, episode 374). So make sure to be signed up to our newsletter for a chance to win. Sign up here: https://www.gospelspice.com/signup

How can I convey to you the timely importance of this book? This has to do with the questions that we encounter every day and that make us feel like outsiders. Like, how do I react when my child's teacher claims that there are hundreds of genders? Or, what do I say when my best friend calls me a Marxist because I'm troubled by systemic racism? Or, how do I talk with my mom when she posts conspiracy theories on Facebook? Or, how do I talk to my coworker who says that all Christians are bigots? For these important questions that we have to face today, there isn't one size fits all solutions. We need to first remember that as Christians, we are outsiders to the culture we live in. As Patrick Miller, says, we live in Babylon, and yet we are called by scripture to both make our home in Babylon and resist Babylon. How do we do that?

Jesus calls us to live seamless lives, and yet the fear that we encounter daily when we experience being an outsider, that fear has a habit of making scenes in our lives. How can we together resist Babylon's efforts to tear the fabric of reality, even as we work to repair this fabric, and influence the world for Christ?

It's really understandable that we want to relieve the tension. We could change our beliefs to fit in, we could rage against our enemies and force them to agree with us, or we could just retreat from it all. But do these options really help, or do they just help us feel more helpless and angry and confused? Do they make us more, or less Christlike?

Jesus has so much for us. He's called us to be a joyful outsider like him. He was crucified as an outcast outside the city. Now he welcomes us to join him; to die to ourselves and discover that sacrificial love has the power to change the world.

In Joyful Outsiders, pastors Patrick Miller and Keith Simon show us how to be a joyful outsider by laying out six ways to navigate a confusing culture at home, at work, and beyond. They draw on the examples of biblical characters to introduce six types of joyful outsiders: the artist, the protestor, the builder, the advisor, the ambassador, and the trainer. We might be an outsider in today's world, but that doesn't mean Jesus can't use us to change it.

TAKE THE TEST

go to joyfuloutsiders.com to discover how to address culture in the way God wired you.

 MORE ABOUT “JOYFUL OUTSIDERS”

This practical guide helps you find peace and clarity in a confusing culture. Through it, you will learn healthy, biblical ways to both cultivate and resist the world around you. You will learn how to change the culture without becoming like it.

In Joyful Outsiders, you will:

Discover joy by embracing your identity as an outsider

Find which of the six ways God is calling you to follow

Experience freedom from fear of the world and anger toward it

Learn how to both resist and cultivate the world around you

MEET PATRICK MILLER

Patrick Miller is a pastor and cultural commentator who writes about politics, culture, and technology, contributing articles to Christianity Today, Newsweek, The Gospel Coalition, and other publications. His podcast, Truth Over Tribe is one of Apple's top news commentary podcasts, featuring interviews with leading Christian thinkers, writers, and scholars. He's the co-author of Truth Over Tribe: Pledging Allegiance to the Lamb, Not the Donkey or the Elephant. Patrick received a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary, and pastors a politically diverse church, The Crossing. He and his wife, Emily, have two children.

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