{"id":77774,"date":"2019-01-27T07:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=77774"},"modified":"2019-01-27T05:14:07","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T10:14:07","slug":"bible-gateway-how-to-be-the-kind-of-christian-people-cant-resist-an-interview-with-scott-sauls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=77774","title":{"rendered":"(Bible Gateway) How to Be the Kind of Christian People Can\u2019t Resist: An Interview with Scott Sauls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why does the word Christian evoke negative reaction among many people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott Sauls:<\/strong> One of the main reasons for this is nominalism, or the dynamic of people being \u2018Christian,\u2019 but in name only. Most especially, when kids and teens and young adults see their parents acting differently in private than they do in public\u2014when their parents\u2019 \u2018church self\u2019 is markedly different than the \u2018home self\u2019 or \u2018Friday night self;\u2019 when their use of things like sex, money, and power are contradictory to the Christian ethic, young people start to associate \u2018Christian\u2019 with \u2018hypocrite.\u2019<\/p>\n

What do you mean when you write, \u201cThe problem isn\u2019t with Christianity as much as it is with our flawed approach to and understanding of Christianity.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott Sauls:<\/strong> I think there are two errors that many of us fall into, and that lead to a flawed approach to faith. The first is the \u2018grace without truth\u2019 error, which leads us to soften the call of the gospel. \u2018Jesus loves me, this I know\u2019 becomes an excuse to follow the world instead of following Jesus. It makes us more prone to deny our neighbor, take up our comforts, and follow our dreams than to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus<\/a>. The grace without truth error is salt without savor, light without heat. It\u2019s anemic. It isn\u2019t faith, but is, rather, codependent enabling of others and of self.<\/p>\n

Likewise, there\u2019s the \u2018truth without grace\u2019 error, which leads us to shame, scold, and separate. And, of course, few things corrupt and diminish the true Christian witness more than such things. We must return to the pattern of Christ, who welcomed sinners and ate with them, and who was willing to be misunderstood\u2014even mischaracterized as a glutton and a drunk\u2014because of who he associated with…<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does the word Christian evoke negative reaction among many people? Scott Sauls: One of the main reasons for this is nominalism, or the dynamic of people being \u2018Christian,\u2019 but in name only. Most especially, when kids and teens and…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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