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The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live the Gospel and Restore the World [Paperback]

Gabe Lyons
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 13, 2012

“I recommend The Next Christians, which will give you great insight into the hopes and aspirations of the next generation…."
Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship
 
“Provocative, yet massively optimistic!”
Louie Giglio, pastor and founder of the Passion Movement
 
 Gabe Lyons is optimistic that Christianity’s best days are yet to come. His best-selling book, UnChristian, revealed the pervasiveness of culture’s growing disregard for Christians. Now, in The Next Christians, Lyons shows how a new wave of believers are turning the tide by bringing the truth of the Gospel to bear on our changing, secular society.

“Restorers,” as Lyons calls them, approach culture with a different mentality than generations past. Informed by truth, yet seasoned with grace and love, these believers engage the world by drawing it to the sensibility and authenticity of the Christian life.   
 
You can be one of these “next” Christians and change the negative perception of Christianity by living a life that is faithful to the Gospel, yet credible and coherent to your friends and neighbors.


Frequently Bought Together

The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live the Gospel and Restore the World + You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church...and Rethinking Faith + unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters
Price for all three: $37.41

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Next Christians and Gabe Lyons

“Gabe Lyons leads an important group of younger Christians who are seeking to avoid both the triumphalism as well as the cultural withdrawal of former generations of believers. We all have a long way to go as we think out how Christ relates to culture in our day. As we do so, we would do well to consider many of the significant insights that Gabe offers in this book.”
—Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City

The Next Christians is a revolution tightly packaged within a book. As a pastor, it was game changing for me and the people of my church…every person should read it. This is the future!”
—John Ortberg, best-selling author and pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

“Gabe Lyons is one of the brightest young Christian leaders I’ve worked with and mentored. I’ve challenged his thinking; he has challenged mine—as he does again with his latest book, The Next Christians. I recommend this book, which will give you great insight into the hopes and aspirations of the next generation of Christian leaders.”
—Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

“If I had to pick one leader for the next generation for Christians, it would be Gabe Lyons. If I had to pick one chapter from this book, it would be ‘Relearning Restoration.’ If I had to pick one sentence it would be this one: Christ didn’t come only to save us ‘ from something. He wanted to save Christians to something.’ Gabe Lyons gets it: restoration is the vision for the Next Christians, and I’m cheering them on.”
—Scot McKnight, New Testament scholar and author of The Jesus Creed

The Next Christians is the best book you’ll read this year. Filled with stories of hope and grace, it’s a passionate call to join followers of Jesus everywhere in restoring the faith. You can’t afford to miss it!”
—Margaret Feinberg, author of Scouting the Divine and The Organic God

“At a time when a central challenge to faith is to be both faithful and fresh, Gabe Lyons’s is a voice I always listen to and benefi t from enormously.”
—Os Guinness, cultural historian and author of The Last Christian on Earth

“It seems an impossible task: restore a 2,000-year-old religion so that it no longer rejects, no longer chases, but actually leads a modern, pluralistic culture running at the speed of Twitter. Gabe Lyons offers hope for Christianity’s next one hundred years by profiling the next set of Christians transcending this epic challenge. I found his preview of Christian innovators inspiring post-Christian America persuasive and one of the most encouraging views of Christian faith in recent years.”
—Kevin Kelly, cofounder of Wired magazine

The Next Christians is a must-read for anyone seeking to engage a broken world with the healing power of the Gospel. Provocative, yet massively optimistic, Gabe Lyons’s message challenges the ‘Christianity vs. Culture’ paradigm of the recent past with the hopeful template of ‘Christ as restorer of humanity,’ worked out through a new breed of Jesus followers, who are unashamedly running into the darkness—broken-yet-loved ambassadors for the One who makes all things new.”
—Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church and founder of the Passion Movement

“What Lyons gives us here, in spades and with proof texts, is the good news about the state of the Good News in tomorrow’s America. Those who have despaired that even the label ‘Christian’ might be tarnished beyond credibility, much less affection and influence, will find a thousand reasons to rejoice here. Chock-full of examples and stories, Lyons’s work also is full of brilliant insights and piercing applications of traditional verbiage to new ways of being in this world.”
—Phyllis Tickle, founding religion editor, Publishers Weekly

“We’re in an important time in Christianity. Leaders are considering the Gospel, its implications, and how we might live faithfully in the world we find ourselves. Gabe Lyons is an important voice in that conversation. In The Next Christians, he sets out a vision for Christians making a difference in the world. You should read this book and wrestle with his ideas as we consider together how we might be faithful to the Gospel in today’s world.”
—Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research; coauthor of Transformational Church

The Next Christians is not about rehashing stale debates or reliving the culture wars. It is not about empty ideologies or even about branding a movement—it is about reading the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other and listening to God say, ‘Come change the world with me.’ ”
—Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner

“Gabe Lyons articulates a fresh and inspiring vision for bringing Christian faith forward in the new cultural paradigm of 21st-century America. May this become the predominant expression of Christianity for an up-and-coming generation of ‘next Christians’ and those of us who are counting on them.”
—Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today’s Board of Contributors and author of Onward Christian Athletes

“Gabe Lyons is a contemporary innovator who possesses relevant insight and profound foresight relative to Christ, culture, and the next generation of Christians. This must read book will inspire you and guide you to a new place of purposeful passion!”
—Charles Jenkins, senior pastor, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church

“The prophet Isaiah declared that God would do a new thing. In The Next Christians, Gabe Lyons frames the narrative of a new Christian movement emerging in our lifetime. While addressing the challenges before us, Gabe presents the facilitative platform for the followers of Jesus to reconcile righteousness with justice under a canopy of compassion and love. This book will challenge us to embrace change as we welcome a fresh move of God’s Spirit.”
—Sam Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

“The Lord has given a great mind and incredible wisdom to Gabe Lyons to be able to speak with such clarity and such understanding of the times. You will be greatly blessed and will desire to turn the next page, only to come to the end and then wish to pass this book along to a good friend so that others can be as informed as you are.”
—Pastor Johnny Hunt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention

About the Author

Gabe Lyons is the founder of Q—a learning community that mobilizes Christians to advance the common good in society and co-author of the landmark book, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and Why It Matters. Prior to this, he cofounded Catalyst, the nation’s largest gathering of young Christian leaders. As a respected voice for a new generation of Christians, he has been featured by CNN, the New York Times, Fox News, and USA Today. Gabe, his wife, Rebekah, and their three children live in New York City.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Multnomah Books (March 13, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385529856
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385529853
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gabe Lyons is author of The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live The Gospel and Restore the World and founder of Q (http://qideas.org), a learning community that mobilizes Christians to advance the common good in society. He is also co-author of Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters, a bestselling book based on original research that revealed the pervasiveness of pop culture's negative perceptions of Christians. As a respected voice for a new generation of Christians, he has been interviewed by CNN, The New York Times, Newsweek, Fox News, USA Today, and countless other media outlets.

Customer Reviews

This is a quick read, I didn't want to put it down. MByers  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Jesus calls us to a better, more gracious, way. E. Ritzema  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
He shares his vision in an insightful and approachable way that makes this book a genuinely great read. GMTA Publishing  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Western Christianity's bright future December 8, 2010
Format:Audio CD
Before I get into my response to this audio book, I thought it might help you to know the angle I'm coming from: Firstly, I'm not a trained theologian or minister or an expert in ecclesiology (theology of the Church). But I guess you could call me a hobbyist, and my interest in these things is sincere, so by all means, speak up and share your ideas about this stuff, whatever they might be. :-)

Secondly, as a pastor's kid I've heard of revivals, scandals, trends and dangers within Christendom for more than 20 years. So I have to admit, there is a small, exasperated voice in my head saying, "What new twist is someone putting on my faith this time?" But that isn't the only thing bouncing around in my head when I meet a new book about the Church. The other voice, which is much more compelling (and friendlier!), reminds me to stay curious, humble, and open to whatever God might want to teach me. And it reminds me that I've had my own doubts about Church and western Christianity over the years, and just maybe this author will help shed some light on what I've already felt in my gut about the problems I've witnessed.

That being said, the waters were a little rough for me in the first few chapters of The Next Christians, where Gabe Lyons summarizes the state of American (this could apply to Canadian Christians too, so I'll just say "NA", short for North American) Christianity. He describes the many sub-groups of Christians by the way they relate with secular society, but these descriptions seem over-simplified. While he mentions their strengths, he ends up casting each group in a rather negative light in an effort to contrast them with what he calls the "next Christians." So that's the main hiccup I ran into as I digested this book.

Moving right along, I was fascinated by his idea that over the last few decades (or the last century, even) NA Christians have put the gospel message out of balance, focusing on salvation but minimizing the other half of the story: the restorative piece of God's work. God's end goal is not just for us to be saved, but He also restores our souls, minds, hearts, and relationships in the process, and He will bring restoration to the world at the end of time as well.

Bringing restoration back into focus alongside the message of salvation, Lyons says, helps regular Christians (like me!) finally understand our natural impulse to create things that are beautiful and to fix things that are broken, like our neighborhoods, homes, workplaces, hobbies, (Facebook pages?), and anything we can get our hands on to beautify. This point really hit home for me, especially because I still carry a little bit of the shame of being thought of as 'liberal' (in the sense that people want to spit after saying it) because of my relentless drive to preserve that which is beautiful (like nature) and speak up for people who are down on their luck or oppressed. So in my case, it's refreshing to be reminded that God created us to enjoy and want to do these things, because by doing so we're reflecting His nature; we were made in His image, after all!

The rest of the book delves into the many different attitudes and activities these "next Christians" engage in. His stories inspire me and they've got me brainstorming about changes I might make to my own life. Gabe also narrated the audio version of his book, which added a personal touch.

Now obviously, I can't summarize all the angles or the depth of the author's points in the confines of a short review, so you'll just have to pick up a copy for yourself to see exactly what Lyons is trying to say. ;-)

Many thanks to christianaudio [...] for providing a free copy of this cd for review.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Makes some good points but also has some serious flaws November 10, 2010
By Joanna
Format:Audio CD
In The Next Christians, Gabe Lyons critiques the involvement of American Christians in mainstream culture and presents the ways he believes some Christians are getting it right.

There are some good things to be said about the book. I think he is right to critique the prevalent idea of America being a Christian nation. His overview of the different approaches Christians take to engaging in culture was useful, although maybe a little on the simple side.

A few things did bother me though. One of them was the almost entirely very positive portrayal of the "next Christians". While the people he is talking about are no doubt doing some great things, every movement has its flaws and potential pitfalls which need to be carefully considered. Such excessive positivity also risks making faithful Christians who are not part of this generation look bad in comparison.

Another was that in spots his arguments felt a little unsubstantiated, both in regards to biblical support and real life case studies. It wasn't that anything he said stuck me as un-biblical, just that it could have used a bit more scriptural support in the text. While the book had some case studies, it would have been good to have more backing up his assertions and generalisations about what this next generation of Christians is like. I was often left wondering who these wonderful people he was talking about actually are!

I think the book has enough value to make it worth reading for some, but it would probably be better to approach it as someones ideas about how the Christian community in America could and should be changing in the future rather than an accurate and ballanced report on how things are.

I "read" this book in audiobook format. Unlike many audiobooks, this one was narrated by the author which I appreciated. He did quite a good job of reading it, although occasionally could have put a little more emotion into it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Musings of a leader review on next Christian December 6, 2010
Format:Audio CD
The Next Christian
Book Review

I picked up this book expecting another well written factual book along the lines of UnChristian which I enjoyed for it's genre, but what was inside was completely different. Gabe did a marvelous job of taking research,with all of its facts and stats, and turning them into a fantastic story that made me look forward to what was around each and every bend. I found the basic structure of the book to be easily read and followed. Early on in the book, chapter 3, Gabe gives a wonderful analogy of the different types of christians that we have now in our country compared to those in the times of Christ. I found this fascinating and also a bit unnerving that we have somehow allowed our country to get to this same state of a factional Christianity. I have often seen the angle of the Pharisees with some modern day church organizations but had never wrapped my brain around the Essenes and the "Blenders".

The book continues down a fantastic path that had me not just enjoying the journey, but questioning different things in my own life and ministry and how I perceive things. This book is one of the very few books in my life that I will read again and again. But with all books there is always a negative somewhere. With this book the most disappointing thing that I found was the end. I hated turning the last page, because I quickly realized, that my mental traverse through the pages of our countries spiritual future had come to a close. The Next Christian is absolutely a marvelous read that every church goer should read. It is definitely a book I will not just recommend to strangers but friends and ministry partners as well. It is a well researched, well thought out look at the face of Christianity in the coming years.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you Think
Good Book. We use it for out Sunday School book and it really stops and makes you think about today's world and culture and how church, organized religion, and spiritually all fit... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Tamara S. Hacker
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful!
Working with younger Christians, I wanted to get the right perspective on how they view their faith. This book was recommended to me and was right on point.
Published 1 month ago by Robert E. McNichol, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight
This books offers such an honest and eye opening view with where we are as believers today and what direction we are heading. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Sabath
3.0 out of 5 stars reading this with a group
Reading this with some friends and they are all very excited about the perspective presented. It seems that the most attractive theme is his idea about a restoration approach to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by mpbhammer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, must read!
Lyons does a great job not only making his case for our post-Christian culture but also giving many inspiring anecdotes that help us move to what is next. Read more
Published 4 months ago by MByers
5.0 out of 5 stars Be true and there will be fruit
It's a great read...challenging one to be true to one's belief in Christ and the consequence of sheer joy will transform hearts. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Fr Scott Reilly, LC
4.0 out of 5 stars A great look at the next Christian generation
Being an avid reader, I love picking up books by authors who I am unfamiliar with. Gabe Lyons is one of those authors. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Todd Lynn
4.0 out of 5 stars Implementing Restoration
NT Wright explained the model for restoration in Simply Christian ("Our fascination with beauty, hunger for relationships, bent toward goodness and justice, and longing for... Read more
Published 5 months ago by L. Estrada
4.0 out of 5 stars The Next Christians
Best part of the book was last 1/3. Some interesting demographics and ideology about church, Christians and actions. Good followup from previous books by author.
Published 7 months ago by dwf
4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of great ideas and inspiring stories, but hard to get all the way...
I found The Next Christians to be full of great ideas and inspiring stories, but a little hard to get all the way through. Read more
Published 8 months ago by N. Dimmick
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