Young people may be leaving the Church, but not for the reason you think

“The early church didn’t grow because it had better content than the Romans. It grew because people watched Christians live in ways that made no sense unless they were real.” - Phil Cooke

Discussion

“The early church didn’t grow because it had better content than the Romans. It grew because people watched Christians live in ways that made no sense unless they were real.”

I had a witnessing opportunity last week that relates to this. My son and I had volunteered for garbage clean up day. On the way home from clean up day, my wife noticed an old board on the road and slowed down to pick it up just as a man was backing out of a drive. She realized he didn't see her so she hit the horn. He stopped and apologized an she just smiled and said something nice to him and then went and picked up the board. She never told me about it, but he did. He had noticed that my son and I had volunteered and was also impressed with how nice my wife had been and that she had picked up a board someone else had dropped. He said, "your family is so nice." I replied it was because we follow Jesus. I then was able to share the gospel. As we talked he revealed that his conscience had already been working on him. He was excited to hear the gospel and expressed a desire to follow Christ. This story may not be as dramatic as the Christians who maintain their faith in the face of persecution and even death, but it does show that when we stand out, it makes a difference.