Description
Book SynopsisMany Christians in the West sense that traditional Christian teaching is losing traction in the public square. What does faithful Christian witness look like in a post-Christian culture? Paul Williams, the CEO of one of the world's largest and oldest Bible societies, interprets the dissonance Christians often experience while trying to live out their faith in the twenty-first century. He provides constructive tools to help readers understand culture in myriad contexts and offer a missional response. Williams calls for a truly missional understanding of post-Christendom Christianity whereby local churches are reimagined as embassies of the kingdom of God and Christians serve as ambassadors in all spheres of life and work. This book invites readers to embrace the language of exile and imagine a hopeful mission of the scattered and gathered church in the post-Christian West. It shows a clear pathway for fruitful missional engagement for the whole people of God, helping Christians make sense of the world in which they live, more authentically integrate faith with everyday life, and orient all of their efforts within God's missional purpose for the world.
Table of ContentsContents
Prologue: Longing and Shame
Part 1: Enduring Faith: Christians and the Contemporary World
1. The Legacy of Modernity
2. Are We in Exile?
3. Two Temptations
4. Judgment and Mission
Part 2: Fostering Hope: From Alien to Ambassador
5. Learning to Lament
6. Calling, Citizenship, and Commission
7. Establish an Embassy
8. Know the Mission
Part 3: Ambassadors of Love: Exiles on Mission
9. Learn the Language
10. Stories of the West
11. Cultural Translation
12. Pilgrimage: A Way of Being
