Home Outreach Leaders Gabe Lyons: Engage Culture and Reverse Negative Cultural Stereotypes

Gabe Lyons: Engage Culture and Reverse Negative Cultural Stereotypes

Gabe Lyons is the founder of Q Ideas, an organization that trains Christians to think well and lead well in our culture. He’s the author of The Next Christians and the upcoming book Good Faith.

Key Questions:

How can leaders engage culture?

Why is it so hard for Christians to engage culture?

What are some perceptions people have of Christians?

How can pastors lead in these difficult conversations and engage culture?

Key Quotes:

“We are called to be a part of salt and light and engage culture, which means we have to be informed and aware of what’s happening in the world, what’s unjust that’s going forward, and what are the areas of our world that are broken and are in need of redemption. We have to believe that God wants to work through us to be a part of this process of making things new and demonstrating the power of the gospel to transform peoples’ lives in any situation, but also to transform society to see products of redemption start to give root and birth in our society.”

“What does it mean for us as Christians to come into that and say “How can we be a positive force for good and shine light on things that are going wonderfully, but also roll up our sleeves and work in these areas through the power of the Spirit, to be a part of what we think God would want to do to redeem these structures, to redeem these parts of culture?” So I think it’s been hard for a lot of Christians just to find places to do that well, to see it modeled well, but I think that’s changing, so that’s what we’re excited about with Q as well as with other events and people within the Christian community thinking about that well now and that’s been very exciting to see.”

“Americans actually want to find a way for most of us to get along. There’s a small number of people that live on sort of the polar edges of these discussions, and they love to polarize them, to create caricatures of the other side, but when we actually have a relationship, when we sit and listen to the other, to the person who’s different than us, coming from a different perspective, oftentimes we can find ways to get along despite some of this disagreement, and I think that’s an area the church can lead in. It’s a real opportunity for the days ahead.”

Mentioned in the Show:

Q Ideas

Q Commons

Gabe Lyons and Andrew Sullivan Share an Apology

Good Faith

ENgage Culture Around the Web:

Gabe Lyons and the Next Christians

Gabe Lyons on Twitter

Gabe Lyons on Facebook

Qideas.org