Brierley said that one key takeaway for church leaders from this situation is to recognize the need to engage people’s imaginations as well as their reason and to demonstrate that the Christian story has an answer for “the things that [people] are lacking in their life, the longings, the hopes, the meaning crisis, the depression, whatever it is.”
Demonstrating that there is evidence for the Christian faith is still important. “I’m not in any way disparaging that side of apologetics,” said Brierley. “It’s just that I think we need to start probably with…the meaning side, the imagination and so on.”
“For me,” he said, “it’s about, how do we put that story back at the center in people’s imaginative lives, as much as we tell them about the kind of evidential reasons why they should believe that?”
Brierley offered additional advice for how church leaders can engage people’s imaginations, which you can learn more about by checking out the interview below.
