Finding a starting point for a Christ-sharing conversation is not easy. Maybe you've heard before:

1. "So, do you consider yourself a good person? Yes, well I've got some bad news…"
2. "Nice to meet you, Stephen. Did you know that there was a guy in the Bible who was stoned to death for his beliefs about Jesus? What do you believe about Jesus?"
3. "If you were to die tonight..."

Here is my take.

The scriptures are relevant to this and every culture. They do not need updating, correcting, or revisioning. On the contrary, what needs revisioning is our understanding and obedience to God's word as we live out His mission in context. When we live a humble orthodoxy and humble missiology, we will be salt and light in contemporary culture—a biblically-faithful, culturally-relevant, counter culture. Here is a brief article I wrote for my friends at Catalyst that might be an encouragement:

I'm surprised!

Really. It seems that atheism has suddenly reappeared in the public arena… in a big way. After atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair disappeared, the Hubble showed the beauty of God's creation, and a world renowned atheist Anthony Flew decided there was a God, it seemed like false spirituality was Christianity's biggest "competitor." But, atheism seems to be back—and hip.

I read both Wired and Time magazines with interest, but a Wired article was the most interesting. It reflected on matters of spirituality. Now a blog is probably not the best place to talk about the reasonableness of theism, and, for that matter, Christianity (follow these links for better studies on theism, Christianity, and the Bible.). But, I found the Wired magazine article to be particularly personal because I know the pastor referenced and have met one of the atheists mentioned.

I have been captured by the term "humble orthodoxy." It well expresses my own understanding of the gospel-that I have a humble certainty that God and His word are true. When Josh Harris used the term at the recent Resurgence conference, I was challenged and encouraged. True orthodoxy is not subject to the whims of cultural acceptability; it is humbly submitted to the word of God. It is not humble to question what scripture makes clear.

Let me suggest that we also need a humble missiology. Missiology is central to how we reach people in culture. Yet, it seems that some are using missiology for the wrong reasons as of late... to justify a change to the gospel rather than finding ways to more accurately communicate it. Others contend that culture does not matter and anyone who desires to be culturally relevant must be compromised.