On Monday I posted about the not quite so astonishing growth of the early church and today I read a post by Tim Keller on the same subject. Keller writes,

Christianity did not adapt to culture in order to gain more adherents, but neither did it remain a small, withdrawn band. Christianity confronted and critiqued the culture, believers suffered for it, and yet the faith also convinced many people, attracting growing numbers of converts daily.

It is obvious that in western societies Christians are again seen as too exclusive and narrow, and they, too, may soon be excluded from many government, academic, and corporate careers and jobs, and be socially marginalized in various other ways. What can we learn from the early church so that we can have our own effective missionary encounter?

Reassuringly, for me as I don’t suppose Mr Keller draws much comfort from my agreement, there was much in common. Here are the main points that Keller draws from the example of the early church and how we can apply it today:

1. A public apologetic, both popular and “high.”
2. A counter-culture
3. Faithful presence within the vocations
4. An evangelistic stance and approach
5. Christian formation in a digital age

Personally I think number 2, 4 and 5 are the most critical & universal, while 1 & 4 are perhaps more shaped by his particular context of New York City and his considerable work in apologetics to educated but secular people.

The great challenge is how to be that counter-culture and I think it must challenge both right & left. A failure to do so would be to hitch our wagon to a political party and we’ve been on that train before. Number 5 is critical too because it is an entirely new form of challenge. I’m working on some training on discipleship in the internet era and the dangers of technology that distract, distort, deceive and destroy. In response (and I’ve yet to alliterate this) we need focus, integrity, truth and creativity.