The Christian and the Negative World: Aaron Renn's Diagnosis

See the video above for my analysis of Aaron Renn's extremely helpful Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture.  I can't recommend the book enough! 

This will help you follow along: 

I. Knowing our world now 

    a) Positive world (1960s-early 90s): Christianity positively viewed by world; morals same. 

    b) Neutral world (Early 90s-early 2010s): Morals changing; Christianity "eh"

    c) Negative world (2010s-now): Christianity seen as weird, outdated, maybe dangerous 

        -pre-Christian paganism returning, seen in RNC Hindu prayer and other capitulations 

II. We'll need to engage the world differently 

    Used to be three types of evangelical engagements: 

        a) Culture warriors (religious right): Robert Jeffries, Dinesh D'souza, Eric Metaxas 

        b) Seeker sensitive (friendly, large churches): Rick Warren, Hillsong

        c) Cultural engagement (affirm, show Jesus as solution): Keller

    In negative world, (a) might survive in pockets, but (b) and (c) will struggle because they depend on being liked. We simply aren't. 

III. We'll need: 

    a) Individual -- excellence, resilience, and strength 

            -pursue community, institutional strength, and ownership 

    b) Corporate -- clarity on truth, right and wrong (counter "I'm not a biologist, so I don't know what a woman is"); why do young men seek J Peterson, Shapiro, Tate, when not Christians? Because what they say is useful, and stuff at church, the young men think, isn't. 

            -will need prudence: Vote not for candidate that is perfect (in a negative world there isn't one), but for candidates that will promote righteousness and peace so the gospel can advance