91% of US adults believe the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself, and 2 out of 5 Americans believe that, when it comes to what happens in the country today, “people of faith” and “religion” are a part of the problems in our country.
How can we speak into this environment as believers?

Author, speaker, and leader of leaders, Gabe Lyons, helps break down how Christians can be both courageous and faithful in a world that thinks we are extreme and irrelevant.

We launch the courage conversation by talking about a time when someone quite innocently (but publicly) accused me of something, and Gabe represented Jesus well by advocating strongly for me.

We also discuss the Gabe’s Enneagram number, one of his most embarrassing moments, and we all were privileged to watch God weave the conversation together with the themes of courage and confession.

This one is not one to miss.

Highlights:

“People are afraid to speak up… There is actually this belief in the ‘boogey man’–this monster out there that’s bigger in your mind than it really is. You start to realize that when you start to tell the truth, people are hungry for the truth, they are looking for the truth, nobody is saying the truth, and finally when somebody does in a kind, loving way (and with the right posture), people start to respond.” –Gabe Lyons

“The reality is most people are not looking for a debate. They are looking for someone who is loving and kind, but also willing to be confident in what they believe.” –Gabe Lyons

“Confession is the initial act that starts to open up a door of freedom–of shame being removed, and us living out in a courageous way what God wants to do. If we don’t do that, we don’t usually have courage. We don’t feel comfortable telling anybody else what we believe is true, because we do feel judgmental.  Because we know that in our own life we have things we have things we haven’t confessed. It is critical to confess so we can then (with confidence) approach all the issues and topics and conversations that we need to be bold about in our society.”
–Gabe Lyons

Do The Next Thing:
Follow Gabe on the Instagram and Twitter
Read Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman’s books! Here are some statistics from Good Faith: 

1. 3/4 American adults have had some Christian background (pg. 27).
2. 2/5 Americans believe that, when it comes to what happens in the country today, “people of faith” and “religion” are a part of the problems in our country (pg. 13).
3. 3/5 American Christians are mostly inactive in their faith, (pg. 27).
4. Christians feel: Misunderstood (54%), persecuted (52%), marginalized (44%), sidelined (40%), silenced (38%), afraid to speak up (31%), afraid to look stupid (23%) / (pg. 51)
5. Millennials feel it more: Misunderstood (65%), persecuted (60%), marginalized (48%) / (pg. 51)

There are two codes we can live by:

1. World’s Moral Code
   1. 91% of US adults believe the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself
   2. 89% of US adults believe should not criticize someone’s life choices
   3. 86% of US adults believe to be fulfilled in life, you should purse the things you desire most
   4. 84% of US adults believe the highest goal of life is to enjoy it as much as possible
   5. 79% of US adults believe people can believe whatever they want, as long as those beliefs don’t affect society
   6. 69% of US adults believe any kind of sexual expression between two consenting adults is acceptable (pg. 58)
2. God’s Moral Code
   1. To find yourself, discover the truth outside yourself, in Jesus
   2. Loving others does not always mean staying silent
   3. Joy is found not in pursuing our own desires, but in giving of ourselves to bless others
   4. The highest goal of life is giving glory to God
   5. God gives people the freedom to believe whatever they want, but those beliefs always affect society
   6. God designed boundaries for sex and sexuality in order for humans to flourish