nuChristian: Finding Faith in a New Generation

by Russell Rathbun and Russell E.D. Rathbun

Book Overview

It has been said that Christianity has an image problem among those who were born in the late twentieth century. Statistics expose the church today as hypocritical, judgmental, sheltered, and overly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817015493
• ISBN13: 9780817015497
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Judson Press
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

NuChristian

I found NuChristian inteligent, honest, inspiring reading. The book offered a clear analysis of current issues facing the church and offered solutions. I appreciated the voice of the author. He spoke with strength and humility. I felt the author, Russell Rathbun, most importantly, made me think.nuChristian: Finding Faith in a New Generation

A read worth considering for a new generation

Life changes, but Christianity seems slow to change with it. "NuChristian: Finding Faith in a New Generation" is a guide for those who want to hold onto their faith but find it hard as the staunch traditionalism of the church seems to be at ends with them and making their life appear to be very difficult. With fresh philosophy and new ideas to stay true to Christ and one's beliefs, "NuChristian" is a read worth considering for a new generation.

Challenging Book

A few months ago, I read an interesting book called unChristian written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. It dealt with the perceptions that people outside the church felt toward the church and Christianity. It was a helpful book that both called for greater understanding of those outside the church and some tough soul-searching within the church in order to confront our problems. The authors concluded their book with a call for further conversation on these issues. Emerging church pastor Russell Rathbun has taken up that challenge with his new book, appropriately titled nuChristian. Rathbun deals with all of the same issues as the earlier book, but from the perspective of his own experience both growing up in a traditional Baptist church, as well as his experience in the emerging church. Sometimes the emerging church is accused of being light on Scripture and yet this book's strength is the fact that it is solidly biblical. Rathbun reflects deeply on the Bible and the truth that is given us through revelation. NuChristian is much shorter than unChristian and yet it is still very helpful. The short length of the book makes it very readable but also creates some problems. The author makes a quick comment that he does not disagree with homosexuality and yet gives no explanation of how he got there. For this reviewer, that was a great distraction. One of the things that I really did appreciate was the last chapter. As a pastor of a traditional Baptist church, I sometimes struggled with the author's ideas (although I always valued and respected them). The last chapter is a conversation between the author and his father who is a Baptist pastor. His father expressed some of the issues that some traditional Christians might wrestle with as they read this book. I greatly respected the author for giving voice to those concerns rather than dismissing them. Rathbun asks all the right questions and whether you agree or disagree with them, the issues dealt with are vital to the church's effectiveness and relevance in today's society. I highly recommend this book.

A Call For Change

Drawing from his experiences and ministry as a pastor at his church (House of Mercy), Rathbun outlines some key areas where Christians can change their tune. We are reminded by Rathbun that, "We are not called to save people, we are called to love people." (pg. 43). The idea that God does the saving and Christians merely present the message is challenging. So often, Christians see the job of evangelism of "saving souls." Understanding that being a Christian is not about who we are, but who Christ is. Rathbun writes that Christians must be transparent, engaged, loving, holistic, just, and humble because that is what Jesus did. Jesus made disciples, not converts. Too often Christian has focused on making believers, but what happens when those believers have questions? Evangelism must not be a manipulation of people, but instead an outreach of love. Culture is an important issue in NuChristian. We Christians cannot be sheltered from culture. Judgmental attitudes have no place in the life of a "NuChristian". We must seek an accurate and honest understanding of who we are and we must be exposed to culture in order to reach people. Using things like the internet, websites, email, etc... are all ways of reaching people. Church planters often think about zip-code mailings, door to door evangelism, and ads in the newspaper. Rathbun states that most people come to know his congregation through their website, not by seeing the church building. Throughout the book, illustrations are used from scripture that bring out how biblical characters were able to reach out through culture, while still maintaining their commitment to God. NuChristian is a welcomed addition to the books that seek to bridge the gap between Christians and post-modernity. Judgmental and divisive Christians have populated Christianity too long. NuChristian hits home and it hurts, but it is the good kind of hurt. The kind of hurt you get when you pour rubbing alcohol on a cut. It stings, but you know the cut is going to get better. The ideas that Rathbun presents are needed. How to handle conflict, theological differences, and how to accept people are issues that churches need to learn how to solve. I also enjoyed Rathbun's personal stories of growing up in church, his experiences with his congregation, and the dialog with his father (a Baptist minister) in the last chapter. I fear that people will view Rathbun coming from a perspective that is deemed too dangerous. People can be pretty entrenched in "their" Christianity and everything else is either too liberal or "wishy-washy". People in churches feel that they must be "lock step" Christians. That is, to follow everything that they think their pastor or ecclesiology dictates, thus any other idea is wrong. A lot of what the book is about is really pastoral care. In a way, Rathbun is pastoring us. Gentle guiding us in a pastoral counseling session of how to be less judgmental, rigid, hateful, nasty, rude, and

Change the perception by changing the reality

[...] (excerpts) In nuChristian, Russell Rathbun addresses several of the issues presented in unChristian directly and offers up how to change our ways of thinking, attitudes, and behaviors to more align with the message of Jesus. Though he does not list out specific, practical applications--because they are not necessarily helpful. Our specific situations and interactions with people are different. They are not "one size fits all" by any means. And to offer solutions that are "one size fits all" is not only inappropriate, but it tends to belittle the significance and complexity of the problems addressed. To further personalize the complexities of the issue, this book has a built in mini-study/discussion guide. There are questions strategically placed throughout to generate further thought on topics and summary points/questions at the end of each chapter to continue further discussion. Russel Rathbun realizes that this book is not meant to be an answer to the problem. But it is meant to be another voice in the conversation. The book really drives home the idea that instead of lamenting how the "unchurched" perceive us as hypocritical, judgmental, sheltered, overly political, etc; that we need to focus on changing our behaviors to become more transparent, loving, humble, holistic, and just.