Q & R: What Would You Tell Yourself at 25?

Here’s the Q from a young leader:

I am in Santa Cruz, Ca at Vintage Faith Church with Dan Kimball. I am part of the Protégé program, which is an internship at the church, and I have a few questions to ask. The reason I am emailing you today is because I am looking to email some of top influencers of Christianity today and ask the question.
What are a few things you know today that you wish you could tell yourself at age 25?
I see the Adult Mosaics and Busters (18-41) age group really searching on what it looks to live out life as a Christian in our society. And I want to learn about what these top influencers wish they would have known, what they would have done differently, and what information could have helped them in their journey of Christianity.
When I look at Christianity in general today I see it being very watered down because either we don’t know what Christianity is truly about, or we have morphed it into some moralistic therapeutic deism knock off and people are claiming that to be Christianity.
I want to help change this view and focus this age group to re-align their ways, faith, and desires to that of what the Bible teaches. My heart aches to draw people to who Jesus really is, and what He really taught us how to live our lives.
So…
I am asking you the question…
What are a few things you know today, which you wish you knew at the age of 25?
What could have helped you on your journey with Christ to keep you focused on what it means to be a Christian?
Lastly, do you have any other helpful tips or advice to the Adult Mosaics and Busters on how to live their lives for Christ?

Here’s the R:


Thanks for your question. I’m so glad you’re part of this program. I have great respect for Danny K. He is a good man and you’re blessed to be learning with him.
Before responding to your question, I noticed you used the phrase “moralistic therapeutic deism.” That lets me know some of what you’re reading.
Can I suggest that there’s an even greater danger influencing Christianity? That is militaristic nationalistic consumerism. Just something to think about.
OK. On to your questions:
1. What are a few things you know today, which you wish you knew at the age of 25?
– Because you’re at Vintage Faith, I’m going to assume that you’re on the more centrist or open side of Evangelicalism. At 25, I was where you are. At 25, I felt that Evangelicalism was the most vibrant – and maybe the only legitimate – form of Christianity open to me. I wish I knew how similar Evangelicalism is to all the other sectors of Christianity – in both problems, strengths, and unexplored potential. I wish I could have told myself this: “People in Evangelicalism typically fear those to their right. Don’t be afraid. The right wing doesn’t have a monopoly on truth, goodness, beauty, or God. You empower what you fear, so do not be afraid of human beings.”
2. What could have helped you on your journey with Christ to keep you focused on what it means to be a Christian?
– Reading the Gospels. Making Jesus central – Jesus understood in his historical context, not framed by our systematic theologies.
– Focusing on the heart … love for God and love for neighbor, stranger, outcast, outsider, and enemy.
– Knowing and serving among the poor. Everything in our culture segregates us, so people of privilege need to make special efforts to escape from the 1 percent (or 10 percent or whatever) to see life from the perspective of those in need. (Think of Moses – who consciously chose to leave the privilege of Pharoah’s household.)
– Being a human being. The temptation to become a “religious personage” is a great danger – especially for emerging leaders.
3. Lastly, do you have any other helpful tips or advice to the Adult Mosaics and Busters on how to live their lives for Christ?
– Learn everything you can about private personal spiritual practices.
– Don’t underestimate the importance of your stage of life on your thinking and outlook. Unless you box yourself in, your greatest discoveries in the ways of Christ are still ahead of you.
– You will never grow up. You will never stop learning. Many things you say and do at 30 or 35 will look arrogant, naive, and questionable twenty years later. But that’s how life goes, and that’s how we grow. So do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.