In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Trevin Wax, Bible and Reference Publisher at Lifeway Christian Resources, general editor of The Gospel Project, and a teaching pastor in Middle Tennessee. During their conversation, they talk about the trends in Christianity for the upcoming year and discuss the following questions.

* What’s the bad news?

* What’s the good news?

* What is broken?

* What’s working?

* What is coming in 2018?

BEST QUOTES

“A lot of the bad news that has been out the last couple of years has been the decline of percentage of people in the US who identify as Christian.”

“The number of Christians in America is the highest it has ever been, but that is because the population of America continues to grow.”

“America is still a deeply religious country overall.”

“The vast majority of Americans don’t read the Bible, even those that are Christian.”

“The good news is that Americans still have a high regard for the Bible.”

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.”

“As a pastor, the Bible is the best thing you’ve got going for you.”

“Our culture is engulfed by nostalgia, the idea of a golden era of the past.”

“Nostalgia is an idealized view of the past that keeps us from really being faithful in the present.”

“It is so easy for us as people to move into maintenance mode instead of mission mode.”

“When we look at church history, we need to look at it as a treasure box, not a map.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Ministry Grid

Trevin’s Blog

Word Matters

This is Our Time by Trevin Wax

Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez