Knowing who we are as sons and daughters is the starting point to evangelization. In this podcast, Jason sits down with Pete Burak from Intentional Disciples to talk about identity, authenticity, and reaching millennials who are leaving the Church. We talk about the importance of community in understanding our identity and the power of the gospel to shift the genre of our own narrative.
*The Important Things: *
- 5:20 - We’re dramatically declining as a Church when it comes to Millenials and Gen Z. Only 10-15% of self-identified Millennial Catholics are going to Mass every week
- 12:50 - The starting point of changing this culture starts with us, knowing Jesus, and living out the life of a disciple authentically. Our culture has an incredible radar for this and if our lives and hearts don’t reflect authentic faith and walk in Christ, we will not only be ignored but categorized as hypocritical.
- 17:00 - Knowing our identity is critical to evangelization. One of the great lies of the age is that we get to curate it for ourselves.
- 19:00 - In scripture, when Adam and Even take what was meant to be a gift, everything falls apart. When we receive our identity, everything flows in the right order. When we don’t, we grasp for our identity and it can all fall apart.
- 20:35 - Out of relationships, we understand what it means to be loved by Christ and who we are in Him.
- 23:18 - When there is a lack of authenticity, people don’t believe this message. They see a disconnect between our lives and what we’re saying.
- 24:15 - In culture, there used to be Christian dots in people’s hearts and ministry was the mode in which we connected them. But that’s not true anymore. We’re not creating those dots anymore. People define their own meaning, gender, truth, etc. and it’s leaving us miserable.
- 26:00 - When we lose ourselves, we find it. Submitting your will to the will of the Father in an act of faith and when we live this out, we treat each other better. It’s a more just, righteous, and loving society. But when everyone is defining their own meaning, it conflicts with society’s message that everyone is included. The different worldviews shut others down.
- 28:39 - Tribalism rises up where we seek out people who are safe and run from those who are unsafe. But having a tribe or a community actually helps us understand who we are in Christ’s image more fully. We need other people to reflect the heart of God to us.
- 35:16 - Jesus was incarnated and came at a particular time, place, people, and way of life in order to accomplish the mission God had put before Him. We have to think about that for us. Who are we called to incarnate with? This is necessary to discern evangelization. Evangelization is not something that we go out there to do but live right where we are. We have to have open eyes to see where He’s moving so that we have genuine interaction and bear witness to our lives, that we’re living through Jesus.
- 41:00 - Who are the people who like to be around you already? Start to manifest and incarnate Jesus in those relationships and see what the Holy Spirit has to do. Another key part is spirit-filled leadership.
- 42:50 - We have to be building the Kingdom in the first place, in our home. If we can’t do it there, how can we do it anywhere else? Working harder is not what God calls us into, it’s more about trusting HIm more.
- 55:15 - It’s not about finding a solution that scales but living by principles of evangelization.
- 58:30 - Programs are not the silver bullet to solving ministry problems. Our focus should be the individual and using programs and events to serve those people’s needs. We can have vision for the 99 but we can never lose sight of the one.
- 1:04:18 - The modern mind is attracted to the narrative. We have to start telling stories and helping people shift the narrative of their life through the story of the gospel.
List & Resources
Research shows that children frame their identity through which their parents see them - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2008.00567.x
Intentional Disciples - https://www.intentionaldisciples.net/
The Hour - https://anchor.fm/thehour
Pete Burak - https://www.instagram.com/peteburak/
*Show Notes *
In this episode we talk about the need for evangelization based on principles and not programs. We talk about starting with our own relationship with Jesus and letting that overflow of relationship with God and others be our starting point for evangelization.
- We have to know who we are as sons and daughters of Christ first and foremost, and then live out authentic discipleship to Jesus in our lives.
- Out of relationships, we understand what it means to be loved by Christ and who we are in Him.
- We are called to first be on mission right where we are: with our family and friends.
- Programs are not the solution to a ministry problem but what we use to serve the individual.
