Erwin McManus

The bulk of our community is probably between the ages of 20 and 34. ”

If we keep asking the wrong questions, we are just going to get better wrong answers. The solution to lack of community isn't to give up on the community. ”

From the beginning, our community has been focused on people outside of Christianity. But that emphasis means that a lot of hard work is represented in every person who is baptized. ”

My primary assessment would be because American Christians tend to be incredibly self-indulgent, so they see the church as a place there for them to meet their needs and to express faith in a way that is meaningful for them. ”

So much of what comes out of the faith community seems so dour and somber, and we want to say, 'Hey, we're real people. You can be a person of faith and really enjoy life and laugh.' ”

One trend I see is the rejection of growth for self-discovery and the pursuit of authentic community. So we keep whittling our spiritual community to a smaller and smaller and more exclusive inner circle. The problem is if the diagnoses are wrong, so will be the cure. ”

The word 'entertain' means to hold someone's attention, and what we want is a faith that is vibrant and alive and beautiful and real. ”

I know it sounds crazy, but as soon as Christians start telling non-Christians how to live their lives, we've lost the Christian faith. ”

I have an incredible confidence in the resilience of the human spirit and the creative ability of the Holy Spirit. So, if you can get people asking the right questions, it really will start moving in the right direction. ”

I have so much confidence in the reality of Jesus that I feel no pressure to try to make people act or be a certain way. I'm banking everything on the fact that God actually changes people. ”