Christians in the Age of Outrage

How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst

By: Ed Stetzer

Narrated by: Wayne Shepherd

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Are you tired of reading another news story about Christians supposedly acting at their worst?

Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media.

Welcome to the new age of outrage.

In this groundbreaking book featuring new survey research of evangelicals and their relationship to the age of outrage, Ed Stetzer offers a constructive way forward. You won’t want to miss Ed’s insightful analysis of our chaotic age, his commonsensical understanding of the cultural currents, and his compelling challenge to Christians to live in a refreshingly different way.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2018 Ed Stetzer (P)2018 Oasis Audio

A Balanced Look at an Unbalanced World

This book had a very real chance to go off the deep end and contribute to the very thing it discussed but Ed Stetzer does a great job of looking at both sides of the outrage with a calm, mature, and Christian heart to encourage the church to act like Jesus. Stetzer looks at how Christians are reacting on social media, in our interactions with those of whom we disagree, and the causes we champion and asks if our stands are based off of Christian love or because we are afraid of losing our idols and place of standing in a post-Christian world. Every chapter is thought-provoking. There are numerous times I was forced to look at myself and see if the way I present myself in the digital world does a disservice to my testimony to an unbelieving world.
It is not enough to be kind and thoughtful. We must be loving, even when we disagree, because disagreement cannot be a dividing wall that tears us apart as it is currently happening. We must look beyond disagreement and see each other as image-bearers of the one and true God.
If you come angry to this book, please put the outrage aside and examine your motives and actions to see if God is speaking to you through this book. I highly recommend it for those who interact with others in a social media-driven world.
#Christianity #SelfImprovement #Reflection #Tagsgiving #Sweepstake

Relevant Topic - Too Verbose

This book could easily be 5 stars. Stetzer is the right author and it is the right topic, I am just unclear on why he is so verbose in this work. Like a 25 minute sermon preached in 60 minutes he makes his points and then gives a great deal of overwhelming data and illustrations. The key data points and scriptures with some good stories would make his points far more effective. Sadly I think a badly needed work is lost in the words.

Christian Facebook posters and Twitter users....

This book will disciple you to Godly consideration of Social Media origination and response to others. It is to your benefit (and mine) to understand biblical perspective on how these new tools can be changed confidently used for the Glory of God.

Just What We Need Today

There are a few times when I’ve read a book and thought, “Have they been reading my mind? This is what I have wished I could say but wouldn’t have been able to put it into words like this.” This is one of those books. Ed Stetzer is executive director of the Billy Graham Center and Dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College and writes from a Christian perspective. In the Author’s own words, “This is a book about outrage. It’s an acknowledgment that our world, or at least our part of it, seems awash in anger, division, and hostility. Outrage is all around, so we have to decide how to walk through this. We are living in a day—and this is indeed our moment—when we need to live like Christ, as gospel Christians in the midst of shouting, anger, and hatred. And it’s going to get worse. To be sure, there is a lot in this world that is outrage inducing. Terrorism, sex trafficking and exploitation, systemic racism, illegal immigration, child poverty, opioid addiction... and the list goes on. These issues deserve a measure of outrage, don’t they? They certainly deserve our anger. And this is part of the problem. What do we do when the anger becomes too much? When our righteous indignation at injustice morphs into something completely different? How do we know when righteous anger has made the turn into unbridled outrage? These questions do not have easy answers, but they deserve our consideration if we want to be faithful disciples of Christ.”

That’s a summary of the premise of this book. This is not a book that is a one-sided analysis. There is anger everywhere. The right is outraged at those one the left who “hate our country” The left is outraged at the right for “bigotry,” “racism,” or whatever is in the news cycle of the day. We are so polarized that there is no middle ground anymore and anyone who shows empathy or is willing to admit that the “other side” has any good points is considered weak and a compromiser. Soon their inbox or FB page is filled with comments that express either outrage at them or, seemingly a bit more generously, try to help that naive person to better understand what they must have missed or the conspiracy that the media is hiding. There is no space for dialog or for anything that isn’t extreme. There is little attempt to understand or listen to the other side. They’re defined by what they assume they are against--either against the police or against racial equality, against American’s freedom from government control or against what will benefit society as a whole. No one can be for both. 

Obviously, considering who the author is, this is written from a Christian perspective, but it considers the position of both Christians and non-Christians. This first part of this book is an attempt to define the outrage (outrage by those who call themselves Christians and outrage against Christians, outrage by the left and by the right) and why it exists and is growing at this time. The second is a discussion of the lies that Christians tell themselves and that others tell about Christians, the lies that increase the outrage on both sides. The third part is about what Christians can do to get beyond the outrage that we feel and that others feel against us. In effect the solution is the gospel and discipleship. He reminds us that the issue is sin and that the only solution to sin is the gospel. We cannot expect salvation to come through chariots and horses, or, as he says, on Air Force One. The solution is not political and we can’t just assume that we can go back to a time that we think was more “Christian.” God is not powerless and in need of our help or the help of any politician, news organization, the Supreme Court, etc. The answer is only in the Gospel, in changing people’s hearts, and in changing our own. But, the only way to win the right to be heard is to also listen. That doesn’t mean compromise of our beliefs, but listening to others with respect. If we can’t listen, how can we expect them to listen to us? It means engaging others not with anger or a self-righteous attitude, but with love, with engagement in the community, with an attitude of service. It means considering what it means to live as salt and light in this world, not the world of the past. We need to be thinking, not just about how to make our church service more attractive, but making our own lives more attractive, showing and sharing the love of Jesus in a context defined by division, self-focus, and sense of past offenses. 

This is a book that I wish every Christian would read carefully and thoughtfully with a good dose of self-reflection. For myself, even as I heartily agree with Stetzer, I also am convicted by how much I have also fallen into the trap and how little I truly express the love of Jesus in word and deed.

Best book I have read in a long time

I read this book about a year and a half ago. When I did read it,I couldn't stop recommending it to others. Now on my second time around, I leave the book just has challenged by this book as I was the first time.

The biggest challenge for me is that Ed Stetzer doesn't paint any group of people with one broadstroke. It repeatedly showed me that as followers of Christ,there is always a better way to respond instead of outrage

Go listen not total agreement

I think every Christian on social media should read this book to gain insight. I don’t agree totally with his perspective in that some outrage is good. But that is a very small fraction of what is currently on display!

As outrage persists, praise God Christ is our living hope

This Book is an excellent devotional for small groups/men’s Bible study glory to God!!

Be my neighbor

Well researched and competently written treatise on Jesus command to be a neighbor to everyone. The Author gives life experiences and thoughtful insights into the traps associated with living in a barrage of outrage and cancel culture.

A book for ALL Christians

Without a doubt a timely read for the modern Christian. It’s high-time to rally around Christ’s original command to “go and make disciples” and to temper ourselves and note when the enemy is distracting us though politics, self focus, ineffective ideas, etc. Kudos Stetzer!

Much-Needed In Today's Age

Thank you, Ed Stetzer, for being a voice of reason, encouragement, and grace in this Age of Outrage in which we live. The challenge of living for Christ in our social media interactions is one we must face and conquer for the glory of God. Stetzer lays out a case for proper balance. It is a "must-read" for those of is wishing to engage the world for the sake of the Gospel.