What are the Biggest Challenges to the Gospel in RDU?
I have made it a point to "study" the things I love. I am a student of my wife. I want to learn how she thinks, what she likes, and what makes her react the way she does in certain situations.
I also want to be that way with the city in which God has planted me to minister. It says in Acts 17 that Paul "saw the idolatry of Athens," was provoked by it and then spoke out against it. Being an effective witness to the Gospel in the area in which we've been planted means understanding the "idols" that our culture holds on to.
Knowing our particular city is crucially important. Mark Twain once remarked that if you live in NYC, the question is "How much do you make?," if you live in Boston it is, "How much do you know?," and if you live in Philadelphia it is "What family are you from?" In other words, the idols of NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia are money, knowledge and pedigree, respectively.
What are they in RDU? I do my best to read local periodicals and stay as up as I can with RDU culture, but I think you probably have some perspective I don't. What do you see? What are the biggest obstacles to the Gospel?
So far, I think the biggest three are:
- "busy-ness": people are just too into doing junk and are so distracted with toys, sports, and entertainment that they just don't have time to think through life's most important matters. That's an all-over-America phenomena, but it seems especially bad in RDU.
- "upward mobility": that seems to be what is underlying a lot of business and career in this area. It is a common theme in commercials.
- "knowledge": we seem particularly impressed with academic pedigrees and looking sophisticated.
What else do you see?
