If you want to make some money in the Christian world, write a book about simple Christianity. Tell us what the basics are; describe the core of the Christian life. True Christians want to be good disciples, and questions about “the essential practices of the faith” are essentially discipleship questions. To avoid the buzzword of simplicity, we can ask the question this way. It helped me understand what we are hungry for, and maybe it will help you too.

There are at least two ideologies that American Christians have absorbed in the 20th century that have harmed our ability to think in biblical categories. These ideas seem innocent, but when placed against the standard of Scripture, they are revealed to be bankrupt. We have absorbed individualism and globalism.

Is it right or wrong for a Christian to have enemies? This may be a clumsy way to ask the question, but it gets us thinking. No, we might say; Christians are not allowed to go out and create enemies out of strangers, or to do things we know will create resentment in another person. Our job is to live peaceably with all men (Rom. 12:18). If someone is really upset with us, we are to respond to their evil with good (Rom. 12:21).

One of the reasons we have Strength for Life is to help prepare Christians for potential martyrdom. The role of Biblical pastors, in part, is to cultivate strong Christians who are deeply rooted in their Christian faith, to the point that they understand why the message of the Bible is worth dying for, and that they are committed to following and believing it if martyrdom is ever required.