The Rise of the Nones Quotes

“Three Tasks of a Good Missionary Learn the language: educate yourself on how to talk in a way that people can understand and to which they can relate and eventually respond Study the culture: become so sensitized to that culture that you can operate effectively within it Translate the gospel: translate it into its own cultural context so that it can be heard, understood, and appropriated”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

“Unloving attitudes and words cause a “stench that the world can smell. . . . Our sharp tongues, the lack of love between us . . . these are what properly trouble the world.”17”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

“Biblical unity is about working through conflicts, avoiding slander and gossip, and being generous in spirit. It is giving each other the benefit of the doubt, distributing ample doses of grace in the midst of our sin and imperfection, and demonstrating fierce loyalty.”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

“No, they won’t respond to a better-than-them pitch. Instead, they’re much more likely to respond to a new statement of their problem and a new statement of the solution.”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

“The vast majority of those who are unchurched are not actively seeking a church home. Further, they are divorced from seeing it as a need in their life, even when they are open to and interested in spiritual things.”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

“There’s one thing that 82 percent of all unchurched people can’t seem to resist. It cuts through their defenses and penetrates their barriers. According to surveys at LifeWay Research, 82 percent of them seem to have a single weakness: if a friend, or someone they know, invites them to church. Reread that: 82 percent of all unchurched people would come to church this weekend if they were invited by a friend.2”
― James Emery White, The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated