The “Good Guys’ chose loving one another as their strategy. They included practical ideas such as “praying for one another, mentoring new believers, holding each other accountable, and friendship evangelism.”

The “Bad Guys” strategy was to keep believers from doing what God wants. So their list included “causing divisions through arguments, encouraging power struggles, encouraging people to think of their own needs, making church leaders look foolish and the church irrelevant, etc.”

The exercise was revealing. We concluded that, with a few exceptions, the “Bad Guys” are winning the battle here in North America. The thought made us uneasy, yet we were also genuinely puzzled as to how we could make a difference.

Today, I feel that same uncertainty. I know Christ has put me here to tell others about him, but the task is too immense for me to tackle alone….

Read the entire article " Good Guys, Bad Guys, and a Longing for the Kingdom" as a pdf file.

(This is the 4th article in a series of 4 called "21st Century Pilgrim" articles. They were first published in the Canadian Baptist in 1994.)

Read the rest of this 4-part series:

"But What About Those Gates of Hell?" as a pdf. 1st in the series of 4 "21st Century Pilgrim" articles.

"Mary or Martha, Which One Am I?" – 2nd in the series of 4 "21st Century Pilgrim" articles.

"What Should We Do About Those Lost Sheep, Lord?" 3rd in the series of 4 "21st Century Pilgrim" articles.