Godpleasingway
The Way
It is no secret that Christianity in the West is in decline. Church attendance is down, as is the number of people who identify as Christian. The whole notion of Christianity has seemed to have lost its appeal to a growing number of people, especially the younger generations. Several reasons for this decline have been suggested, but somehow the current presentation of Christianity is not connecting with these individuals.
​
When we compare this current slow decline with the explosive growth of early Christianity, we have to ask what the difference could be. The most obvious answer is the difference in messaging. While the early church had a simple message, current Christianity in the West has a rather muddled message with various sets of beliefs and religious practices.
I have structured this book as series of steps that lead to a fuller understanding of Jesus’s message in the Sermon on the Mount and how to implement these steps into one’s daily life. I begin with an examination of how we got to where we are now in terms of the state of Christianity as a whole. This involves exploring why Jesus’s message was so revolutionary, how it spread throughout the Roman world, how it evolved over time, and finally the current reality of an increased number of people claiming no religious preference. Then we will look at each section of the Sermon on the Mount and what each section means and how we can follow the message of Jesus’s teaching in our daily lives to live a God-pleasing life.