WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:04.250 Are you concerned about your kids, your grandkids? 00:00:04.549 --> 00:00:07.809 Has the culture of today swallowed up the faith 00:00:07.809 --> 00:00:10.949 of so many? Is there hope? Well, there is. Stay 00:00:10.949 --> 00:00:12.710 with me. That's today on Living on the Edge. 00:00:17.730 --> 00:00:20.449 Welcome to this edition of Living on the Edge 00:00:20.449 --> 00:00:23.910 with Chip Ingram. We are an international discipleship 00:00:23.910 --> 00:00:26.269 ministry devoted to helping Christians worldwide 00:00:26.269 --> 00:00:29.089 live out their faith for the glory of God and 00:00:29.089 --> 00:00:32.020 the benefit of all people. I'm Dave Drewy. And 00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:34.079 as you heard Chip tease, today we're focusing 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.840 on an issue at the front of many believers' minds 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.039 right now, the next generation. Over the next 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:42.320 two programs, Chip sits down with his friend 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.920 Aaron Pierce to talk about this pressing subject. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.119 Aaron leads a ministry called Steiger, an international 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:50.719 missions organization that intentionally shares 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.640 the gospel with young people all over the globe. 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:56.340 The two will discuss the impact of Aaron's book, 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.219 Not Beyond Reach. and highlight the powerful 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:02.579 stories of lives being transformed. But today, 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:04.900 Aaron shares his heart for the global youth and 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:07.700 how Steiger began. So with that, here's Jim. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:12.819 Well, thanks so much, Dave. My heart beats for 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:16.140 and cares so deeply for the next generation. 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.719 It is so challenging to be a young person, to 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:22.459 know and walk with Jesus Christ, and to really 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:24.560 make a difference, to be a genuine follower. 00:01:25.209 --> 00:01:27.950 As many of you know, I have 12 grandkids, one 00:01:27.950 --> 00:01:30.310 that's 20 all the way down to four years old. 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:33.290 And what we all know is that we have a generation, 00:01:33.530 --> 00:01:37.189 almost 70%, that in recent years has walked away 00:01:37.189 --> 00:01:39.849 from the faith. The researchers, whether it's 00:01:39.849 --> 00:01:42.870 Pew or Barna or others, have told us that inside 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:45.709 Bible -believing homes, evangelical churches, 00:01:45.989 --> 00:01:49.650 about 68 % of those kids, after high school, 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:53.719 five years down the road, are disengaging or 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.500 leaving the faith. Something fundamentally is 00:01:56.500 --> 00:02:00.099 wrong. On top of that, we have a global youth 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:04.180 culture with the onset of social media and a 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:06.959 set of values and all the things that are happening 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.199 that we all see and feel and are bombarded by. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.780 Where's the hope? Where's the Lord? And I want 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:16.280 you to know that I have a good friend. His name 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.680 is Aaron Pierce. He leads along with a great 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:22.620 team, Steiger Ministry. We've known each other 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:26.479 directly or indirectly for almost 20 years. And 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:28.240 the difference between he and I is that he's 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.639 a young man. I think he's about 40 now. And I'm 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:34.759 an older man. And God has something that he put 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.180 on both of our hearts around hope for the next 00:02:37.180 --> 00:02:41.080 generation. And I've watched this ministry. connect 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.379 with the global youth and see people that many 00:02:44.379 --> 00:02:46.419 of us would think there's no hope. They're so 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:49.960 far from God. There is absolutely no way. And 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:52.639 I've watched this ministry grow and multiply 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.580 into about 100 cities around the world. And what 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:59.759 I've watched is God's hand on a young man and 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.860 a ministry that really understands the paradigm, 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.620 the philosophy, the way, if you will, to reach 00:03:06.620 --> 00:03:09.120 irreligious people, the global youth that are 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.469 far, far from God. And so, Aaron, welcome to 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:15.430 the program. Thank you, Chip. It's so exciting, 00:03:15.530 --> 00:03:17.550 such an honor to do this with you, and I'm just 00:03:17.550 --> 00:03:19.389 excited to see what God is going to do with all 00:03:19.389 --> 00:03:22.650 of this. Well, I just want to jump right out 00:03:22.650 --> 00:03:26.610 of the gate and ask you, why are you so passionate 00:03:26.610 --> 00:03:29.849 about today's global youth? And what is it that 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:33.370 is this drive in your heart, this hope that you 00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:35.569 have for what's happening all around the world? 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.120 Millions, literally millions and millions of 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:44.259 young people all over the world and also those 00:03:44.259 --> 00:03:47.139 right here in our own country that are being... 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:50.240 destroyed by the lies of the world. You know, 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.139 we have this global youth culture, young people 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:56.259 all over the planet that are influenced by similar 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:58.659 voices. They're listening to the same music, 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:00.800 following the same social media influencers, 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.860 playing the same video games. And all of this 00:04:03.860 --> 00:04:06.939 is not just entertaining, it's shaping a worldview. 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.699 And 2 Corinthians 4 says the God of this age 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:13.360 has blinded the minds of unbelievers. And the 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.759 God of this age is something called secular humanism. 00:04:16.970 --> 00:04:19.430 And this idea that God has been replaced, man 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:22.250 is at the center, and there's no outside authority 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:25.189 to which I have to submit myself. Nobody can 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:29.050 tell me what to do. It's the era of my truth 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:32.949 and all identity and purpose and morality. These 00:04:32.949 --> 00:04:35.209 things are so fundamental to life. These are 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:37.990 now self -constructed. They're not things that 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:40.029 I discover in God. They're things that I define. 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:43.529 And so it's this era where we think we're finding 00:04:43.529 --> 00:04:46.889 liberation and freedom, but the truth the consequences 00:04:46.889 --> 00:04:49.649 are actually devastating. So we have this global 00:04:49.649 --> 00:04:53.610 youth culture that is confused and sexually broken 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:57.269 and anxious and depressed and lonely. Loneliness 00:04:57.269 --> 00:05:01.250 being an epidemic globally today. And so we have 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:04.009 these things and it makes sense when you consider 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:06.529 the worldview because if you're the source of 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:09.449 truth, you're going to end up confused. And if 00:05:09.449 --> 00:05:11.370 there are no rules, then you're going to end 00:05:11.370 --> 00:05:14.670 up broken. If there's no anchor in the storm, 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:16.959 then you're going to end up anxious and depressed. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.019 And if it's all about you, you're going to end 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:23.139 up lonely. And so this is the cry of a generation, 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:26.240 this culture and generation that is overwhelmed 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.519 with loneliness, anxiety, and depression. And 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.019 here's what breaks my heart. Here's what fuels 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:34.379 my motivation is they are not looking to the 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:37.870 church. for answers, even though we have the 00:05:37.870 --> 00:05:41.029 ultimate answers to these things, right? Jesus 00:05:41.029 --> 00:05:43.990 brings truth to the confused. He brings healing 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:46.970 to the sexually broken. He brings the ultimate 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:49.750 relationship with the creator, and he brings 00:05:49.750 --> 00:05:51.629 peace that transcends understanding. We have 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:55.500 the answers to the cry of a generation. And Aaron, 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.480 I think to be fair, many of the youth would say, 00:05:58.579 --> 00:06:01.600 I don't see that. I didn't see that growing up 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:04.600 in church. You know, I went to a Christian school 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:07.040 or my parents dropped me off at church or I went 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.660 to a youth group and it didn't seem real. It 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:12.920 wasn't authentic. I feel like, you know, I went 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.180 away to school or, you know, I got out on my 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:17.040 own and a lot of things that people said were 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.379 terrible and wrong. And, you know, I met people 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:21.459 that were supposed to be the bad people and they 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:24.540 were actually. really nice and very concerned. 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:27.740 And so something's deeply broken, not just in 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:30.180 this generation, but I think we at the church 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:33.319 have to recognize, and we as parents and grandparents 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:37.000 have kind of taken this us and them. What's wrong 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.639 with them? They went away to school and now they 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:42.600 think this or believe this or vote this way or 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.500 that way. And we've got this polarization. And 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:48.000 I think one of the reasons I want people to hear 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.720 the message that you have that's proven. I mean, 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.500 it's you all have done this with the people that 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.000 are the farthest from God. And yet when they 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.160 saw and heard and connected to the love of Christ 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:04.420 in the way that you all have presented it, it's 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:06.240 made all the difference in the world. So tell 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.259 me a little bit about. Your story and your journey, 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.360 I find when people listen to messages, Aaron, 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:16.379 it's in a context. And I trust you. I know you. 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:18.980 I've watched your life. I've been connected. 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:22.279 I want you to share a little bit about what were 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:24.699 the influences. Where did you grow up? How did 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:28.769 you grow up? created this sense of real hope 00:07:28.769 --> 00:07:33.029 and has caused you and your team to go all around 00:07:33.029 --> 00:07:35.829 the world and see God work in places that I think 00:07:35.829 --> 00:07:38.350 most people right now think it's a lost cause. 00:07:38.610 --> 00:07:42.389 Yeah. So I was actually born and raised in Amsterdam. 00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:46.069 in the Netherlands. And we lived, my family lived 00:07:46.069 --> 00:07:48.449 in a small little apartment in the center of 00:07:48.449 --> 00:07:51.129 the city near the infamous Red Light District. 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:55.089 And my parents were there, they're American missionaries 00:07:55.089 --> 00:07:58.149 serving in Amsterdam, and they had a heart to 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:00.589 reach young people of Amsterdam that would not 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:02.829 walk into a church. And when you think about 00:08:02.829 --> 00:08:04.670 a city like Amsterdam, I mean, that pretty much 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:07.750 describes all young people, right? They see these 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:10.949 big, beautiful cathedrals, and they're essentially 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:14.470 museums. dead and empty on Sunday. And so that 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:17.930 becomes the view of God, right? It's an irrelevant 00:08:17.930 --> 00:08:22.050 relic of the past. And so that was a lot of the 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:24.769 perspective that they were dealing with in Amsterdam. 00:08:24.930 --> 00:08:27.470 And so what my dad did is he would take a small 00:08:27.470 --> 00:08:31.430 group of people and they would go to the nightclubs 00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:33.809 and the bars and they would, late at night, and 00:08:33.809 --> 00:08:35.809 they would befriend people and they would share 00:08:35.809 --> 00:08:37.850 Jesus with them. And then they would write the 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:40.049 names of everyone that they met and they would 00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:43.289 go out into the forest. late at night. And they 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:45.590 would pray over these people and say, God, would 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.250 you give us a breakthrough in this city? And 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:50.169 that was the foundation where God really broke 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:52.450 their heart for the people. And then in prayer, 00:08:52.649 --> 00:08:55.830 God gave them a strategy, a way to reach these 00:08:55.830 --> 00:08:58.970 people. And so my dad, who's the founder of our 00:08:58.970 --> 00:09:02.110 organization, Steiger, he felt led by the Lord 00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:05.590 to start a musical band. This was in the 80s 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:08.350 in Amsterdam. And this was the height of the 00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:11.399 punk rock movement. That was the social movement 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.320 of the time. It was with shaping culture. And 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:19.200 so my dad felt led to start a band as a way to 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.899 use the stage to communicate the message of the 00:09:21.899 --> 00:09:25.779 cross in secular places. And it was based on 00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:28.460 the biblical idea that Paul said he preached 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:31.779 Christ and him crucified so that people would 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:34.899 not be convinced by human wisdom, but by God's 00:09:34.899 --> 00:09:37.480 power. power and that the message of the cross 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.779 is where God's power is. And when you lift it 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:42.940 up in relevant ways in secular places, God moves. 00:09:43.299 --> 00:09:45.740 And so they did this. And right from the beginning, 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:49.100 God's favor was on this band. And they started 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:51.100 to get opportunities to play in these bars and 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:53.580 clubs where they were already known because they'd 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:55.919 been there relationally. And they understood 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.720 the cry of the heart of the people there. And 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:00.740 so they could communicate the gospel clearly 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:04.399 in that context. And suddenly they saw many people. 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:06.879 coming to Jesus in that environment. It was almost 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.379 overwhelming. And so what they did is they had 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:12.940 a Bible study on a big red boat behind the central 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:16.620 train station in Amsterdam. And the address of 00:10:16.620 --> 00:10:20.409 this boat was... Pier 14, and the Dutch word 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:24.149 for pier is steiger. And it became this ministry 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:27.590 that was reaching and discipling young people 00:10:27.590 --> 00:10:29.929 of Amsterdam that would not walk into a church. 00:10:30.090 --> 00:10:32.190 And that was the beginning. And that was the 00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:35.070 environment that I got to grow up in, which was 00:10:35.070 --> 00:10:38.049 an incredible environment because I saw that 00:10:38.049 --> 00:10:41.009 God was real and that he had the power to transform 00:10:41.009 --> 00:10:44.950 lives. A quick story, my dad, the band started 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:46.990 to get opportunities to go outside of Amsterdam. 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:49.509 Amsterdam. So they went to communist Poland and 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:51.450 the Soviet Union and eventually all over the 00:10:51.450 --> 00:10:54.309 world. And they began to share the message in 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:57.070 these secular places and people were reached 00:10:57.070 --> 00:10:59.830 and Christians were inspired and it sparked a 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:02.470 movement called Steiger. And I got to experience 00:11:02.470 --> 00:11:05.350 that. My dad would take me and my brother, my 00:11:05.350 --> 00:11:07.210 brother Ben, who's also a part of the mission, 00:11:07.350 --> 00:11:10.190 and he would take us as young kids on tour with 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:13.309 him. And we'd be in some nightclub in Eastern 00:11:13.309 --> 00:11:16.009 Europe somewhere. And at some point he would 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:19.169 bring us on stage and he would say to the crowd, 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:22.830 he would say, these are my sons. I love them. 00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:25.730 There's nothing I wouldn't do for them. Everything 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:28.690 that I have is theirs. And if someone tried to 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:30.889 hurt them, I would protect them with my life. 00:11:31.250 --> 00:11:33.190 And then he would say, and that is how God feels 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:36.500 about you. And he would equate a father's love 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:38.639 for his children with God's love for them and 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.919 then share the gospel. And in that context, I 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.399 saw tough people with tears in their eyes praying 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.419 to receive Jesus. And when you experience something 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:52.340 like that as a kid, I mean, it ruins you in the 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:55.159 best possible way because you see that. that 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:57.820 this is not just religious activity, but that 00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:00.539 God is real and he can transform lives. So that 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:04.820 was like foundational to my call. And it was 00:12:04.820 --> 00:12:07.679 also the birth of this global missions organization 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:11.299 called Steiger that's all about mobilizing followers 00:12:11.299 --> 00:12:13.340 of Jesus to reach young people who would not 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:16.220 walk into a church. Well, let me kind of talk 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:19.039 back a few things that you shared because the 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:22.320 roots started with not here's a new method. Here's 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.220 what we're going to do. Here's a pamphlet to 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:28.240 share with someone. It started out of brokenness. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.379 It reminds me of Nehemiah, where when it seems 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:35.259 so impossible, he wept and he fasted and he prayed 00:12:35.259 --> 00:12:39.139 and he recognized that in and of himself. There 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:42.139 is absolutely no way. The second, what I heard 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:44.759 was long before there was a band or people coming 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:48.879 to Jesus, it was friendship. It was real relationships 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.279 and it took effort and it didn't sound like it 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.000 was an easy time of the day. Like bars don't 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:58.039 get going till 10, 11, midnight, one in the morning. 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:00.820 And it wasn't just a relationship where, oh, 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.529 I met you and now I'm going to, hey. Would you 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:05.529 like to come to Jesus? This is what he did. There's 00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:09.289 this sense of genuine, deep, authentic care. 00:13:09.590 --> 00:13:13.710 And then fast forward with me. You have teams 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:17.070 in about 100 cities all across the globe. Help 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.309 me understand a little bit about what it looks 00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:23.629 like for Steiger today. Yeah. And actually, we're 00:13:23.629 --> 00:13:26.210 already active in about 150 cities around the 00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:29.429 world. And it's just a move of God. And I define 00:13:29.429 --> 00:13:31.470 move of God as something we can't take credit 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:34.440 for. He's doing it. And so fundamentally, our 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.870 heart is to train the church. because we love 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:39.370 the church and we want to see the church reach 00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:41.750 this culture that's all around them. And then 00:13:41.750 --> 00:13:44.570 we want to mobilize the next generation of Christian 00:13:44.570 --> 00:13:48.330 leaders to fuel an evangelism and discipleship 00:13:48.330 --> 00:13:52.149 movement that is youth and young adult led. And 00:13:52.149 --> 00:13:55.850 then out of that to establish long -term missionary 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:59.169 teams that are specialists at reaching the global 00:13:59.169 --> 00:14:01.250 youth culture of their city. And so what these 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:03.669 city teams and these Catholic ministries that 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:06.700 we develop do is I mean, you described it fundamentally. 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:09.779 First, it starts by desperately seeking God, 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:12.059 where he breaks our heart for the lost and he 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:14.399 fuels it with his power. We can't do it in our 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.200 own strength, but then we need to go where people 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:21.580 are. The big paradigm shift in reaching a secular 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:24.419 culture and reaching this generation is we've 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:27.240 got to adopt a missionary mindset. And that means... 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.419 going where they are and developing relationships 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:33.639 with people who are far from God, who don't see 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:35.980 the world like we do, and really understanding 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:40.159 them so that we can communicate boldly, but also 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.879 relevantly, the gospel message in a language 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:45.259 that they can understand. And then recognizing 00:14:45.259 --> 00:14:47.460 that those that we encounter, those that meet 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:51.460 Jesus, pathway from that place to when they walk 00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:53.820 into a church is longer than it used to be. And 00:14:53.820 --> 00:14:56.039 so we create models of discipleship relationships 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.840 that walk people into the church. So fundamentally 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:01.740 what we're doing, and we love to use creative 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:04.980 gifts to go to secular places, share the gospel 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:07.320 through music and art, but other creative ways 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:10.240 as well. And it's all about how can I communicate 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.399 the message of the cross in secular places where 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:15.600 young people are that would not walk into a church 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:19.090 and then create these discipleship places that 00:15:19.090 --> 00:15:22.169 foster a journey that walks them into a relationship 00:15:22.169 --> 00:15:24.649 with God and walks them into the church. So we're 00:15:24.649 --> 00:15:27.070 doing this in cities all over the world in various 00:15:27.070 --> 00:15:30.190 ways. But fundamentally, it's just a move of 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.169 God that he's doing. And Aaron, I think to be 00:15:33.169 --> 00:15:35.450 fair, I think there's a lot of our listeners 00:15:35.450 --> 00:15:37.769 right now are thinking, you know, this sounds 00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:40.610 really radical and out there. I just want to 00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:42.490 have a conversation with my granddaughter because 00:15:42.490 --> 00:15:46.389 I don't get, I really don't get that. She just 00:15:46.389 --> 00:15:48.610 doesn't believe in God anymore or doesn't have 00:15:48.610 --> 00:15:51.250 any interest in church. Give me some pictures 00:15:51.250 --> 00:15:54.830 of sort of what has happened, but then why do 00:15:54.830 --> 00:15:57.490 you think it's happened? Well, I think, you know, 00:15:57.490 --> 00:15:59.970 part of it is you look at the U .S. context that 00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:02.129 we're in, for example, and we have this rich 00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:06.419 history of— in many ways, a Christian nation 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:10.340 where most people identified as a Christian, 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:12.460 had a positive view of the church. They saw the 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.320 Bible as a good moral guide. And so it was in 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.379 that context that a lot of our amazing evangelists 00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:21.539 and missions from the past would engage culture. 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:24.860 And it was Billy Graham could fill stadiums and 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.980 speak about what the Bible says. And it drew 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:29.840 people and it connected and many people were 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.419 reached. Well, problem is that culture shifted. 00:16:33.129 --> 00:16:35.549 And largely due to the influence of the global 00:16:35.549 --> 00:16:38.610 youth culture and the religiously unaffiliated 00:16:38.610 --> 00:16:40.570 being the fastest growing religious group in 00:16:40.570 --> 00:16:43.110 our country. And with that is not only a change 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:47.629 in affiliation, meaning like Gen Z is about 50 00:16:47.629 --> 00:16:51.000 % religiously unaffiliated today. But it's not 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.720 just affiliation, it's attitude as well. Their 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.980 attitude has changed from predominantly positive 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.419 and in an environment to where you could invite 00:16:59.419 --> 00:17:02.039 them to come to a Christian event to increasingly 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:06.200 apathetic at best, if not outright hostile at 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.940 worst. And a lot of it has to do with just, you 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:11.799 know, cultural, political, us versus them stuff 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.799 that gets in the way. But the problem with that 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.279 is that they're less likely to come to our events. 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:18.660 They're less likely to engage in the kind of 00:17:18.660 --> 00:17:20.809 models of evangelism. that we've used in the 00:17:20.809 --> 00:17:22.789 past. And so the paradigm shift is we got to 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:25.769 go to them. And so it's really not that different. 00:17:25.890 --> 00:17:29.529 It's just going where people are, whether it's 00:17:29.529 --> 00:17:32.990 a band that uses music or people that like, we 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:35.650 have so many stories of people that are engaging 00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:39.529 people in places like, you know, bars or just 00:17:39.529 --> 00:17:43.029 community groups or hobbies and the spheres of 00:17:43.029 --> 00:17:45.549 influence that you have in your world where you'll 00:17:45.549 --> 00:17:48.990 interact with people who won't walk into a church. 00:17:49.069 --> 00:17:51.690 but yet they're hungry for connection. They're 00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:55.210 hungry for belonging. And so there's an opportunity 00:17:55.210 --> 00:17:57.710 to go to people, build authentic relationships 00:17:57.710 --> 00:18:00.869 in their environment, and then use that as a 00:18:00.869 --> 00:18:03.230 way to start spiritual conversations that leads 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:05.730 them to Jesus. So we've seen this in all kinds 00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:08.809 of environments from, yeah, the extreme, you 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:13.579 know, parades and... in clubs and bars, but also 00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:16.680 at work or at a neighborhood group or at a soccer 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.440 field where my kids are playing. kinds of environments 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.819 where you can interact with people that won't 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:26.000 walk into a church today, who are far from God 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.980 and being there in order to develop a relationship 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:31.339 with them, to really understand them, know them 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:33.819 and what's going on in their heart. And what 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:36.039 you find is as you do that, people begin to open 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:39.500 up. People are very hungry to have conversations 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:42.579 that are meaningful and deep. And so it starts 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:47.680 by being present. I think when I read your book, 00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:52.289 One of the biggest differences I see is a very 00:18:52.289 --> 00:18:56.509 different mindset about what our role is. The 00:18:56.509 --> 00:19:01.269 idea that just being a nice person, hoping somehow 00:19:01.269 --> 00:19:04.950 my coworkers will see some difference in me, 00:19:05.150 --> 00:19:08.789 inviting them to, oh, it's Easter or it's Christmas. 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:12.470 I think what I see is there's a very intentional, 00:19:12.710 --> 00:19:16.029 I'm going to build a relationship with no agenda 00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:19.430 about. Um, when's the big moment when I'm going 00:19:19.430 --> 00:19:22.230 to share the gospel? It is, I'm going to care 00:19:22.230 --> 00:19:24.589 about this person. I'm going to get engaged. 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:28.309 And then I'm going to move instead of to a, what 00:19:28.309 --> 00:19:31.230 you and I might talk about a conversation about 00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:34.089 the cross and sin and salvation. I'm going to 00:19:34.089 --> 00:19:36.390 move second to a spiritual conversation. And 00:19:36.390 --> 00:19:38.230 there's a whole chapter on this that I think 00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:41.430 is so powerful where you begin to listen and 00:19:41.430 --> 00:19:44.309 begin to ask questions about what's there. What's 00:19:44.309 --> 00:19:46.190 their view? What's their picture of spirituality? 00:19:46.750 --> 00:19:49.529 Because what we know, the research is, people 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:51.990 who will not go to church now would very much 00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:55.390 consider themselves spiritual. But when you begin 00:19:55.390 --> 00:20:00.349 to probe and ask, their spirituality leads to 00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:03.490 places or is kind of a floating one that when 00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:07.029 the big issues of life, when death, the breakup. 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.589 cancer, identity issues, it leaves them wanting. 00:20:11.809 --> 00:20:15.369 And it's when we're there in those relationships 00:20:15.369 --> 00:20:20.150 with a process that allows us then to share the 00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:23.369 gospel. And you've just seen God, I mean, move 00:20:23.369 --> 00:20:26.130 in powerful ways. Tell us a little bit about 00:20:26.130 --> 00:20:30.390 why you refocused some of your energy on America 00:20:30.390 --> 00:20:33.650 when most of the ministry really was launched 00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:37.240 around the world. We started in Europe, a classic 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.160 post -Christian Europe. That was literally the 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.519 environment I grew up in. And this mission was 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:44.799 started and we were doing all this work around 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.700 the world. And then we started to see. where 00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:50.819 we came from, the U .S., going from this nominal 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:52.519 Christian nation to a post -Christian nation. 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:57.200 And many of my friends and pastors, they feel 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.000 the weight of it. They feel the problem, the 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:00.980 decline, but aren't sure what to do about it. 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:04.359 And there can almost be a sense of hopeless resignation 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.359 that this is just where it's going. And I guess 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.279 my passion is saying, I have seen God move in 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:15.319 these context. And I want to not only give tools 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:17.059 and models and approaches, but I want to give 00:21:17.059 --> 00:21:20.799 hope that this generation absolutely can be reached, 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.819 that it's not too late. And that in fact, people... 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:27.640 Even though they seem so hostile and closed, 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.880 they're actually quite hungry and open. If we 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:33.519 don't have hope that this generation can be reached, 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:35.779 then we're not going to act. And so I want to 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:39.920 instill hope and say, yes, I've seen God do this. 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:42.160 The God that is moving around the world is the 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.380 same God here, and he can move in this place 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:49.259 too. And to provide practical understanding of 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:51.299 the culture that we're in and the influences 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:53.339 and the philosophies of the global youth culture 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:55.799 and post -Christian. culture. And then, like 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:58.220 you mentioned, starting with Nehemiah 1 .4, having 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.460 a greater heart and a brokenness for this generation 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:04.380 that drives us to our knees in desperate prayer, 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:07.420 because that's the foundation for any action. 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:10.420 And then let's talk about tools and strategies 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:13.099 for engaging in spiritual conversations. And 00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:16.680 so that believers will be inspired to reach this 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:19.019 culture. And that fundamentally, the ultimate 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:21.839 goal is that there are people today, young people 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:25.230 today, that will not walk into a church, but 00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:27.630 they're going to encounter a follower of Jesus 00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:30.789 whose heart is broken, who's been praying desperately, 00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:34.369 who will share Jesus through a spiritual conversation 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:37.549 that will lead them to encounter the living God 00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:40.569 and to transform their lives. That's the ultimate 00:22:40.569 --> 00:22:42.369 goal. And I believe that that's going to happen. 00:22:45.930 --> 00:22:48.569 You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip 00:22:48.569 --> 00:22:50.690 Ingram, and we hope you've enjoyed the first 00:22:50.690 --> 00:22:52.730 half of Chip's interview with our friend Aaron 00:22:52.730 --> 00:22:55.410 Pierce. To learn more about the incredible work 00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:58.829 Aaron and his team are doing, visit Steiger .org. 00:22:59.069 --> 00:23:02.430 That's the word Steiger, S -T -E -I -G -E -R 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:06.640 dot O -R -G. And as we wrap up, let me remind 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:08.980 you that we are nearing the end of our mid -year 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.140 match. Every gift we receive between now and 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.680 June 30th will be doubled dollar for dollar. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.500 So if you want to help us reach this next generation 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:20.119 with the hope of the gospel, pray about partnering 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:24.019 with us. Visit livingontheedge .org or call us 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:29.440 at 888 -333 -6003 to give a gift. That's 888 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:36.519 -333 -6003 or go to livingontheedge .org. We'll 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.019 listen to next time as Chip continues his conversation 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:41.819 with Aaron Pierce from Steiger. Until then, I'm 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:44.119 Dave Drewy thanking you for joining us for this 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.059 edition of Living on the Edge.