Next-Gen Christians and the Alamo Line in the Sand

I'm a Texan by birth. In Texas, a key part of history is the story of the Alamo. As the story goes, the commander, Colonel William Travis, drew a line in the sand. Travis said, if you are willing to die with me, step across the line. If you want to live, stay on the other side of the line.

The odds were against those Texans. Only a couple hundred or so people against an army of over a thousand. They knew their fate. Yet everyone was willing to die for the cause. Everyone stepped across the line.

When I look across the U.S. Christian landscape today, there are many of what I am terming "Alamo" Christians. Christians in America are taking a stand and there are values we are willing to fight for. I just so happen to be one of these Alamo Christians. I believe there is a truth in God worth fighting for, and as the CEO of The Christian Post, the largest Christian news publication in the world, I am happy to report that we are fighting to let people around the world know that God is alive and at work in all areas of culture today.

(In fact, globally, many Christians are literally dying for their faith, facing ongoing persecution. We hope to rally all Christians around our new project, Persecution Daily, to tangibly reduce Christian Persecution in 2016, and tell stories of hope, love and forgiveness in the face of adversity.

And, even in the political landscape, how many lines are we seeing drawn in the sand, by candidates on both sides, again and again. In high school, I studied the Battle of Gettysburg. Both armies faced each other from opposite sides of the hill. Until one of them charged, making a final push, facing their own death. I would argue this is reminiscent of today's political landscape.

Back to the Alamo story: everyone died in the battle. However, the rest of the Texas army took up the cry, "remember the Alamo" and rallied to the cause. Ultimately, the Texans won the war.

There is a frequent cry in the West that Christianity is in decline, as if the Alamo Christians are dying in the battle to defend their faith.

Surprisingly though, I also see great hope in a new generation of Christians rising up for the cause, rallying behind the old guard, but in new and innovative ways.

Where in the past, Christians drew lines in the sand on various issues and held them firmly, I feel like the new Christians are more imbedded – more modern – more guerilla. The next-gen Christians are what I term "Guerilla" Christians.

In modern day battles, terrorists recruit using social media and fight using guerilla tactics. Armies fight using drones flown remotely. As Christians, we need to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. We can use the serpents same tactics, for good – social media, guerilla marketing, technology.

I find hope that Christians are salted throughout the pinnacle areas of media, business and entertainment: Lecrae in the hip hop scene; Dudeperfect on YouTube; Stephen Curry in sports; Zach King in social media. Numerous other examples exist.

Behind the scenes, I find comfort that Christians are at work imbedded in major mainstream media outlets. Pastors are reaching into Hollywood and preaching to megastars like Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and others. I've met Christians working behind the scenes with the most cutting edge political campaigns and technologies.

In 2016, I would love to see Christians in all the cutting edge areas of culture to rise up – and cause Christianity to be cool. We will also try to play our part in this strategy, as we launch Christian Times, which will focus on the edgy trends of Christianity. Who knows, the fire of revival might breakout in 2016 from areas the world least expects it – within their own cultural strongholds of Hollywood, media, entertainment, business and politics. With Christian Times, we will spotlight Christians in these areas, highlighting their lives as a rallying call to all Christians everywhere to express their gifts with the greatest levels of excellence, and as a testament to how the Holy Spirit lives on. As other Christians fight the culture wars, the landscape is cleared for God to work in our generation through new and creative expressions of God's love in the lives of young people, influencers and role-models.

Yet ultimately, as Christians, we can't just be cool in the world's eyes. Ultimately, we need to be willing to lay down our lives for our cause, even at the expense of cultural admiration.

However, we do need to rally to the call of Christ in culture. Let's resolve in 2016 to make a firm stand for Christ – willing to fight for truth in love – while simultaneously adopting cutting edge, next-gen tactics. The Bible says he who knows God's word is an expert in both the old and the new. Let's be firm Alamo Christians in our belief in Jesus Christ and our Christian faith, yet also be Guerilla Christians who are cutting edge in our approach. Using these tactics, let's resolve to make 2016 a year of great revival in the church.