Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn't

by Stephen McAlpine

Overview

The church used to be recognized as a force for good, but this is changing rapidly. Christians are now often seen as the bad guys, losing both respect and influence.

In our post-Christian culture, how do we offer the gospel to those around us who view it as not only wrong but possibly dangerous? And how do we ensure that the secular worldview does not entice us away with its constant barrage, online and elsewhere, of messages about self-determinism?

Author Stephen McAlpine offers an analysis of how our culture ended up this way and explains key points of tension between biblical Christianity and secular culture.

He encourages Christians not to be ashamed of the gospel as it is more liberating, fulfilling and joyful than anything the world has to offer. He also offers strategies for coping in this world, with its opposing values, and for reaching out to others wisely with the truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784985981
Publisher:	The Good Book Company
Publication date:	02/01/2021
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.04(w) x 7.56(h) x 0.43(d)

About the Author

A pastor and church planter for thirty years, Stephen McAlpine now writes and speaks on issues of theology, culture and church, in particular the increasing pressures on religious belief in the secular public square. He is married to Jill, who runs a clinical psychology practice in Perth, and they have two children.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Part 1 How Did We Get to Be the Bad Guys?

1 Why This Sudden Hostility? 15

2 Why the Surprise? 31

Part 2 What Being the Bad Guys Looks Like

3 Binary Beige Versus Diverse Rainbows 45

4 Loud Power Versus Voiceless Victims 61

5 Self-Denial Versus Self-Actualisation 77

Part 3 Being the Best Bad Guy You Can Be

6 Don't Renovate the Wrong House (A Strategy for Church) 93

7 When the War Comes to You (A Strategy for the Workplace) 109

8 The City and the City 125

Afterword 141

Acknowledgements 143

Editorial Reviews

This is a challenging but necessary book. Very thought-provoking and one I'd recommend to anyone trying to engage with how the world sees Christians.

Rachel Sloan (Women's Ministry Coordinator

Stephen McAlpine doesn’t just describe the chilling change in our Western cultural climate. He also shows the way to follow Jesus through the storms.

Collin Hansen (editorial director of The Gospel Coalition and author of Young

This is a must-read for anyone grappling to understand the staggering changes in our society as all the old certainties—and notions of how we relate to each other—are suddenly swept out to sea and replaced by a strident new authoritism that seeks to drown out all dissent. McAlpine is deeply perceptive and writes with the simple clarity that only a master of complex issues can provide. At last we can find a neat and accessible explanation of what is happening in our culture.

John Anderson (Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia)

It’s undoubtedly a fallacy to think that any period of history has been static, free from any significant societal change. But it’s undoubtedly equally true that in our particular period of history we are witnessing change that is both swift and seismic. One of the most jarring changes for Christians has been our transformation from being good guys to bad guys. At a time like this we need guidance on how to live for Jesus, and that’s exactly the guidance Stephen McAlpine so aptly provides in this excellent book. (Blogger; author

As an Asian kid growing up in the West, I was never sure if my loyalty was to the Hong Kong we left behind or the Australia we now found ourselves in. This is also what it’s like to be a Christian in our new 21st- century society. Do we long for a Christendom that is no longer there? Or do we set up camp in this post-Christendom world? But what does that even look like? In Being the Bad Guys, Stephen McAlpine equips Christians to live in the new norm—a world that sees Christians as the bad guys. This is both a wake-up call and the toolkit that we need to survive and thrive. Now, just as in the times of Daniel in Babylon, is the time for us to shine.

Sam Chan (Head trainer and mentor

For too many Christians, the biggest fear is that they will be out of step with the culture; but Jesus promises that to follow him is to be, at some points, at odds with the ethos of a fallen world. Pastor Stephen McAlpine offers a refreshing call to Christian courage—and yet urges Christians to avoid rudeness and incivility. Readers will come away with both a newfound boldness to live for Christ in a confusing world and a countercultural joy that will radiate in their public and private witness.

Daniel Darling (Director of The Land Center for Cultural Engagement; author

Are we, as people who love and follow Jesus, ready to answer the questions of a hostile, secular culture, focused on determining their own identity. What about to answer those who are confused and uncertain, looking for a meaningful answer about who they are. Are we ready to engage with the suffering and struggling around us with the truth of life’s meaning, purpose and restoration through the gospel?

Amber Thiessen

With piercing insight, McAlpine skilfully draws parallels between the battles we face today in our culture and familiar Bible stories, impelling us to stand up courageously for the truth of the gospel against a tide of opposition. Through this book I have been forewarned and forearmed by the gospel, which he applies in a clear, radical, inspiring and relevant way. A timely wake-up call that has already proved invaluable in my personal witness.

Linda Allcock (Author

This is the most sensible book I’ve read in a long time! By which I mean, Stephen explains with clarity and realism how modern culture no longer sees Christian belief as quaint but views it with suspicion or worse. Yet this is no counsel of despair. Rather, it offers a truthful and faithful path forward which will give Christians confidence and grit as they hold out the word of life to a highly confused world.

Matt Fuller (Senior Pastor of Christchurch Mayfair

McAlpine is neither superficial nor simplistic. He recognises the complexity of the spaghetti-like strands of the culture in which we live. However, rather than paralysis or retreat, he offers Christians and their church communities biblically wise and practical yet strategic suggestions. Recommended.

Daniel Strange (Director

If the men of Issachar ‘understood the times and knew what to do’ (1 Chronicles 12 v 32), then Stephen McAlpine has written an Issacharine book! With deft cultural analysis and profoundly biblical lenses, he helps us see the shape of faithful Christian living in our age. And while our challenges feel new, McAlpine insists that they find deep, challenging and illuminating parallels in the history of God’s people. With the help of Abraham, Daniel, Haggai and the Corinthians, McAlpine points us to cross-shaped, Christ-like, Spirit- filled wisdom that will bless and fortify a new generation—inspiring them to follow Jesus.

Glen Scrivener (Evangelist and blogger)

Clear, contemporary and compelling. This is an outstanding book which lays out in a highly accessible way the main contours of how our present society is hostile to Christianity, and how Christians and the church could respond in a biblical, God-honouring, soul-winning way.

Melvin Tinker (Senior Minister

Stephen McAlpine has written a book that we desperately need. It’s searching, sane, deeply biblical and, best of all, profoundly encouraging. If you want to understand what’s going on in our world right now, then you need to read this book. If you want to work out what it means to live faithfully at school, at university, at work and even at home, then you need to read this book. If you have ever felt like the ‘bad guy’, then you really do need to read this book. Perhaps I haven’t been clear enough: I think everyone needs to read this book!

Gary Millar (Principal

Welcome to post-Christian reality! We are now seeing a new religion built on individual autonomy and personal fulfilment. And it’s a religion that’s hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we shouldn’t be surprised at such hostility if we know our Bibles well. Why? Because Jesus guaranteed such hostility.

Jesvin Jose

As an Asian kid growing up in the West, I was never sure if my loyalty was to the Hong Kong we left behind or the Australia we now found ourselves in. This is also what it’s like to be a Christian in our new 21st- century society. Do we long for a Christendom that is no longer there? Or do we set up camp in this post-Christendom world? But what does that even look like? In Being the Bad Guys, Stephen McAlpine equips Christians to live in the new norm—a world that sees Christians as the bad guys. This is both a wake-up call and the toolkit that we need to survive and thrive. Now, just as in the times of Daniel in Babylon, is the time for us to shine.

Sam Chan (City Bible Forum

With piercing insight, McAlpine skilfully draws parallels between the battles we face today in our culture and familiar Bible stories, impelling us to stand up courageously for the truth of the gospel against a tide of opposition. Through this book I have been forewarned and forearmed by the gospel, which he applies in a clear, radical, inspiring and relevant way. A timely wake-up call that has already proved invaluable in my personal witness.

Linda Allcock (London Women's Convention)

For too many Christians, the biggest fear is that they will be out of step with the culture; but Jesus promises that to follow him is to be, at some points, at odds with the ethos of a fallen world. Pastor Stephen McAlpine offers a refreshing call to Christian courage—and yet urges Christians to avoid rudeness and incivility. Readers will come away with both a newfound boldness to live for Christ in a confusing world and a countercultural joy that will radiate in their public and private witness.

Daniel Darling (Vice President for Communications at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission)

Stephen McAlpine doesn’t just describe the chilling change in our Western cultural climate. He also shows the way to follow Jesus through the storms.

Collin Hansen (Editorial Director

This is a challenging but necessary book. Very thought-provoking and one I'd recommend to anyone trying to engage with how the world sees Christians.

Rachel Sloan

Clear, contemporary and compelling. This is an outstanding book which lays out in a highly accessible way the main contours of how our present society is hostile to Christianity, and how Christians and the church could respond in a biblical, God-honouring, soul-winning way.

Melvin Tinker (Former Vicar of St John’s Newland

If the men of Issachar ‘understood the times and knew what to do’ (1 Chronicles 12 v 32), then Stephen McAlpine has written an Issacharine book! With deft cultural analysis and profoundly biblical lenses, he helps us see the shape of faithful Christian living in our age. And while our challenges feel new, McAlpine insists that they find deep, challenging and illuminating parallels in the history of God’s people. With the help of Abraham, Daniel, Haggai and the Corinthians, McAlpine points us to cross-shaped, Christ-like, Spirit- filled wisdom that will bless and fortify a new generation—inspiring them to follow Jesus.

Glen Scrivener (Evangelist; Author

This is the most sensible book I’ve read in a long time! By which I mean, Stephen explains with clarity and realism how modern culture no longer sees Christian belief as quaint but views it with suspicion or worse. Yet this is no counsel of despair. Rather, it offers a truthful and faithful path forward which will give Christians confidence and grit as they hold out the word of life to a highly confused world.

Matt Fuller (Author

McAlpine is neither superficial nor simplistic. He recognises the complexity of the spaghetti-like strands of the culture in which we live. However, rather than paralysis or retreat, he offers Christians and their church communities biblically wise and practical yet strategic suggestions. Recommended.

Dan Strange (Director

For too many Christians, the biggest fear is that they will be out of step with the culture; but Jesus promises that to follow him is to be, at some points, at odds with the ethos of a fallen world. Pastor Stephen McAlpine offers a refreshing call to Christian courage—and yet urges Christians to avoid rudeness and incivility. Readers will come away with both a newfound boldness to live for Christ in a confusing world and a countercultural joy that will radiate in their public and private witness.

Daniel Darling (Senior Vice-President of Communications

Clear, contemporary and compelling. This is an outstanding book which lays out in a highly accessible way the main contours of how our present society is hostile to Christianity, and how Christians and the church could respond in a biblical, God-honouring, soul-winning way.

Melvin Tinker (Former Vicar of St John’s Newland

It’s undoubtedly a fallacy to think that any period of history has been static, free from any significant societal change. But it’s undoubtedly equally true that in our particular period of history we are witnessing change that is both swift and seismic. One of the most jarring changes for Christians has been our transformation from being good guys to bad guys. At a time like this we need guidance on how to live for Jesus, and that’s exactly the guidance Stephen McAlpine so aptly provides in this excellent book.

Tim Challies (Blogger; Author

There are books that tell us about the culture, there are books that tell us about evangelism, there are books that tell us about apologetics, there are books that tell us about the local church—but what I love about Being the Bad Guys is that it does all four. Stephen McAlpine is an astute cultural observer, an experienced pastor and an excellent writer. I hope that this will be read widely not only by church leaders but by any Christian who wants to understand where we are and where we should be.

David Robertson (Director