Kerby Anderson

Sean McDowell observes that “In a culture that glamorizes sex, chases fame, and shames those who don’t fall in line, it takes a rebel to be a Christian.” That is why the title of his new book is, A Rebel’s Manifesto.

His book for young Christians focuses on the challenges of the culture, relationships, sexuality, ethics, and cultural engagement. He published much of this in a previous book Ethix: Being Bold in a Whatever World. When I did a radio interview with him, we talked about the fact that he needed to both update chapters and add new chapters. The section on relationships was added because of current problems with loneliness, bullying, and suicide. And a chapter on transgender ideology also needed to be added.

We talked about the fact that Sean McDowell will often role-play as an atheist and take questions from Christian students. After he finishes, he asks them to describe how they treated the “atheist” guest. They often use words like rude, aggressive, and disrespectful. He then concludes that if this is how they treated a fellow Christian role-playing as an atheist, perhaps they have a lot to learn about better loving their neighbors.

We also spent some time talking about the influence of smartphones and social media. He lists five ways smartphones influence you. It affects how we access truth and affects us emotionally and spiritually. It also affects our identities and relationships.

This is a book you should give to your children or grandchildren. But I would also encourage you to give a copy to your youth leader. At the end of each chapter are questions that could be used to guide a small group discussion with young people. These are issues they confront, and they need the sound, biblical perspective this book provides.