Chad Gibbs > Quotes

“There’s nothing wrong with having a Christian heritage, but when our faith becomes a box we check on surveys, and not a life we live, we shouldn’t act surprised when the next generation says, “No, thanks.”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“What if living my entire life in the buckle of the Bible Belt had given me not only a narrow view of the world but also a narrow view of my faith?”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“Christians in Brazil tend to be way less involved in politics. We are not a society that has two parties with clear stances like the US does. Things here are much more nuanced, and voting for a given party relates very little to your religious affiliation. I see American Christians naively associating their country with the kingdom of God; here believers are less prone to such things. We are less enthusiastic about our country’s history, military achievements, anthem singing,5 and all of that. It’s not a lack of patriotism; it’s just a greater separation between a citizenship in heaven and one on earth. There would never be a flag ceremony or singing of the national anthem during a church service here.”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“Mark Twain famously wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“How can we use our sports fanaticism as a countercultural witness? I suppose we have to look at sports culture and act counter to that. Sports culture says rival fans are enemies. It says that we hate each other, and if Satan and his minions were playing our rival in an exhibition, we’d show up at the game carrying a pitchfork. That’s why I think the most countercultural thing we can do is partner with our rivals to bring glory to God. Join forces and feed the hungry, heal the sick, and comfort those in despair. And when someone asks why these hated rivals have joined forces, we can say because we love God more than we love our team, and we hate sin more than we hate our rival.”
― Chad Gibbs, Love Thy Rival: What Sports' Greatest Rivalries Teach Us About Loving Our Enemies

“He told me a friend of his says when Christianity came to Greece, it became philosophy, and when it came to Europe, it became culture, and when it came to the United States, it became business.”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“Maybe America, in a way, is Christianity’s know-it-all bratty teenager.”
― Chad Gibbs, Jesus without Borders: What Planes, Trains, and Rickshaws Taught Me about Jesus

“Gibbs, Chad Love Thy Rival: What sports’ greatest rivalries teach us about loving our enemies ”
― Chad Gibbs, Love Thy Rival: What Sports' Greatest Rivalries Teach Us About Loving Our Enemies