Books take me a long time. Not that I'm a slow reader (I used to read a ton), but it usually takes me a while to "jump on the bandwagon" with a book, and then schedule constraints take me a long time to finish it. In any case, I just (finally) finished David Kinnaman's much talked about "unChristian". I won't say a whole lot about it (as so much has already been said elsewhere), but I've got a couple of reactions...
I've been interested in this kind of stuff for quite a while... being a member of the generation that Kinnaman refers to as "Mosaics", I have a real heart for that generation. Last summer I got into Dan Kimball and his book, "They Like Jesus, But Not The Church". This book seemed like a natural fit for me.
Having said that, I don't think the research presented here said a whole lot that I didn't already know. I do think that these are things the church needs to be aware of and address. For example:
-91% of "church outsiders" aged 16-29 perceive
Christianity as "antihomosexual"
-About 85% of that same group sees Christians as
"judgmental" and "hypocritical"
-Over 75% described Christianity as "old fashioned"
and "too involved in politics"
These numbers are troubling, and it's even more disturbing when you take into account that significant numbers of self-professed Christians in this same age group share those perceptions. I'm not afraid to admit that I often fall into that category when I think about the church as a whole.
Many church leaders have responded to this research in a negative way - recalling Jesus' words in John (telling the disciples that they would be hated by the world) and other Biblical passages. Others have gone on the defensive, claiming that their churches and the people in them are not this way. I don't think either of these reactions are correct.
First, to those who think it is Biblical that Kinnaman's "outsiders" hate Christians: Jesus did say that the world would hate his followers, but I don't think that this is what he had in mind. If there's one thing that Christians seem to be able to agree on, it's that Jesus' message was one of love. The world may hate us for the things we do and the things we say, but we must take every care to make sure that words like "hypocritical," "judgmental," & "old-fashioned" do not apply to us. We are called to love, and while that may not mean agreement with the actions and ideas of others, we ultimately must show them the true love of God anyways. That's hard to do, but it is what we are called to. I think oftentimes, we could be much better at it than we are.
I do think that some of the folks who defend their churches and church members are correct. I believe that their are lots of churches out there that do not reflect these negative perceptions, but that doesn't excuse our responsibility to dispel them. It is not enough to know that our churches are loving and accepting - we have to go into the world and prove it! If people don't know that our churches are not "unChristian," then we aren't fulfilling our mission!
I hope that Christians will read this book (if they haven't yet), and respond with love to the world, and especially to the people who have been isolated by Christianity and the church up to this point. We have to, or else we will be facing a generation for which organized Christianity has no relevance, and that would be devastating.
