Book: unChristian: What a new generation really thinks about Christianity… and why it matters

Author: Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons

Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons have done some outstanding research.  They have researched successfully what our current culture’s perceptions of the Christian church are.   Not just what they are about the church, but what they are about us, those of us who call ourselves Christians.  The findings are not great.  Those who are outside of the Christian faith see us as Hypocritical, Antihomosexual, Sheltered, Too Political, Judgmental, and Insincere-concerned only with making converts.    THey were beginning to say that Christians weren’t acting the way that they thought Christ would act.  In fact they felt that we were acting very unChristian.  These are strong accusations.  When I began to read the research I was convinced that they are not far off.

One of the simplest ways to review this book is to say that I forever will be changed due to my reading of this book.  That is a powerful statement.  Several days ago now I had the privilege of going to the Leadership Summit and hearing Bill Hybels talk on Leadership.  He was speaking about axioms and their power to help you lead.  Well one of the axioms he leads by is this, “Facts are your friends”.  Well, this book is filled with facts. They are not opinions.  They are facts.  Dave works for the Barna Group, a nationally known and trusted research company.  Dave has done the research, polled the people, and listened to countless stories.

Found in between the two covers are numerous facts about how we(Evangelical Christians) are doing.  The book is revealing the truths of what those who are outside of the Christian faith actually think about those of us who are in that circle.

Here’s the deal.  We have been failing.  I feel convicted.  I am challenged.  I am asking God to change me because of what I now know.  I will share with you a few of my convictions.

1.     I want to see people the way that Jesus would see them.

a.     This means for me that I am praying as often as I remember for God to help me see people the way that He sees them; as valuable, lovely, and full of great spiritual potential.

2.     I want to be a champion for the causes that I believe God would champion.

a.     Poverty

b.     Aids

c.      Spiritual Emptiness

3.     I want to be the type of pastor and person that is helping turn the tide of what people think of when they think of Christians.

a.     This means for me, that I abandon using words that make others feel like outsiders, abandon the use of “tired expressions and clichés”, and speak to people in plain terminology that will help them understand this great gospel.

b.     This means that I will look at friendship with those outside the faith as simply friendship, not just an opportunity to preach at them.  I’ve got to be real with people, before they want to me my very real God

I read a quote from the book, and it is worded in ways that I wish I could have come up with but I  didn’t, and I couldn’t think of any better way to express it, so I’m going to quote Rick Warren.

“My dream is that thirty years from now, the church will be known more by what it is for, than what it is against.  For some time now, the hands and feet of the body of Christ have been amputated, and we’ve been pretty much reduced to a big mouth.  We talk far more than we do.  It’s time to reattach the limbs and let the church be the church in the twenty-first century.”

Well done Rick, I too want to join that dream.

This is an incredible book.  I would go as far as to say that every pastor in America needs to read this book, and every believer who wants to make a significant impact on their culture needs to read this as well.  Bill Hybels is right, “Facts are your friends”.   The facts that are charged against Christianity today aren’t good.  It is time that we step up, take responsibility for what has happened, and begin taking steps to correct these perceptions.

If you read this book and live in the D-Town area, I would love to take you out to lunch, and chat about it.  How’s that for some incentive–Lunch with Peter!!!  On Peter even…

~Peter

You can buy the book here.  Whatever you do… Get your hands on a copy of it.