“The UnChristian”
by David Kinnaman. At the end of his posting Andrew shares his personal reflections after reading this book.
Review of this book 9 Marks ministry.
Theme of this report and the book:
Chapter 1 ----- The Back Story --- Seeing Christianity from the Outside
Christianity has a real image problem in the world.
Why? Those on the outside of the Church have little trust in the Christian faith.Those on the outside of the Church feel rejected by Christians.
In
Chapter 2 ----- Discovery UnChristian Faith
49% of Outsiders have a bad impression of Evangelical Christians.
35% of Outsiders have a bad impression of “Born-Again” Christians.
Why so negative?
1. Christians are Hypocritical---saying one thing, but doing another.
2. Too focused on getting converts---Don’t genuinely care about those who they want to convert or just “Get Saved.”
3. Anti-homosexual --- Show distain for them, don’t understand that their sin is just like any other sin with opposite sex.
4. Sheltered --- Old fashioned, boring, out of touch with reality; simple solutions but not willing to lift a finger to help others or get really involved.
5. Too Political --- Motivated by numbers or political agenda
6. Judgmental --- quick to judge, not honest with their attitude or perspectives.
One 35 year old believer from
Chapter 3 --- Hypocritical meaning “Two-faced” or “Double-standards”
Why?
Our lives don’t match our beliefs, We don’t know the Bible or know Jesus enough
to be transformed, Just going through the motions.
The research found that believers are no different than unbelievers, even enjoying the same sins without remorse.
For example:
About 15% of Christians are living transformed lives.
Not transparent--Young people are searching for the type of person who shows their faults or as they say “keeping it real”. So what is transparency? It simply means admitting what the Bible says about us; we are fallen people who desperately need God in our lives…every day.
Chapter 4 --- Get Saved!!!
Christianity is like on the fast track, get people saved and then spit them out, somewhat like a fast food restaurant. There are few real disciples of Jesus who live transformed lives. (Here we see the importance of truly raising disciples of Jesus who know His will and have His Vision for the world and His people)
We need to change our perceptions from the view point of being insincere and concerned only with converting others to be Christians who cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.
Chapter 5 --- Anti-homosexual
We need to change our perception of showing contempt for gays and lesbians to show compassion and love to all people regardless of lifestyles.
We should:
* Acknowledge the complexities of the world
* Open doors with conversations with others
* Treat other Christians with respect
* Have God’s mind and heart for others
* Express concern for children
* Have God’s compassion
Chapter 6 --- Sheltered
We need to change the perception that Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality to being more engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face.
We decided to use our Sunday mornings to visit other churches and to engage in our community and to prayerfully invite our neighbors to worship service and to actively pray for those at NKU and in
Other things we can do prayerfully:
· Talk to people -- stay connected with community and the people who are suffering with the pains of life
· Do Something -- Feed sheep; spend Wednesdays on campus to get to know students and build friendships, Volunteer if possible, Get involved.
· Merge faith with actions --- Go to Germany this summer to see and pray for God’s work in Europe, Please come with us --- You’re invited.
· Rediscovering the Kingdom of God --- Christianity is not boring, but the most exciting story ever told, I am writing a second book to discover more deeply His kingdom and share it with the world.
· A heart of compassion --- We must look beyond our sheltered church, stand with those who are hurting as Bible teachers and His people, reach out to your city, nation and the world.
· Finally, we are called to radical discipleship for His glory….
Chapter 7 --- Too Political
We should change our perspective, not be motivated by a political agenda and find real solutions to complex issues in the world.
Chapter 8 --- Judgmental
We should change our perspective in being prideful and quick to find fault in others to show grace by finding the good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers and His disciples.
My final thoughts:
How can we change our perceptions so that outsiders may see Christ in us….
- We must study the Bible diligently and prayerfully to see how Jesus lived.
- When Jesus faced criticism, He responded with the right perspective. Jesus connected with people through building relationships and friendships--we must seek to do this in our everyday relationships and people we deal with every day in the world. We must confess our faults and be real and acknowledge that we need His grace continually in our lives.
- We must be creative like Jesus. Jesus was a master communicator. Be clear on what it means to follow Jesus ourselves first and then help others to do the same.
- We must always serve people and cultivate a deep concern and sensitivity to outsiders. We should live a life-style of compassion like Jesus.
So it all comes down to this: Christians must become more Christ-like if they are to be fruitful in our generation.
Being a Christian is hard work. Putting the needs of others above your own, loving your neighbors, doing good to those who do evil to you, exercising humility, suffering for the less fortunate, and doing it all in a pure heart is nearly impossible. But this is the call of a Christian.
Here we see the great need of the Church today to raise up men/women who truly follow Jesus. The need for raising disciples is crucial in our day where many have fallen away and the gospel has been watered down. Therefore, outsiders only see UnChristian in Christians because we live without Christ. Being a Christian is more than a slogan, “Get Saved” or “Born Again”, or simply a saying a prayer from time to time, or a statement of belief, and going to heaven, it is more personally challenging in a world that is falling away from the Christ-like life in Jesus, it means we are God’s agents of His grace in the world. We must honestly examine ourselves everyday and repent our faults and be transparent to others. May God help outsiders to see the Christ-like life in all of us and give us the courage and faith to be transformed in Him and to transform the world for His glory.
1 comment:
Having read the first two chapters of this book, I am struck by the sharp words for hypocrisy within the church. One statistic that got me going was that 35 percent of people approved of immoral behavior (such as adultery/pornography) as opposed to 30 percent of 'born-again' Christians. That's almost the same. The only difference was in the outward expression of this, as 'born-again' people tended to not use profanity in public, drink heavily in public, etc. No doubt that contemporary Christianity has an image problem to correct.
However, I take issue with the thesis that most people perceive Christians as conservative and extremely right-wing. There are evangelicals of every stripe and political orientation and always have been. (Rick Warren being the most visible 'centrist') But conservative theology has been more vocal and therefore is likely to get immediate attention. A lot of what you see today is no doubt because of the moral majority led by Rev. Falwell, Rev. Robertson, and others who put the Republican party in power in the eighties, which has given rise to these perceptions.
I think today's young Christian (labeled 'Busters' by Lyons and Kimmelman) has to be very careful not to be insensitive to the 'grime and grit' of people's lives. No question, most people's lives are messy. They do need the gospel. But an abraisive 'conversion' instead of a 'conversation' may not be the best option for some people. I'm not saying that non-Christians attitudes towards mainstream Christianity are right. But there has to be a moment of awakening where people acknowledge the need for an engaging Christianity.
Any comments?
-- Andrew Lamb
Post a Comment