It’s rainy and cold. Rainy for the first time in a very long time — really, really rainy. Like inches of rain, rainy. For the first time since the last time it was this rainy, I’m guessing, I sat myself down and read an actual book. A book in a bookcover. A hard-cover book. One that will likely change me and my worldview in a positive way.
David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons have written a book (unChristian) that nails the reasons for the building negative perceptions of Christians. It certainly puts the blame where it belongs — at the feet and in the hearts of those of us who claim to be Christians but don’t align our actions toward others with our words.
It comes as no shock to me that a majority of people in the age 16-29 age group view Christians as anti-homosexual. However, it came as a shock to me that 91% — yes, NINETY-ONE PERCENT — hold that view, and inside of that number are many who consider themselves Christians. I ran into a situation this weekend that appalled me — a church calling for signatures on a petition inside the church building. They were seeking to repeal the recently-passed law redefining the groups that may not be discriminated against in school, and the entire campaign was put together by extreme conservative groups out of Sacramento. I happen to think the law is poorly written, ambiguous, and will cause more problems for those it means to protect, but this particular group was shrill and hysterical in their opposition. Their opposition was laser-focused toward the portion of the law that redefined gender to include gender identity. I was mortified. Truly. All I could think of was that if anyone walked in there on that day who had a GLBT friend, family member, neighbor, brother, sister or acquaintance, we just reinforced — no, AFFIRMED — the negative view of Christians. Simply by being there, I felt guilty by association.
unchristian calls for churches and Christians to step back and stop being hypocritical, judgmental, and negative. Amen to that. It not only points out the failures of the current “branding”, but suggests ways to “rebrand” in a way that brings value to society and begins to mend the fences that have been so deeply torn. I consider it required reading for anyone who wants to start reaching across the gap and just be real with people instead of forcing an agenda on them.
I read it and plan to re-read it after BD reads it. It is a transforming book, based on a three-year research study, thousands of interviews, and scientific analysis. Kudos to the authors for saying what many of us knew in our gut — ownership of the negative views of Christians is the product of our own behavior.
Technorati Tags: unchristian, david kinnaman, gabe lyons, barna group, christianity, religion, spirituality
