Today’s Tuesday quote comes from a book that I am reading entitled ‘unchristian’ by David Kinnaman. The book has been out about 3 years and perhaps I am one of the last ones to read it. However, WOW!! It is changing the way I think about doing ministry–especially to young women.
Kinnaman is the president of The Barna Group. The data reported in this book is a compilation of tons of research done by Barna. The tagline for the book reads like this: “What a new generation really thinks about Christianity….and why it matters.”
The book focuses in on Busters (born between 1965 and 1983) and Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) who are outside the church and outside of Christianity. They are known as ‘outsiders’ for the purposes of this book.
This group, collectively between the ages of 16 and 29 years, see Christians as many things….not all of them good. A full 85% of the outsiders between the ages of 16 and 29 who were questioned see Christians as hypocritical. What follows are some quotes from this incredible book regarding this view of Christians by this representative group of young people.
Mike, age twenty nine, made this comment: “You could say I am a lot like Christians–I have gotten good at telling people what I think they want to hear. I see why Christians do it. They want to look good. I guess I don’t really see the harm in it.”
When they (outsiders) criticize Christians for being hypocrites, they are not excusing it. Yet they have become so jaded by the holes in people’s lifestyles that they are no longer shocked to find incongruence between words and actions.
This gives the critique that Christianity is hypocritical even more potency. We (Christians) are not known for the depth of our transparency, for digging in and solving deep-seated problems, but for trying to project an unChristian picture of having it all together. Young outsiders believe that rather than being able to help them sort through the image-is-everything world, followers of Christ are playing the very same mind games that they are. They perceive us as employing the same tactis as everyone else to preserve an appearance of strength.
unchristian….page 44 – emphasis, mine
I ask you……How will we win them when they do not perceive us as real, tramsparent and genuine?
I’m just saying………………….
