UnChristian

I have been reading through a book for a while entitled UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. They have done some incredible research about "what a new generation really thinks about Christianity."

This new generation views the church as hypocritical, too focused on converts, anti-homosexual, sheltered, too political and judgmental. They see us as unrelevent and unable to tackle the complex issues of life that they are dealing with each day.

They make another telling observation! There is hostility and tension that surrounds the Church today. The hostility comes from two sources: Outside & Inside.

Outside: To reach this current generation that sees 90% of those who graduate from our evangelical youth groups and go to college never go back to church, we will expereince tension in trying to give them the life changing message of the Gospel. Their perceptions are so strong, they are hard to overcome. The unchurched, de-churched, and unbelievers can even become "hostile" to Chrsitianity. However, we know that "where sin abounds, grace does that much more abound."

Inside: As church leaders attempt to reach the millions of Americans that do not have a vibrant on-going relationship with God in new and creative ways, current church attenders don't always embrace the method or programming required to successfully reach out to this new generation. They become "hostile" towards leadership, longing for church "the way it used to be". They resent the focus on new ways.

The book states: "You can deny the hostility, you can refute its causes, you can harass those Christians who are trying their best to represent Jesus in a completely new context, or you can deal with the increasing hostility of outsiders in ways that honor God. Jesus pioneered this approach. He listened to the Holy Spirit so He could point people to His Father. He engaged His culture and its people with respect and love. He was in but not of this world."

Amazing. Jesus dealt with hostility from both sides too! From the religious (Pharisees) and non-religious.

What do you think?