UnChristian

I'll be clear upfront: this is a book review of a small volume called "UnChristian," by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. My old pal and bishop, Michael Keys, commended this book to me a couple years ago. It's written by folks at the Barna research institute about the common stereotypes that young Americans have toward Christianity and why it matters.

But this isn't just a book review, because these ideas really do matter. I finished this book on sabbatical and thought about the themes a lot. If you're reading this and consider yourself a Christian, I ask you to pay attention.

Kinnaman and Lyons surveyed thousands of young adults (aged 18-41) as well as older adults to find out perceptions of Christians from outsiders (those who don't consider themselves Christian). The results aren't pretty. Overall, the younger the persons, the worse the stereotypes. Here were the top winners: anti homosexual, judgmental and hypocritical. The "big three" were followed up by: old-fashioned, too political, out of touch with reality, insensitive to others, boring, not accepting of other faiths and confusing.

Well, shoot. That's not exactly what I woke up this morning aiming toward.

The book then takes a chapter each on the following: hypocritical, too focused on converts, anti homosexual, sheltered, too political and judgmental. The authors discuss why this stereotype might exist and how Christians perpetuate it and then how Christians can respond. Good premise, good wake up call.

Time for a confession: I almost threw this book down in disgust and didn't finish it. While I agree with Kinnaman's research and conclusions, he's a different kind of Christian than me. He's self-described as born again and evangelical. And my biggest problem is that he thinks being gay/lesbian is a sin. That's not consistent with my reading of the gospels. So I nearly ditched the book. In fact, as I was reading it, I smugly congratulated myself (and Central) for being such a welcoming, open and loving place. Surely these stereotypes of judgmental, hypocritical and sheltered couldn't be attributed to us?

Well, they probably could be. The book reminded me that a healthy dose of humility is always in order when trying to live a Christ-like life. We may do well, but we could do better. We may talk a good game, for example, about loving others and reaching out, but do we really do it? The book featured on only Kinnaman's research but also essays from other faith leaders. Again, I didn't agree with all of their theology, but here's a great excerpt on being welcoming.

"One of our weaknesses is that we're far more concerned with being right than being righteous. We become like the Pharisees whenever we focus on issues rather than people...Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to the poor? Make sure you have poor people who you love and welcome in your life. Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to homosexuals? Make sure you have gay and lesbian friends whom you love and welcome into your life. Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to our government? Make sure you have people involved in politics whom you love and welcome into your life." Margaret Feinberg, author

Some of the research made me think it's a good time for Lutheran theology to speak to a new generation. Kinnaman bemoans that the younger generation is increasingly resistant to black-and-white views of the world. They prefer context, ambiguity and tension. That's exactly what Lutherans believe! That's how we deal with scripture and the complex issues in the life of faith! We're poised to articulate faith in a way that may very well be just what people need to hear! How well are we (Lutherans) doing, then?

Kinnaman closes his book with how Christians should be thought of in our world. I can't argue with his conclusions. He writes that Christians must really see and hear people. Christians must be defined by service and sacrifice, humility and grace. He writes that we must be open to criticism and be willing to get to know people just for who they are, not as a soul we'd like to convert. He says we have to talk about Scripture in ways that don't make assumptions that our audience knows anything about them. We have to communicate the gospel with a "gravity and buoyancy" that catches the attention of a skeptical and often disinterested audience. How are we doing, then?

Finally, some good questions from Kinnaman: "What if millions of us are living for ourselves, even while we are going through the motions of religion? What if we seek comfort for ourselves rather than giving comfort to other people? What if our spiritual efforts are focused on maintaining equilibrium rather than addressing the significant spiritual needs of others?"

I'd like to hear from other Christians out there. What do people say that we are? Are they right? How can we respond?