Ten Things I learned from unChristian by David Kinnaman

Here's a description of unChristian directly from their web site:

Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like “hypocritical,” “insensitive,” and “judgmental,” young Americans share an impression of Christians that’s nothing short of . . . unChristian.

Groundbreaking research into the perceptions of sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds reveals that Christians have taken several giant steps backward in one of their most important assignments. The surprising details of the study, commissioned by Fermi Project and conducted by The Barna Group, are presented with uncompromising honesty in unChristian.

Here's some of what I learned from this book:

1) I fit each of the six themes (perceptions) to some degree. The six themes are hypocritical, get saved!, anti homosexual, too sheltered, too political, and judgmental.

2) I can be hypocritical at times and I'm finding out it doesn't work. My seven year old sees all. I can hide my hypocrisy from my students at school, from my wrestlers and sometimes even from my wife but my seven year old sees right through it. Daddy, why... you can imagine the questions she comes up with about life.

3) When I see a non-believer one of the reasons I would even start up a conversation would be to try to get them to come to attend worship at my church (not that I ever really do that anyway). I don't...I haven't in the past tried to get to know someone just to build a friendship and share my faith without thinking of things that that person needs to change in their life before they could become a Christian.

4) I'm not for homosexuals so I guess you could label me anti homosexual. I see now that anyone should be welcomed into our churches no matter where they are in life. I don't see a big need to tell alcoholics to stop drinking before they come in to worship or porn addicts to change their habits before I can allow them in. Why is homosexuality such an issue for me and most of Christianity? I guess because it's sexual in nature. They seemed to be turned away before we ever give them a chance.

5) I can be very sheltered. Here is a quote from page 130:

"One thing that prevents us from engaging the world is the fact that our connection with outsiders dissipates as we enter the Christian enclave. In our interviews, a twenty-eight-year-old Christian described this lifestyle: 'So many Christians are caught up in the Christian subculture and are completely closed off from the world. We go to church on Wednesdays, Sundays, and sometimes Saturdays. We attend small group on Tuesday night and serve on the Sunday school advisory board, the financial committee, and the welcoming committee. We go to barbeque's with our Christian friends and plan group outings. We are closed off from the world. Even if we wanted to reach out to non Christians, we don't have the time and we don't know how. The only way we know how to reach out is to invite people to join in our Christian social circle.'"

That's totally me. Christian school. Church. Sunday school class. Outings with classmates. There's no time for anything else. Honestly sometimes there's no time for that because of my schedule and 3 kids at home.

6) The fifth theme of being too political does not fit me but I just checked out about a dozen library books that are both political and religious in nature. I have no real intention of reading any of them but I thought I'd try to get a feel for what Christians think about politics. I don't really want to spread Christianity through government which I guess is what they mean in the book by being too political. I think we should keep the church and state separate but keeping your religious views out of politics seems to be downright impossible. As a person of faith, everything is affected by my faith - movies I watch, music I listen to, people I interact with, candidates I vote for.

7) I can be very judgmental of others, especially born again believers. I give a little more grace to unbelievers or Christians who only hold the title but have never tried to live the life. I guess I expect more from those claiming to have accepted Christ's teachings.

8) I was very surprised to see the percent of nonbelievers 16-29 years-old who attended church at one point in their lives (childhood, adolescence, etc.) = 82% and most had attended for at least three months. 65% said they have had conversations in the last year with a Christian friend about their faith views. 53% said they have been specifically approached in the past few years about becoming a Christian. Nonbelievers aren't out of the loop of knowing about faith it's a choice they've made intentionally.

9) Page 125 - Mosaics and Busters "are a 'pinch of this, pinch of that' generation, always willing to try a little of anything."

Page 107 - "If our theology says homosexuality is wrong and sinful, is it still true that homosexuals have deep sexual needs, just like the rest of us?" Have you ever thought about what a homosexual must go through? Have you ever put yourself in their shoes?

10) Facilitate Mutual Esteem - Page 194
a) Listen to me
b) Don't label me
c) Don't be so smart
d) Put yourself in my place
e) Be genuine
f) Be my friend with no other motives