Review: UnChristian

First off, I’ll say that UnChristian was one of the more difficult books that I’ve read in a while for several reason.  The book is based on extremely scientific research and polling that was conducted on American’s attitudes towards church and their behaviors.  The book is full of statistics, figures, and numbers, which, while I can appreciate, make it slow reading & a bit tedious to me.  Secondly, the book goes into numerous attitudes and opinions that young people (roughly teens to early 30’s) hold about faith & religion.  Most of these finding were no shock to me- so I wasn’t at all surprised by their findings- it only really reinforced my own feelings & what I’ve observed.   However, the value I found in the book was the conviction that I as a Christian had in contributing to the very negative image of Christ and the Church that so many people hold.

Sadly, the top 5 things that the younger generation said Christianity were hypocritical, focused on conversion, anti-homosexual, too political and judgmental.  I think (hope) that most Christians would be very sad to reflect on how few Christians display Christ-like behavior and it’s not being lost on non-believers or the younger generation.  The study used 8 statements to identify aspects of Chrisitanity that included: Jesus lived a sinless life, God is the all-power and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he still rules today, Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned, Satan is real, a Christian has the responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people, the Bible is accurate in all principles it teachers, unchanging  moral truth exists and is defined by the Bible.   Only 3% if the younger generation and only 9% of the older generation agreed with all of those statements.   The Good news is that many people process to believe in God and many have accepted Jesus as their savior, but there is a clear lack of follow through and growth into mature believers.

Many believers and even those in the Church are spiritually babies still & haven’t display much spiritual transformation in their life.  The book suggests these traits to observe transformation and a growing faith: worshiping God intimately and passionately, engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers, pursing faith in the context of family, embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth (ßI was convicted on that one right there), serving others, investing time and energy in spiritual pursuits, and having faith-based conversations with outsiders.  This was the interesting part of the book & one that I found myself reflecting on as I don’t feel like I am growing in my faith & I think it’s because I’m not studying the Word enough or being intentional about prayer.  It was convicting on several fronts & gave me some great ideas on how to spur my own spiritual growth.

The book goes through and deals with all the ideas that many outsiders have and how to change that perception

• Christians say one thing but live something differently
• Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others
• Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians
• Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned and out of touch with reality
• Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics
• Christians are prideful and quick to find fault in others

Again, a very mixed bag for me reading it personally.  I think it’s vitally important to Christians, the Church and individuals to understand how the world in general views Christ’s followers.  The data mostly confirmed what I knew & that is that unbelievers rarely encounter Christians who are a true reflection of Christ’s love.  The book is well-written and I am glad I read it, but the news is just depressing.  I’m glad to see another book in what I’ll call the counter-revolution who are speaking up about the Church and Christians seeking to bring some accountability and follower back in line with biblical teachings.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Flight cancelled last night, so I have a free day at home AND I get to see hubby before he takes off for Colorado.