Tuesday Review: UnChristian

Hey! My Tuesday Reviews are back! Over the next 8 weeks on Tuesdays, I will be blogging about a book I just read called “UnChristian” by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons.


David Kinnaman is the president of the Barna Group, a world renown and respected research and marketing company. Many Christian organizations use their information regularly, when listening to your morning or afternoon Christian radio station; they will talk about research that the Barna Group has conducted. David Kinnaman spent over 3 years compiling and studying this research.


Let’s get some terminology out of the way first:
Outsiders—individuals who look at Christianity “from the outside in,” like an atheist, agnostics, those of different faith, unchurched adults, not born again Christians. This term is not meant to be insulting or pejorative.
Busters*—outsiders born from 1965 to 1983.
Mosaics*—outsiders born from 1984 to 2002.
*again, these terms are not meant to be insulting or demeaning in anyway.

When outsiders were asked what they thought of when they thought about Christians here is what they said:
91% of outsiders viewed Christians as anti-homosexual.
87% of outsiders viewed Christians as judgmental.
85% of outsiders viewed Christians as hypocritical.
75% of outsiders viewed Christians as too involved in politics.
72% of outsiders viewed Christians as out of touch with reality.
78% of outsiders viewed Christians as old-fashioned.
70% of outsiders viewed Christians as insensitive.
68% of outsiders viewed Christians as boring.
64% of outsiders viewed Christians as not accepting of other faiths.
61% of outsiders viewed Christians as confusing.
30% of outsiders viewed Christians as relevant to your life.
41% of outsiders viewed Christians as people that seemed genuine and real (28).

Quotes from the book:
…they think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind, that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be… for many people the Christian faith looks weary and threadbare. They admit they have a hard time actually seeing Jesus because of all the negative baggage that now surrounds him… “Christianity has become bloated with blind followers who would rather repeat slogans than actually feel true compassion and care. Christianity has become marketed and streamlined into a juggernaut of fearmongering that has lost its own heart (15).”

… (we’ve) reduced the Christian message to a “who-is-more-right” argument (20).

We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for (26).

We are known for having an us-versus-them mentality. Outsiders believe Christians do not like them because of what they do, how they look, or what they believe. They feel minimized—or worse, DEMONIZED—by those who love Jesus (27).

…it is important to realize that young outsiders attribute their image of Christianity primarily to conversations and firsthand experiences (31). [They’re not making this stuff up.]

They have had very personal experiences, frustrations, and hurts, as well as devastating conversations or confrontations… the scars often prevent them from seeing Jesus for who he really is. This should inspire our compassion for those outside our churches. We should be motivated not by a sense of guilt but by a passion to see their hurts healed (32).

Enough said, I don’t need to analyze any of this to make it more clear. The church has gone terribly wrong somewhere and it needs to fix this.

Over the next 7 weeks I will be pretty much covering chapters 3-9. Next week on Tuesday I will be blogging about “Hypocrites.” Take care and God bless!