I've just finished reading the latest of the “Barna” books, this one by their new President, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. The book really had an impact on me and I also had the opportunity to meet David Kinnaman recently and hear his heart on what the latest surveys are saying and what this means to the American church.The Book, “Unchristian” (so named because that’s what outsiders think of the way we act) says that Christians have an image problem. The latest report card issued by the Barna organization is that outsiders (and even some insiders) describe Christians as “hypocritical,” “insensitive,” and “judgmental”. Evangelicals even have a poorer image with comments like “right-wing” “bigoted” and “anti-homosexual” being used as descriptives.
How did it get this bad? Well, we did it to ourselves. One of the most embarrassing pieces of survey results found that the perceptions of 16-29 year-olds (the focus of the study) was not based on TV or movies or some third-party source but from human experience. Most of this younger generation that considered themselves “outsiders” to Christianity could relate story after story of how poorly they were received, or judged or ignored.
I thought Christians were to be known by their love. It’s time to take back the gospel and pastors need to bring a very liberal dose of compassion into their sermons and their ministries. Regular every-day believers that are determined to become more like the “Matthew 25” bunch and not the political bunch or the boycott bunch will advance the gospel and the Kingdom of God more than a dozen, well-organized conservative religious groups put together.
“Matthew 25” got you stumped? Here it is in paraphrase:
And Jesus said, enter into the Kingdom, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I needed clothing and you found clothing for me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:35)
