WILLOW Magazine, Volume 15, Issue 1 Christianity in Crisis If perception is reality, then Christianity has a huge PR problem … and your church might be the biggest casualty “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”— Mahatma Gandhi In 1996, a Barna study concluded that 85 percent of non-Christian Americans held a favorable view of Christianity’s role in society. A little more than 10 years later that view has drastically changed. The latest Barna research reveals that nearly two out of every five young non-Christians (38 percent) express a negative impression of present-day Christianity. What’s happening to the Christian faith that’s affecting these cultural shifts? A new book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity ... and Why It Matters, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (Baker Books, 2007), describes what Christianity looks like to the 24 million people ages 16-29 who are outside the Christian faith. These “outsiders” are no longer viewed as a fringe segment of American society as their numbers increase with each passing generation. Of the segments studied, more than one-third of adult Mosaics and Busters (ages 18-41) are outside the faith; a percentage that increases to two-fifths of 16-29 year-olds. The majority of the research in the book, conducted over three years, included interviews with Christian and non-Christian Busters (born between 1965-1983) and Mosaics (born between 1984-2002). If we want to influence new generations for Christ — we need to take a close look at what this growing group of outsiders is saying about present day Christianity and at first glance, it’s not positive. They hold negative perceptions of Christianity, such as: Anti-homosexual: Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians and some hate the sin and the sinner Too political: Christians are primarily motivated by a right-wing political agenda Hypocritical: Christians say one thing, but live something entirely different Insincere: Christians are concerned only with collecting converts and not genuinely interested in others Sheltered: Christians are boring, unintelligent, and out of touch with reality Judgmental: Christians are prideful and quick to find fault in others. The book unpacks these six negative perceptions aimed at Christians and how Christ followers can move from an unChristian faith to live an authentic expression of the message of Jesus. WILLOW recently spoke with Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group, and Lyons, founder of Fermi Project (see sidebar, page 18), to hear more about their research and how the findings can challenge all of us to examine the ways we represent Christ to those outside the faith in our relational worlds. WILLOW: What motivated you to take on this particular research project and how did the book evolve? Gabe: I had several experiences as a late-twenties Christian where whenever religion would come up, I could see my friends shut down. The walls and barriers would go up and it was triggered by the fact that they just knew I was a Christian. It wasn’t triggered by the relationship we had, but I sensed a lot of negative baggage that just went along with me being a Christian. I began to really think about our generation and how sad it is that people may not ever connect to Jesus or even be interested in knowing more about who Jesus is because of this reputation that we have as Christians. I decided it might be helpful to really look into this and invest energy, time, and dollars into figuring out what people really feel about Christians. David: This research started out as a similar kind of project when Gabe said, “Let’s try to understand this question: what is the national reputation of Christianity among 16- to 29-year-olds? How are people thinking about and reacting to what it means to be a Christian?” It wasn’t an easy book to write, not simply because it’s hard to write a book, but due to the spiritual wrangling that we had to do as God had to break down our own ideas of what it meant to represent Christ to people around us. One of the phrases that we use is that Christianity has an image problem. But what motivated me to do this was the opportunity to describe some of the ways that it’s not just an image problem. It’s a substance problem in the way we convey the depth and complexity and potency of being a Christ follower. WILLOW: In the first chapter, you explain the use of the word “outsider” to describe Mosaics and Busters who are outside of the faith. Some people use the word “non-believer,” “non-Christian,” or “seeker. Why “outsider?” David: First off, it’s not meant to be pejorative in any way. It’s simply a description of people looking at Christianity from the outside in. I wish we didn’t have to use any term to describe those outside the faith because each of them is an individual with individual stories and very different paths to God, different feelings about Christians, and different perceptions of their past experiences. But to talk about them as a group, I think the term outsider, based on their vantage point as an “outsider” looking in, is really helpful. On a more strategic level, it’s interesting because the term “seeker” presupposes that people have a certain openness to our Christianity and the kinds of answers that we provide for them. We are finding with young people that many of them really are not in that kind of “seeker” mode. They’re a spiritual seeker, but not necessarily a Christian seeker. One of the important realizations is that among Boomers, about one in 20 people in that age group describe themselves as atheist or agnostic. Among people who are 18 to 25,the number is almost one in five,so from one in 20 to one in five. We’ve even looked at the tracking numbers on that and 20 years ago, about the same proportion of Boomers described themselves as atheist and agnostic. One of the dirty little secrets of sociological change is that we are facing a new generation among which one in five say they have essentially no faith — and that used to be one in 20. One of the things we don’t actually discuss much in the book, but which we’re starting to discover over the last six months or so, is that even the impulse of inviting a friend to church and people’s willingness to be invited among a new generation is actually lower than ever and less effective than ever. The culture is really shifting and we don’t necessarily recognize how difficult and how different they’re thinking about us than maybe 10, 20, or 30 years ago. WILLOW: How have perceptions towards Christianity changed over the years? Gabe: What we’re finding in the 16- to 29-year-old bracket is a generation that’s very honest and very willing to tell you what they think. They’re unusually jaded, but they’re very savvy because they’ve been marketed to. There seems to be a reaction against the very vocal Christianity that has a lot to say about a lot of things, but has done very little to make the world better. Their experiences have made them think that Christianity is all about rules and words and saying the right things and telling people that you’re doing the right thing. But in reality, it’s very hypocritical and not honest or authentic. I think this shift that’s taking place is profound and it represents several cultural shifts that are happening right now. David: The reputation of the“evangelical” term has gone really downhill. Along with everything we’ve discovered about what people think about Christianity, it is really centered on the term “evangelical”and many of the activities and perceived activities of the evangelical community, such that among Boomer non-Christians, more than a quarter had a favorable impression of Christianity. Among 16- to 29-year-olds who are non-Christian, only three percent have a favorable impression of Christianity. So things have shifted in a generation or two even among the non-Christian audience about their thinking about Christianity, about what it means to be an evangelical, about what it means to be a conservative Christian not just politically, but theologically. WILLOW: In the book, you address the six major issues raised by outsiders towards Christians (second paragraph, top of page 20). Why have Christians “become famous for what we oppose, rather than Who we are for?” David: On the one hand, we make the case that it’s important to realize there’s a biblical space for each of those perceptions: The idea that we’re known as conversion-oriented; that we’re against the practice of homosexuality; that we pursue purity; that we ought to be integrated as a voter and as a citizen in terms of our faith; that we should talk about sin and be perceived perhaps as judgmental. Those are things that we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. But I think what’s interesting is how easy it is for a superficial spiritual nation to land on the other side of the coin, which is to defend our rights as a Christian and to forget that some of those kinds of perceptions might actually describe a sort of Christianity that’s more concerned about what we look like than the quality of our faith. Gabe: In our research, we asked Christians and non-Christians what they thought about Christianity. But when we asked non-Christians what they first thought of when they heard the word “Christian” or knew somebody who was a Christian, the top things that came to mind were: 91 percent said “anti-homosexual,” 87 percent said “judgmental,” 85 percent said “hypocritical,” and 78 percent said that Christians are “too political.” Essentially what they told us is that Christianity had become something very different than what Jesus intended. And they’re looking at Christianity and holding it up to their perception of what it should be, which is characterized in who they’ve heard of in the person of Jesus, and they say, “Man, this looks very different than what I would have thought Christians would look like.” WILLOW: You mentioned that the most widely-held perception of Christians is that they are anti-homosexual. In your research and study of this particular topic, what is the church missing on this issue? David: I think we need to talk about this issue more and more and realize that some young people are simply saying they don’t think homosexuality is wrong and they reject what the Church is teaching. We’re very clear in the book about what the Bible says: homosexuality is not consistent with Christian discipleship. The young Christians that we interviewed were largely saying they believe that homosexuality is wrong, but they’re embarrassed by how Christians have treated this particular sin. And they don’t feel like they’ve been equipped to be friends, to be conciliatory with people who are homosexuals. Homosexuality is one of those areas where there are huge attitudinal changes because we haven’t really developed people with a biblical worldview. We need to realize our own capacity for sin with divorce, with pornography, with sexual fantasies and to help every believer within our church and every outsider realize the nuances of sexuality and how God calls us to a high standard and how that ought to be worked out and lived out and wrestled through in community. The church has been largely defined by turning away homosexuals and not allowing them to work through some of their challenges and some of the questions that they have in community. My perspective is that this has created the camaraderie, the solidarity, the movement to make homosexuality a more acceptable lifestyle because the church hasn’t been willing to deal with this on a level with any other sexual sin. Gabe: We sometimes feel, as Christians, that we have the responsibility to try to change somebody from being gay to being heterosexual and that we have not only a responsibility to do that, but we actually somehow have the ability to do that. The reality is the Holy Spirit is the one who’s always at work in these situations. He chooses to work through us, but only when we’re displaying love and grace and acceptance and reaching out to people who are in different situations than us. Let’s talk about your findings in the area of evangelism: Christians think they’re genuine when they talk about their faith, but outsiders don’t agree. Only one-third of young outsiders believe that Christians really care about them. What’s the reason for such a gap? David: I think Christians need to understand that sometimes we put the idea of being the messenger as a greater premium than the heart or receptivity of the person hearing the message. If it’s changed our lives, we have to make every effort to convey that message and to describe and live that message rather than simply be a bullhorn for that message. It’s not as though they’re ignorant about what Christianity teaches. That doesn’t mean that they get it, but it doesn’t mean that they’ve become an adult without at least understanding the basic message that Jesus came to Earth, was sinless, and was crucified for people’s sins. Effectively reaching outsiders is dependent on the depth and power of your witness, the way you are as a neighbor, the way you love other people, the way they see you being generous, the way they see you resolving and forgiving conflict. Those are powerful witnesses that are much more important than simply being a person who knocks on the door and tries to get a couple of extra words into a conversation. Gabe: Some Christians have isolated themselves from the world or have isolated themselves from environments that might not be church-based so that over time, they really don’t connect as well as other normal people. We’ve almost forgotten what it means to be human, or to suffer with other people, or to admit to our brokenness or to connect with people in the areas where we don’t have it all figured out. We’ve tried to portray an image that we have it all figured out, that our life is the best now, that in a lot of ways we have conquered major issues. And we all know that’s not reality. WILLOW: Your research showed that 84 percent of outsiders know at least one committed Christian and yet, just 15 percent thought that the lifestyles of those Christ followers were significantly different than the norm. Are Christians really that hypocritical? David: Hypocrisy is a really fascinating topic because it’s one of those areas where church leaders are quick to point out a couple of things. They’ll say, “Well, hypocrisy is very specific that when you say one thing, you’re saying that it’s wrong for everybody else but it’s right for you.” That’s the technical definition of hypocrisy. What’s interesting is that young people use the term hypocritical about virtually anything. They’ll say you say one thing and you do another. They don’t actually care about hypocrisy as much as they might let on because they realize that they themselves are hypocrites and that everybody at a fundamental level is hypocritical. But we don’t realize that outsiders are looking for people who are just honest, transparent, working hard to be pure, and to be like Christ. WILLOW: WILLOW Creek’s recent Reveal study discovered some ways that the church is not meeting peoples’ needs for spiritual growth. What parallels do you see between the findings in Reveal and unChristian? Gabe: I think there’s an interesting parallel here. In unChristian, what we found is that non-Christians responded by saying, “Look, Christians are not like what we would have supposed Christians should be like. They’re not like Jesus.” And then you’ve got the Reveal study pointing out that we haven’t been doing a great job of actually discipling Christians, of helping them understand how to grow deeper and become disciples of Christ. In seeing the parallel problems, we also quickly can see the parallel solution in that. As Christians become deeper disciples of Christ, when they become much more in love with Jesus and with who He’s called them to become, what we’re going to find is a new kind of Christian on the scene: a Christian who’s got compassion, who’s kind, who has grace and knows how to walk forward in that tension of truth and grace, just like Jesus modeled for us — unifying Christians who are informed and engaged in some of the most controversial, as well as very difficult, social issues. They’re going to be involved in justice. They’re going to be involved in global issues. They’re going to be in that conversation, but they’re not going to be in that conversation just to spout off their views. They’re in that conversation because they’re intelligent on the issues, they’re adding value to the conversation, they’re peacemakers, they’re bringing people together, they’re raising the dialogue in our culture. WILLOW: Outsiders describe Christians as living in their own world, using special words or phrases no one else can understand. Only one in five outsiders said they perceive Christian churches as loving environments, places where people are unconditionally loved and accepted. What can the Church do to make outsiders feel more welcome? David: As a congregation, it’s important to emphasize young people and not underestimate their intelligence or their capacity to learn and to process complexities. They desire to really embrace a deep, thoughtful faith. Daniel is described as not defiling himself to the Babylonian culture, but he showed a proficiency at learning and was capable of having influence while also maintaining his purity. We’ve got to cultivate that kind of posture with young people today. I use this phrase towards the end of the book that in order to recover our heart for Jesus, we have to nurture and cultivate care and concern for outsiders. This means immigrants, homosexuals, different ethnicities, and different age groups. Until we can really facilitate that kind of mindset — a real missionary type mindset in our people — we’re going to continue to look like those who are busy defending a fort rather than actually going about the work of making disciples and going into all the Earth. WILLOW: Do you have any fear that some leaders may read this book and think, “Well maybe we just need to water things down a little bit or compromise here or there just to become more popular or attractive to outsiders?” Gabe: We don’t think the book in any way would be a call for people to change the gospel in any way. Actually, it’s sort of a clarion call to get back to the gospel, to get back to the basics, to really evaluate the role of church in their own community. If your church was gone from your community, would people even miss it? We want Christians to get back to the basics of the gospel, to help people mend their broken lives, to help them understand better how the world works and how Christ is always redeeming and fixing those things that are broken. Our hope is that people would embrace their role as Christians, to not only care about the souls of people and converting people to become Christians, but to also deeply care about the lives of the neighbors and human beings who live near them. WILLOW: At the end of the book, you explain how Christians can move from being unChristian to being known as a true Christ follower. The four areas mentioned are: respond with the right perspective; connect with people; be creative; and serve people. What do you hope readers would do with the information in this book? Gabe: More than two dozen contributors throughout the book describe ways that we can get back to being Christian by looking at Jesus and better understanding who He’s called us to be. That’s when we’re going to see these perceptions change and it might not be next year, it might not be five years from now, but 20 years from now come back and measure this. As the church begins to transform itself and wrestle through the challenges confronting it, we’ll find a church that’s more purified. We’re going to find a church that’s more committed than ever and a church that’s actually seen in our culture as something that’s positive, that’s really contributing to the betterment of our society. David: The simplest way to put what I hope would happen would be that when we admit the world isn’t what it ought to be, that at the heart of being a Christian, is our admission that we’re part of the problem. When we realize that when we’re trying to coalesce power, when we’re trying to build an organization, when we’re trying to maintain an image, all of those things are exercises that on some level are against the Kingdom principles of divesting power, of giving ourselves away. When people outside the faith see Christians, it’s not as if our moral stances are a mystery to them. What they don’t recognize almost at all in us are the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In trying to achieve truthful ends and making our culture a better place, we’ve not gone about it through Spirit-directed means with the fruit of the Spirit being evident and just flowing out of our lives and our conversations. To read the full, unabridged version of this interview, go to www.willowcreek.com/willowmagazine. Top