Showing posts with label UnChristian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UnChristian. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
UnChristian: Hypocrite
I really love this photo I found on flickr that really captures the essence of this week's message from h2o. We continued our series called UnChristian by looking at the number one word used to describe Christians by Americans age 16-29, and that word is hypocrite.
David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons in their book UnChristian state that Christianity has an image problem and suggest that there is something that can be done about it, but that it will require change. As I said last week, they work for the Barna Research Institute, and they did a survey among Christians and non-Christians about their perceptions of the church. 85% of non-Christians age 16-29 said that the word hypocrite came to their mind when they thought of Christians. 47% of Christians in the same age group had a similar association.
So what are we to do about a statistic like that. Are we to just say that it's persecution? Are we to justify ourselves with clever little slogans like "we're not perfect, just forgiven?" (Because to the world outside the church, a quote like that is heard as "we're not perfect, we're just bettter than you.") Maybe we could spend a few million on marketing so that we could show that we are not as bad as people think . . . That could be a catchy line "Christians, we're not as bad as people think." On second thought, maybe not.
Kinnaman and Lyons' answer to the problem is similar to what I've thought for a long time (so it kind of makes me feel like I'm in a league with smart researcher dudes). They said that until we are willing to be transparent with our lives, admit our faults, and work to correct them, we won't have an audience with most people.
People don't expect Christians to be perfect; they really don't expect anyone to be perfect. They want people to be real, to admit their flaws and their brokenness. And that's the last thing anybody really wants to do. We really love wearing masks. But if we are going to be different from the rest of the world, I think we're gonna have to start by taking off our masks and finding some people who will ask us the difficult questions and help us to see our blind spots.
It starts with you and me though. Gandhi, after reading Matthew 7.3-5 paraphrased it to say that "YOU must be the change you want to see in the world."
Here's to starting a day, a week, and maybe a life motivated to being a different image of what a Christian is! Will you find someone to talk to, take the mask off, and be intentional about growing to be more like Him?
Monday, March 31, 2008
UnChristian: Judgemental
Last night, we returned from spring break, and started a new series at h2o. The name of the series is UnChristian, and is based on a book by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons from the Barna Research Group, a Christian research firm that examines faith and culture in the united states. I highly recommend checking out the sites.
The book exposes the fact that Christianity in the United States has an image problem. Kinnaman and Lyons found in a survey of people between the ages 18 and 29 who were asked about what came to their mind when they thought of Christians and Christianity, the words were not necessarily those that Christians would be proud of. In fact, the words were antithetical to what Christians should be known for. That's why they called their book unchristian.
The number one word used to describe Christians was "judgemental". Now upon reading this statement, one might already be trying to construct a defense, or beginning to write off the statement as not having any weight. One of the things that I like about the barna research group is that they actually DO research. They do follow up stories to find out why people would use a word like "judgemental" to describe Christians--to find out more, I recommend reading the book. After all, wouldn't it be better if words like "loving", "compassionate", "godly", "moral", "kind", "patient" or something like that were used? Of course one could easily write off the fact that people are always going to speak ill of Christians, but what if we were giving folks a reason to speak ill? Wouldn't we want to do something about it?
Well, last night, Trey Dunham kicked off our series called unchristian at h2o. He talked about why people are judgemental in general (it's not just a problem with the church), and how we Christians might have an answer and an opportunity to be a witness.
You see, we become judgemental when we are comparing ourselves to others. We want to look "better" than other people. We look down our noses, and become arrogant. But maybe if we remember the grace and mercy that God shows us, and we remember our own glaring sins it would be a start for us to overcome being judgemental.
I remember a story about a log and a splinter that Jesus told, maybe the beginning of not being a judgemental person is simply the admission of the log in our eye.
When we are humble, and we freely admit our faults, it is perceived as weakness. Nobody likes to be weak. People can and often will hurt you when you are weak. But maybe if people saw Christians being raw and honest with their own imperfections, if people saw Christians confessing their sins to one another, if people saw Christians as something different than a harsh and thorny cactus plant, then maybe we wouldn't so easily fit the label of being judgemental.
If you've got a couple of minutes, give yourself an eye exam today--is there a log there? Tell someone about it. Ask them to help you remove it even. Of course, they may hurt you, but wouldn't it be worthwhile to risk it?
The book exposes the fact that Christianity in the United States has an image problem. Kinnaman and Lyons found in a survey of people between the ages 18 and 29 who were asked about what came to their mind when they thought of Christians and Christianity, the words were not necessarily those that Christians would be proud of. In fact, the words were antithetical to what Christians should be known for. That's why they called their book unchristian.
The number one word used to describe Christians was "judgemental". Now upon reading this statement, one might already be trying to construct a defense, or beginning to write off the statement as not having any weight. One of the things that I like about the barna research group is that they actually DO research. They do follow up stories to find out why people would use a word like "judgemental" to describe Christians--to find out more, I recommend reading the book. After all, wouldn't it be better if words like "loving", "compassionate", "godly", "moral", "kind", "patient" or something like that were used? Of course one could easily write off the fact that people are always going to speak ill of Christians, but what if we were giving folks a reason to speak ill? Wouldn't we want to do something about it?
Well, last night, Trey Dunham kicked off our series called unchristian at h2o. He talked about why people are judgemental in general (it's not just a problem with the church), and how we Christians might have an answer and an opportunity to be a witness.
You see, we become judgemental when we are comparing ourselves to others. We want to look "better" than other people. We look down our noses, and become arrogant. But maybe if we remember the grace and mercy that God shows us, and we remember our own glaring sins it would be a start for us to overcome being judgemental.
I remember a story about a log and a splinter that Jesus told, maybe the beginning of not being a judgemental person is simply the admission of the log in our eye.
When we are humble, and we freely admit our faults, it is perceived as weakness. Nobody likes to be weak. People can and often will hurt you when you are weak. But maybe if people saw Christians being raw and honest with their own imperfections, if people saw Christians confessing their sins to one another, if people saw Christians as something different than a harsh and thorny cactus plant, then maybe we wouldn't so easily fit the label of being judgemental.
If you've got a couple of minutes, give yourself an eye exam today--is there a log there? Tell someone about it. Ask them to help you remove it even. Of course, they may hurt you, but wouldn't it be worthwhile to risk it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Last night, Mark Byrer finished off our series at h2o dealing with themes from the book Unchristian. I highly recommend the book for anyone who wants to look deeply at the image problem of Christianity in the west. Last night Mark looked at the image of Christians as manipulative. Many see Christians only as people who are trying to broker a deal for souls. Once the transaction, often in the form of a prayer, has taken place, the Christian apparently has little to do with individuals. If the person seems to be resistant to the faith, then the Christian washes their hands of that person. While that may not be true, that is the perception of a healthy percentage of Americans between the ages of 16 and 29.
So what is a Christian to do to change this image problem. We can't get around the fact that we are called to share our faith, but it becomes a question of how we share that faith.
Mark gave folks three ideas to take away in consideration of the current climate in America.
1) He encouraged us to THINK. Maybe we need to think a little bit differently in terms of how we share our faith. Maybe more people need to take a greater role in walking with people through life, and not stopping at the point of conversion.
2) He encouraged us to LOVE. Often Christians can come across as insincere. It's almost like the behavior of a business person so intent on closing a deal, they stop caring for the people they are working with. Perhaps, we can all learn to love a little more and a little better.
3) He encouraged us to LISTEN. Many times, folks start telling people what they think they need without listening to hear what they really need. Maybe if we listened more and spoke less we would be able to help people walk through their very real pains in life.
As I listened to Mark's message, I couldn't help but think we could all use a little more thinking, loving, and listening as we share the most important message in history.
The gospel of Jesus is the most important and thoughtful message that has ever been uttered. It is the most sincere message of love that has ever been communicated. And it is the ultimate response to the hurt and brokenness we see in this world.
May you share Jesus well in action, attitude, word, and deed. Your life could be the only representation of Jesus or the Bible many will see.