Kinnaman: An Unfiltered View of the Church, Part 1

David Kinnaman with Gabe Lyons. 2007. UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity…and Why It Matters. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks. (Goto Part 2)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Birthing stories are often prophetic.

My home church first met in a multipurpose room in the back of a local golf club. The hallway leading to this room was long and narrow passing right in front of the bar. When my wife, Maryam, and I walked down the hall, the folks sitting at the bar turned around and glared at us as we passed. Ours was not a unique experience. The country club threw our congregation out after the first week—not everyone was happy to see us on Sunday morning!

“Christianity has an image problem” (11) according to David Kinnaman in his book, UnChristian. The title here,

“unchristian, reflects outsiders’ most common reaction to the faith: They think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind, that Christianity in our society is not what it is supposed to be.” (15)

Kinnaman starts by making 5 observations:

The term, outsiders, “includes atheists, agnostics, those affiliated with a faith other than Christianity (such as Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Mormonism, and so on), and other unchurched adults who are not born-again.” Kinnaman focuses on 2 primary generations: “Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) and Busters (born between 1965 and 1983).”
God wants us to pay attention to outsiders because he cares for them (2 Peter 3:9; Luke 15:11-32)
Christianity’s image problem is both outside and inside the church among young people.
People are upset about the Christian faith because of its real and perceived influence on culture. And
This book is something of a mirror for each of us as Christians (17-19)

Kinnaman notes that “Our task is to be effective agents of spiritual transformation in people’s lives” (19).  Spirituality is important to young people, but “many consider it just one element of a successful, eclectic life” and fewer than 1 in 10 mention faith as their top priority (23).  Clearly, as Christians we have work to do.

Kinnaman cites 6 themes in skepticism about Christians:

We say one thing and do another.
Christians are: “too focused on getting converts.”
“Christians are bigoted and show distain for gays and lesbians.”
Christians are: ”old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with reality”.
Too political. Christians: “promote and represent politically conservative interests and issues.”
People doubt that “we really love people as we say we do.” (29-30)

The big 3 complaints are homophobic (91 percent of young outsiders), judgmental (87 percent), and hypocritical (85 percent). Kinnaman observes that many of these same negative perceptions are shared by young people who have remained in the church.

Kinnaman (36) concludes that:

“The real problem comes when we recognize God’s holiness but fail to articulate the other side of his character: grace.  Jesus represents truth plus grace. (see John 1:14)”

 He sees these perceptions as helpful in understanding how people respond to us, in becoming more objective in our own assessments, in changing the attitudes, and in understanding how their stories have influenced their views (37-38).

David Kinnaman’s UnChristian is written in 9 chapters, 6 of which reflect the 6 criticisms cited above. The foreword is written by George Barna and the afterword is written by Gabe Lyons.  All three are researchers with the Barna Group of Ventura, California which focuses on market research on issues of faith.

Kinnaman’s UnChristian is a market study of young adults outside the church based on interviews and survey work done by the Barna Group. It should therefore be read as consisting of observations, analysis, and recommendations. Because many books are based primarily on personal observations and experience, this book provides much needed objective research to complement other sources of information.  As such, pastors, lay leaders, and seminarians will want to be aware of its conclusions.

Part 1 of this post has provided an overview of Kinnaman’s work.  Part 2 will drill into some of the concerns articulated.

My home church, which started by being tossed out of a local country club, sends out more pastors and missionaries than most other local churches and remains salt and light both to the community and to our denomination.  And the gawkers are still glaring…as the spotlight is on us, do we point them to God or simply to ourselves?

Question: Do you think the church remains faithful to the call of God?  If so, why?  If not, why not?