Are You unChristian?

U2 lead singer Bono has interesting take on Christianity. In an interview in the summer of 2006, Bono had this to say, "I never had any problems with Christ. But, uh, Christians were a real problem for me." WOW!! What do you take from that statement? For me, it's a punch in the gut! What does this say about the Church and the mission God has given us?

I've been in the process of reading the book unChristian by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons and it has been one of the most difficult reads I've had so far this year. Dave, president of the Barna Group, was enlisted by Gabe Lyons, former vice president of Injoy and currently leading the Fermi Project, to gauge how people view Christianity. After studying 16 to 29-year-olds, Kinnaman found a generation extremely skeptical of and resistant to Christianity than the same age group ten years prior.

The study explored twenty specific images related to Christianity, including ten favorable and ten unfavorable perceptions. Among young non-Christians, nine out of the top 12 perceptions were negative. The more common negative perceptions of todays Christians are:

• Judgmental (87%)
• Hypocritical (85%)
• Old fashioned (78%)
• Too involved in politics (75%)

Now, how does that make you feel? Friend, the church has an image problem. Bono's quote and the research done by Barna indicate this. We cannot share the love of Christ and tell the great story of the Gospel when those whom we want to reach cannot see that love in us. More on this in coming posts.