I just finished a book called UnChristian. It was written by David Kinnaman, who lives in my birthplace, Ventura, California, and attends South Coast Fellowship, where I went to youth group my first year and a half of high school. In fact, my youth pastor, Doug Colby, was mentioned in the book and in the acknowledgements.
The central theme is that Christianity has an image problem, and if want to win the hearts of today's youth, we need to rethink some of our strategies without watering down the Gospel. Kinnaman works for the Barna Group, a firm that conducts researching relating to Christianity in the United States. They collected data regarding what teenagers and young adults think about Christianity and Christians. They found that "Mosaics" and "Busters," as they call them, are widely abandoning or rejecting the faith due to painful personal experiences or things that have been said and done by Christian leaders. According to surveys many of them believe that Christians are hypocritical, too focused on converting people, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. Kinnaman devotes an entire chapter to each one of these labels. Prominent Christian leaders including Jim Wallis, Rick Warren, Chuck Colson, and Brian McLaren share their thoughts at the end of each chapter.
Most of all I felt challenged as I read this book, but I was also motivated and encouraged. The authors are saying things that have been on mind for a while now. When Dom interviewed me on the campus of the Public University of Navarra, I said that the students there seemed to be very counterculture so becoming a Christ follower would probably appeal to them because you cannot be any more counterculture than that. The book's arguments did not offend me at all because I already agreed with many of its main themes. I was very excited as some of the authors called out the church on putting too much emphasis on homophobic political activism (as opposed to building friendships with gays) and encouraged us to tackle global climate change, excessive consumerism, AIDS, war, and extreme poverty.
I finished reading less than an hour ago. Now I am pumped. I am ready to go change the world. But how? Easier said than done (and I think the authors are well aware of that). I have been saying in life group for months now that I want to reach out to people this semester, but it has been only talk so far. My classes are filled with girls, who are not as easy to reach out to. I never have made much of an effort to make friends in my classes so perhaps it is about time to develop that skill. At Subway I am constantly working so I do not have much time to talk to my coworkers. I am quitting that job so I can have time for outreach. I do not really need more money anyway. I am applying to work as a language assistant at UF's English Language Institute. Mike Hasebrook and I have been trying to think of ways to meet international students. Perhaps this can be a good way to build relationships with them. I can even make new friends through my coworkers. Then again, outreach may be more effective somewhere else. I have just a couple days to decide. Perhaps if I get turned down a second time that would be a good indicator.
The most stirring part of the book was where Kinnaman recounts a drive he took with one of his clients. As they drove past the same strawberry fields that I have passed numerous times, the client wondered aloud who is going to share Jesus with those migrant workers out there. Kinnaman admits he had never thought about that. Neither had I. Granted, I was a mere teenager when I lived in that area. I have a long way to go in developing a heart for the lost, but I think I just took a good step forward.
