You are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who are only focused on getting people saved. You are a bunch of homo-phobia sheltered individuals who are too political and are judgmental freaks.
There you go. It is now out in the open.
The Barna group has come out with their newest study and their findings from a new book called: UnChristian:What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity.
There were six broad themes that are the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders.
1. Hypocritical
2. Too Focused on Getting Converts
3. Anti-Homosexual
4. Sheltered
5. Too Political
6. Judgmental
The thing that once again gets to me is that we (Christians) are perceived for what we are against (or they think we are against) rather than what we are for. Of course, it could be do to the fact that we do that quite abit.
We are good at telling them what we are against. They see us boycotting The Golden Compass, they see us holding signs that say ABORTION KILLS, they see us carry signs that say Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve *rolls eyes* and the list can go on forever.
It would be nice if we were known for our "love". Yup, that cheesy song that we use to sing. Wow, it would be great if we did live that out and people (outside the church) would see us for us loving each other and *gasp* loving them as they are.
Take the challenge. Grab one of the six broad themes and talk and discuss ways that we can overcome the perseption. The one that I am going to take is # 4 - Sheltered.
In the study, people think that we are out of touch with reality. They also believe that we do not respond to reality in appropriate complex ways. They also do not believe that we are willing to deal with the grit / grime of people's lives.
Well, I think they pretty much hit it on the head. We are the champions of pat answers, throwing out key scriptures (God's will) and our 3 step sermons and 7 keys to success and everything will be alright.
It is tough to step out of our comfort zone and live in their lives. It takes time and energy to walk and journey with them. Life is messy. There may not be a light at the end of the tunnel. There may not be a rose ready to bloom. We may not have the right words to say. There may be nothing but silence. But, we are there with them. We are living with them in their reality. We can / should do what Bonhoeffer wasy, "we need to be place-sharers".
Can we get out of our Christian Bubble ? Can we see the world for as it really is ? Can we truly be willing to loe and expose ourselves so we can be with them.
Let's take a stroll through our lives and see who we come in contact with that may need a fellow individual to come alongside them - be that person.
The thoughts and writings on this blog are the thoughts of Jeff and do not necessarily represent the views of Grace First Parish of Russell and/or Lutheran Campus Ministry of Southwest Minnesota State University.
1 comment:
More good thoughts Jeff. I'm going to "borrow" this. I'd like for some other folks to see and read this. I know having grown up in the church I can see where I was sheltered and to some extent am still a bit naieve and even hesitant about some issues. Sometimes it's really frustrating trying to overcome that. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that God blessed me with Christian parents who raised me the way that they did, but sometimes I feel almost handicapped (for lack of a better term) in dealing with certain issues because I grew up learning (not necessarily from my parents) that there were certain things that "Christians just don't talk about!" I'm still trying to figure out how to overcome some of those obstacles.
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