Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity

Abstract

According to a recent Barna Research study, the perception of Christians by outsiders (non-Christians) is shockingly low. Disdain for evangelicals by young outsiders is overwhelming and negative (49 percent). According to David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Research Group, and author of UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, “Only a small percentage of outsiders strongly believe that labels ‘respect, love, hope, and trust’ describe Christianity. A minority of outsiders perceives Christianity as genuine and real, as something that makes sense, and as relevant to their life” (27). Young outsiders have largely lost their respect for the Christian faith. And it’s not primarily due to our beliefs, but to our words and actions.You might be thinking, “So what? Who cares what outsiders think of us? Jesus was persecuted for standing up for the truth and so will we.” While there is certainly some truth to this, it misses a huge point: if we have failed to accurately represent the grace that Jesus offers us—if we have been poor ambassadors of a holy and loving God—then we should care deeply what others think of us. Kinnaman says that if we do not deal with our part of this problem then we will fail to connect with a new generation of young people. Personally, as someone who works with young people and sees the reasons many reject Christ, I could not agree more.