What Do Young People Think About Christians?
22
Oct/083
Oct/083
Got this from the Monday Morning Insight blog.
These statistics come from Gabe Lyons, author of unChristian. Non-Christians aged 16-29 years old were asked, “What is your current perception of Christianity?â€
91% said antihomosexual
87% said judgmental
85% said hypocritical
78% said old-fashioned
75% said too involved in politics
72% said out of touch with reality
70% said insensitive to others
68% said boring
64% said not accepting of other faiths
61% said confusing
What do you think about these statistics?
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2:20 pm on October 22nd, 2008
I read that book this past summer and the statistics that the Barna Group published were sobering.
I bought 4 books so that I could hand them out to christians to get their thoughts on the book. 3 of those books have not been read… how is that for a sobering fact?
What the statistics tell me is that the church doesn't really practice what it teaches… at least not in the eyes of the next generation. I think we try to hold a 'lost' world to a moral code that they don't ascribe to while overlooking those same issues in our brothers and sisters in Christ in the name of 'getting along' or 'not rocking the boat'. In other words, we practice more grace for those people who already should understand than for those people who really need to see it in action.
7:52 pm on October 22nd, 2008
I'm torn, really. Because I know there is much room for the church to stop preaching and start acting in love. To release traditions that are ineffective and embrace the heart of the Father for broken people.
Yet, I am not surprised at all by these statistics, as Jesus told His disciples that the world would HATE them because of Him. The early Christians were falsely accussed of many things…horrific things, infact. So the fact that those walking in darkness do not embrace or understand the hearts of those walking in the light is nothing new at all.
So I think we have to take this with a grain of salt. With a huge amount of introspection. I think each of us has to allow the tragedy of our own hypocricy to sink in, and then allow Jesus to clean house….like every single day (at least for me!). Then we will be able to see more clearly to encourage or call out sin in our brothers and sisters…or the church at large.
10:23 pm on October 23rd, 2008
I like Barna but I have found several of his stats to be skewed throughout the years. I don't believe he did that on purpose. A recent survey says 90% of surveys are inaccurate 80% of the time when 50% of the responders live in 60% of highly populated areas. I just made that all up.
It is typical for young people to have somewhat negative viewpoints about just about everything in our society. It is common for them to leave the church for awhile and return later when they grow up a little more. I have run into churches and church people that meet each of these criteria and I might say in a survey that I agree with the statements to a certain degree. But I still am a part of the church and I love it, imperfect as it may be. Also, there are a lot of churches out there that are doing really great ministry and outreach activities that show what Christianity is about and people are noticing it, even young people.
Personally, the people that I have associated with in this age group that are not Christians do not typically have a negative view of the church and Christians. I think this has been overstated a lot in the past several years.