UnChristian

I don't often do book review, but I thought in this case I would. The book UnChristian has been selling like crazy. Perhaps most recently to me. Out of five stars I give the book three, but more important than the rating is the reasoning behind the rating.

This book comes out of the Barna Group which has been a very helpful group in understanding culture overall. Their research is very good and well done. Still I find it curious how much credence pastors and others give to them. It is not that I think their research is inaccurate or that they do a poor job. Instead it is the fact that each community tends to have a culture of its own. Too often we assume that the cultural movement we see on a national level is exactly what we will see in our own communities. This is often not the case. Still the research is helpful as a starting point when seeking to understand the culture we live in. I think if you were to ask the Barna Group they would agree with this approach. With this in mind let's take a look at what the book has to offer.

UnChrsitan is a book about perceptions, the perceptions of Christianity from the perspective of those on the "Outside" of Christianity. Understanding these perceptions is important if the church is going to effectively reach "Outsiders." I find it funny that in the beginning David Kinnaman (one of the authors) points out the difficulties "outsiders" have with the terms the church uses to speak about them. He mentions terms like: seekers, lost, pagans, and so on. He makes the point that these terms are considered to be mildly derogatory by "outsiders." this book would be almost impossible to write if there were not some kind of term used in reference to those outside of Christianity, so he does what he must and creates a new term to say the exact same thing. Perhaps I would have done the same thing, but without berating Christians for using the the other terms. It seems he is doing the same thing he cautioned us from doing. Still we should be careful about how we speak and what kind of labels we use. In the end labels are still necessary and people don't like to be labeled. That will always be the case.

The second thing this book does is describe how busters and mosaics (16-29 year olds specifically) view Christians. These are the terms: Hypocritical, Anti-Homosexual, Judgemental, too involved with politics, Old Fashioned, Insensitive to others, Boring, Not accepting of others faith, Confusing. I don't want to take all of these on one by one, so I won't. I will make some observations about how all of these things are dealt with.

• There are several parts of this book where the authors seem to buy into the perception of the "outsiders" as if their perceptions is accurate. The perception itself may be real, but that does not mean it represents reality. This does not negate the need for the church to understand where "outsiders" are coming from, nor does it mean we should automatically assume the church is in the wrong. It does mean we should evaluate the best way to communicate the truth in the cultural context we minister in. We should consider the possible perceptions people have when we are attempting to communicate the truth.
• Some of the perceptions like Anti-Homosexual, Not accepting of others faith, and so on are actually accurate perceptions in some respects. Of course Scripture is clear regarding these issues. We must not back off of the positions. Instead we need to understand that these perceptions exist and work hard to explain our position accurately with love and tenderness.
• This book does a great job of helping us understand how Christians are viewed by "Outsiders," but I don't think all of the suggestions it makes are helpful. Some of them are very good others really aren't that good. When it comes to this part of the book read with caution.
  
• Law and Grace. This book makes light of the need for a proper understanding of Law and Grace. Too many churches have been preaching self help, wealth, and health. Those things are all law and no grace. We should preach morality, but never apart from grace. We should be clear about God's standards, but we must also be clear that those standards are only attainable through imputation of righteousness. In the end it turns out that if the church is actually preaching a proper understanding of the gospel many of these perceptions are dealt with. The church too often preaches all law and rarely grace.

This book was helpful in some respects. I would recommend reading it and considering ways to change the poor perceptions while at the same time becoming more proficient at explaining the gospel in terms of law and grace. Read with caution, but do read!

Child Dedication as a Paradigm for ministry

I don't know if I can remember all the child dedications I have seen or done for others. On those days the sanctuary is usually full with family and extended family. There is an energy in the room, almost as if a star had been born, the cameras are flashing people leaning out into the isles to take pictures of the beautiful baby. If your lucky the baby makes some noise (not the screaming kid kind) when it is held up for everyone to see. The energy is high!!

The ceremony itself is short and to the point. There is a passage read dealing with children and the importance of bringing the child up in a Godly manner. The parents are asked if they will bring the child up in a Godly way and then near the end of the ceremony the congregants and the extended family are asked if they will do the same. Of course everyone says they will, but we all know that will likely not happen.

Don't get me wrong, not every person in the room will be needed, but maybe, just maybe if we took that part of the ceremony a little more serious we would have a more significant impact on the students as they grow into adults. Emmy E. Werner from the University of California Davis did a study following a group of kids from a very poor area and found that the most significant predictor of resiliency for kids was the influence of an adult outside of the nuclear family.

This is not to downplay the significance of the nuclear family!! I would never do that; however, perhaps it is time for the church to operate as an extended family and take those child dedications seriously. This is not just a children's ministry or youth ministry thing, it is a church ministry thing.

Read the Dead Guys

The older I get, the older the books I read get. I am going to do something rare and recommend a book, but before I do I want to suggest something else. Read the dead guys!!

So much of the time we are flooded with books to read. If I read every book recommended to me I would have to read a book every day for the rest of my life. That doesn't even count the books I see in the book store that I would like to pick up. The problem is you never know what you are going to get. So here is my suggestion, read the dead guys!!

The thing about reading the dead guys is this, they have been tested. There is a reason the names Spurgeon, Calvin, Boice, Luther, Augustine, Tozer, C. S. Lewis, and so on have so much meaning. Their writing has stood the test of time. They will say something significant in their writings. Besides the test of time, you sound so much smarter when you quote dead guys as apposed to quoting the latest author on a particular topic. I have been amazed at how culturally relevant these guys are. It almost seems like human nature doesn't change...hmmmm

Alright, here is the book recommendation. Spurgeon wrote this little book called Come Ye Children aka Spiritual Parenting. This book is a small treasure!! It is excelent for children's workers and youth workers alike. As a parent it contains some excelent advice. Pick this book up for under ten bucks and read it. After you are done reading that book, pick up the book I contributed to Youth Ministry Lemonade @ www.pjs-web.net. (can you say shameless plug?)