Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
unChristian
perhaps the most significant book written about the demographics of the church (more on what this means in a moment), in my opinion, is unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...And Why it Matters, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. David Kinnaman is the President of the Barna Group, which does research and produces studies on a range of issues and aspects of the church, and Gabe Lyons is the founder of Fermi Project, "a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and church and society leaders working together to make positive contributions to culture" (it's straight from the jacket of the book).
a little book background -- David and Gabe did over three years of research, interviews, and study about this topic before they wrote a book. it was originally an idea that Gabe brought to David as the one who could do the research and that struck a deep chord in David, and so now we have a very significant book to read and make sense of. they didn't write the book and give a prescription for the church and how to live out a more genuine faith. nor do they suggest that there is only one correct way to approach the things that their research indicated were deficient.
so what did the research actually show. without actually re-writing the book here in this space we will suffice for a very short synopsis of the research findings. know that they were researching the perceptions, feelings, and responses of those who are in the age range of 16-29. these are people typically referred to as "young adults" whatever that means. there was a sophisticated questionnaire that was completed in which people ultimately, for the sake of the research identified themselves as either insiders or outsiders in relation to the church. in other words, their responses either indicated that they identified themselves as those who would claim a christian identity or those who would not claim such an identity, and it is the latter group of people whose responses were significant for the study, but only in as much as they played a strikingly different tune than the responses of those inside the church.
from their research the authors determined there to be six broad categories in which the respondents identified the christian faith by. in more plain terms -- if you or they were to hear the term christian and then were given certain questions to answer about christians, this was how they responded. the perceptions were that christians are hypocritical (saying or believing one thing but doing something different), focusing on getting converts (concerned with saving others for the sake of doing so at the expense of a genuine care for the individual), antihomosexual (it's self explanatory except for the fact that the perception was that this was lived out in a hostile way), sheltered (out of touch with reality, old fashioned, stayed in their ways, boring), too political (in as much as christians are overly concerned with their political agenda which is dominantly right-wing conservative), and judgmental (quick to judge others without a loving and caring attitude of concern or even showing the love we proclaim).
the research backs this up, tremendously. and it is disturbing. this is not how i want others to see me or to see the faith that i proclaim. i hope that i live my life in a different way. i suggest that if theses issues concern you, you read the book and think about the creative possibilities of living and relating to other people that might begin to work against these perceptions. i do believe that the church can make a difference. the church is only a functioning organism in as much as individuals make it up and their intentional action makes a difference in the world we live in.
i try to live my life in a loving, life-giving, and dignifying way. no matter who i meet and who they and their circumstances are, i owe that much to them because they are human. that is enough. i do this by trying to be intentional, honest, open, loving, and vulnerable with everyone. this means that i must take risks, but it is ultimately the most satisfying way for me to live, without pretense or masks.
on a final note, i want to say something about David Kinnaman. he is a nice guy. i met him at a conference we were both speaking at. he and i were able to go to dinner together with a group of people and chat for awhile. he is a caring individual. he takes interest in what others are saying and is engaged with what their interests are. in short, he is a normal guy, who is trying to make a difference by alerting people to what his research has shown. and for whatever reason, this gives me comfort. he didn't ask for a lot when he came to speak and he was just a down to earth guy who missed his kids and wife because he was traveling so much. he accidentally stepped into semi-celebrity.
a little book background -- David and Gabe did over three years of research, interviews, and study about this topic before they wrote a book. it was originally an idea that Gabe brought to David as the one who could do the research and that struck a deep chord in David, and so now we have a very significant book to read and make sense of. they didn't write the book and give a prescription for the church and how to live out a more genuine faith. nor do they suggest that there is only one correct way to approach the things that their research indicated were deficient.
so what did the research actually show. without actually re-writing the book here in this space we will suffice for a very short synopsis of the research findings. know that they were researching the perceptions, feelings, and responses of those who are in the age range of 16-29. these are people typically referred to as "young adults" whatever that means. there was a sophisticated questionnaire that was completed in which people ultimately, for the sake of the research identified themselves as either insiders or outsiders in relation to the church. in other words, their responses either indicated that they identified themselves as those who would claim a christian identity or those who would not claim such an identity, and it is the latter group of people whose responses were significant for the study, but only in as much as they played a strikingly different tune than the responses of those inside the church.
from their research the authors determined there to be six broad categories in which the respondents identified the christian faith by. in more plain terms -- if you or they were to hear the term christian and then were given certain questions to answer about christians, this was how they responded. the perceptions were that christians are hypocritical (saying or believing one thing but doing something different), focusing on getting converts (concerned with saving others for the sake of doing so at the expense of a genuine care for the individual), antihomosexual (it's self explanatory except for the fact that the perception was that this was lived out in a hostile way), sheltered (out of touch with reality, old fashioned, stayed in their ways, boring), too political (in as much as christians are overly concerned with their political agenda which is dominantly right-wing conservative), and judgmental (quick to judge others without a loving and caring attitude of concern or even showing the love we proclaim).
the research backs this up, tremendously. and it is disturbing. this is not how i want others to see me or to see the faith that i proclaim. i hope that i live my life in a different way. i suggest that if theses issues concern you, you read the book and think about the creative possibilities of living and relating to other people that might begin to work against these perceptions. i do believe that the church can make a difference. the church is only a functioning organism in as much as individuals make it up and their intentional action makes a difference in the world we live in.
i try to live my life in a loving, life-giving, and dignifying way. no matter who i meet and who they and their circumstances are, i owe that much to them because they are human. that is enough. i do this by trying to be intentional, honest, open, loving, and vulnerable with everyone. this means that i must take risks, but it is ultimately the most satisfying way for me to live, without pretense or masks.
on a final note, i want to say something about David Kinnaman. he is a nice guy. i met him at a conference we were both speaking at. he and i were able to go to dinner together with a group of people and chat for awhile. he is a caring individual. he takes interest in what others are saying and is engaged with what their interests are. in short, he is a normal guy, who is trying to make a difference by alerting people to what his research has shown. and for whatever reason, this gives me comfort. he didn't ask for a lot when he came to speak and he was just a down to earth guy who missed his kids and wife because he was traveling so much. he accidentally stepped into semi-celebrity.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
15 x 15
i had a good buddy/co-worker/friend/bad-ass dude that i knew who died when he was just 19 of osteosarcoma. willie was an incredibly talented musician and consequently, music was a large part of his life. before willie died his mom asked him to make her a list of his 15 favorite songs by 15 different artists, in other words no two songs by the same artist. the only other stipulation was that the songs would be songs that meant something to him. it took me about a year to come up with my list of 15 but it is below:
1. Kite - U2
2. Wedding Dress - Derek Webb
3. The News - Jack Johnson
4. Til' Kingdom Come - Coldplay
5. Empty - Ray Lamontagne
6. Black River - Amos Lee
7. Love Song for a Savior - Jars of Clay
8. White Pines Ranch - Mark David Manders
9. Feeling Good Again - Robert Earl Keen Jr.
10. Runnin' Buddy - Max Stalling
11. Picture of Jesus - Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama
12. Pueblo Nuevo - Buena Vista Social Club
13. Under the Blanket - Trevor Hall
14. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
15. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
what's yours?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
a stack of books
something about books gets me. i read, a lot. sometimes my best friends describe my job to people as the guy who prays and reads all day long, and that would rule. only i think most of the time i would like to read and if that can be counted as prayer then i would be all for it. however, that is not what my job really is, and i don't get to read as much as i would like, but when i do something just gets me. i can stay up for hours on end turning pages just to find out what the words on the next page with a zealousness something akin to a child waking up on christmas morning. i also have found that i get sucked into any book i read. it doesn't even have to be good. i have this optimism when it comes to books that is somewhat fatal. even if i haven't enjoyed one word of a book, i find myself turning all of the pages until i finally reach the end because somewhere in the back of my head i believe that a book can redeem itself and become something worth reading, if even in the very last page. perhaps it is because i believe that if only one sentence, one thought, one word stands out in a book, then it has served its purpose. don't confuse this for some sort of relativity towards books though. i certainly have a ranking of books that i find to be good, important, or otherwise noteworthy. to be sure there are plenty of books out there that are total crap and don't really deserve to be published, but who am i to squash anyone's dreams?
without any further ado: a list of 10 books i have found helpful/inspirational/important/blah blah blah
(note: they are in no particular order of importance and some wouldn't make a true top 10 list for me)
1. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
2. Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos by Tim Keel
3. a Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren
4. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
5. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
6. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
7. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
8. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
9. City of God by St. Augustine
10. True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway
What would your list include?
without any further ado: a list of 10 books i have found helpful/inspirational/important/blah blah blah
(note: they are in no particular order of importance and some wouldn't make a true top 10 list for me)
1. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
2. Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos by Tim Keel
3. a Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren
4. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
5. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
6. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
7. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
8. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
9. City of God by St. Augustine
10. True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway
What would your list include?
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