"Unchristian"

Christianity has an image problem. That is the basic point of Kinnaman’s book, "Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...And Why It Matters". After three years of study and data collecting, the former Barna research center employee has taken the data collected and reveals that "unchristians" and "outsiders" have a negative view of Christians in America. Kinnaman hopes to present the data that he has collected and show Christians how they are viewed by our society and at the same time show how our negative image can be changed.

At the end of each chapter, the authors have leading and lesser known Evangelical leaders give their suggestions on how Christians in the West can change how they are viewed. Some of the main negatives of modern Christianity includes Christians are antihomosexual, hypocritical, put to much emphasis on politics, and others.

Some of the authors and leaders that contribute to this book include Emergents like Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Dan Kimball, and others. The book ends with these individuals giving what they think the Church will look like in 30 years. McLaren’s response is most interesting. He hopes to see Christians fully enveloped in postmodern society that is compassionate and focused on social issues such as the environment, justice, and poverty. McLaren describes a Christianity without a cross, without a Christ, and without the gospel. He seems more interested in a social gospel than the orthodox gospel. Though he would disagree with these assessment, it is clear, however, that his hope for the Church in 30 years will not be regarding theological integrity, but social righteousness.

The other Emergents in this book seem to offer the same hope. If these Emergents have their way, in thirty years, Rauschenbush’s dream might finally be realized, but in the end the gospel will be trampled on by Christians seeking relevance at the cost of redemption.