UnChristian chapter 2 notes

Kinnaman in his book UnChristian shares six broad themes that outsiders (those who do not call themselves Christians) define present-day Christians.

1. Hypocritical

2. Too focused on getting converts

3. Antihomosexual

4. Sheltered

5. Too political

6. Judgmental

How many of the 6 perceptions am I guilty of?

How many of the 6 do others think I am guilty of?

The first, hypocritical, is a tough perception. God created us all equal and we are all equally sinners and deserve death. However, God sent his son Jesus to the world to die for our sins. If we believe in Jesus and believe he can take away our sins, we are free from this bondage of sin. Sure, we still make mistakes in our daily lives and sin, but God's grace through the blood that was shed by Jesus frees us of that sin if we accept it through repentance. By accusing Christians of being hypocrites is bit of a misnomer because we all do things we aren't proud of. It is asking God for forgiveness from those sins that redeems us.

Too focused on getting converts can definitely define Christians. When Jesus said, "Go and make disciples...," he didn't instruct us to coerce, manipulate, put the guilt trip, bullhorn, or tie down people in order to have them follow Jesus. There are many ways to make disciples, and a key for Christians is to care about the person first, not just the soul they are trying to convert just for the sake of converting. Life is a long process that can't be converted one night and never heard from again. If I wasn't a Christian, I would want to build a strong relationship with fellow Christians before accepting Jesus. I would also feel slighted if every time I was around a Christian they were always trying to get me to come to church or talk about my spiritual walk. The saying goes, "people don't care how much you know, till they know how much you care."

Antihomosexual is obviously a hot-topic issue. There are many arguments for and against based on scriptures found throughout the Bible. While homosexuality is detestable in Leviticus, Jesus also instructs us not to judge others. I feel many Christians are quick to judge a homosexual as a sinner who has to first remove their orientation as a homosexual before joining as a Christ-follower. Unfortunately, this issue has rose to the forefront: Christians are perceived as antihomosexual while a lot of the "outsiders" are tolerant and encouraging.

Sheltered: This perception can be seen by some Christian who may live in a bubble where they only hang out with other Christians, listen to Christian radio, take Christian vacation cruises, enroll their children in Christian school, and attend churches that doesn't reach out to the community in which they exist. Jesus was constantly around sinners because he wanted to offer them the hope they could find in Him. I participated in my bubble aspects of life and don't regret it for a minute. I do see the value in these things, but at the same time, there needs to be worldly things that keeps us with an ear to the ground of what outsiders are feeling.

Too political perception. I feel as though many times Christians get involved and fired up about a couple of issues in the political arena. These issues may lead to them swaying heavily towards one political party. The best government is the one that governs the least and we have seen a trend where politics play a huge role in our society.

Judgmental can be seen by outsiders as they view Christians because maybe Christians turn down or deny certain things because of their spiritual convictions. Christians can be perceived as being goodie-too-shoes or holier-than-thou because they may choose not to participate and try to make those that do feel guilty or ashamed.

I will continue my review with chapter 3.