Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters QUOTES

1 " Surprisingly, the Christian faith today is perceived as disconnected from the supernatural world – a dimension that the vast majority of outsiders believe can be accessed and influenced. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

2 " In an era of mass media, it is easy to believe that the more eyeballs, the more impact. But radio, television, and tracts accounted for a combined total of less than one-half of 1% of the Busters who are born again. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

3 " Many outsiders clarified that they believe Christians have a right (even an obligation) to pursue political involvement, but they disagree with our methods and our attitudes. They say we seem to be pursuing an agenda that benefits only ourselves; that we expect too much out of politics; they question whether we are motivated by our economic status rather than faith perspectives when we support conservative politics; they claim we act and say things in an unchristian manner; they wonder whether Jesus would use political power as we do; and they are concerned that we overpowered the voices of other groups. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

4 " In many ways politics follows culture. As ancient Greek musician Damon of Athens said, ‘Show me the lyric of a nation and it matters not who writes its laws.’ Movies, television, books, magazines, the Internet, and music are incredibly significant in shaping world views and lifestyles of today's America. And Christians are expressing a growing awareness and response to these avenues of influence. Where is God calling you to serve him – media, arts and entertainment, politics, education, church, business, science? "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

5 " When outsiders claim that we are unchristian, it is a reflection of this jumbled (and predominately negative) set of perceptions. When they see Christians not acting like Jesus, they quickly conclude that the group deserves an unchristian label. Like a corrupted computer file or a bad photocopy, Christianity, they say, is no longer in pure form, and so they reject it. One quarter of outsiders say therefore most perception of Christianity is that the faith has changed for the worse. It has gotten off-track and is not what Christ intended. Modern-day Christianity no longer seems Christian. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

6 " Arrogance is perhaps the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today. In this culture of abundance, one of the only ways Satan can keep Christians neutralized is to wrap us up in pride. Conceit slips in like drafts of cold air in the winter. We don't see it, but outsiders can sense it. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

7 " Fewer than half of churchgoers, including born-again Christians, felt strongly that their church demonstrates unconditional love. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

8 " Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ. Yet in many ways a focus on spiritual formation fits what a new generation is really seeking. Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

9 " Sexuality should not be seen as dualistic – all good or all bad – but as a good part of our created nature that is constantly in need of repair. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

10 " It strikes me as unChristian that we often have more charitable attitudes toward ideological allies than we do toward brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we disagree on matters of politics. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

11 " What are Christians known for? Outsiders think our moralizing, our condemnations, and our attempts to draw boundaries around everything. Even if these standards are accurate and biblical, they seem to be all we have to offer. And our lives are a poor advertisement for the standards. We have set the gameboard to register lifestyle points; then we are surprised to be trapped by our mistakes. The truth is we have invited the hypocrite image. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

12 " Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don't hold up both truth in tension, you invariably becomes useless and separated from the world God loves. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

13 " The motivation of transparency is important. The culture teaches people to be candid and blunt, but this usually revolves around self-centeredness – you have a right to express your true feelings and your rage. This is an entitlement. Instead, the Christian way to approach transparency is to realize out candidness should be motivated by a desire to have a pure heart before God and others. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

14 " A person with a biblical worldview experiences, interprets, and response to reality in light of the Bible's principles. What Scripture teaches is the primary grid for making decisions and interacting with the world. For the purposes of our research, we investigate a biblical worldview based on eight elements. A person with a biblical worldview believes that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he still rules it today, salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned, Satan is real, a Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people, the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches, unchanging moral truth exists, and such moral truth is defined by the Bible.

In our research, we have found that people who embraced these eight components we have a substantially different faith from other Americans – indeed, from other believers. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

15 " Having spent time around “sinners” and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

16 " When people say that America is a mission field, it would be more accurate to say it is many diverse mission fields. And this phenomenon is particularly true among young people. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

17 " Another mistake Christians make is not realizing how much experience and background with the Christian faith most outsiders have. Most outsiders have “been there, done that.” Rather than being something new and untested for most outsiders, Christianity seems blasé and commonplace. It has become an ignorable part of their daily existence. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

18 " The unChristian faith is distressing. So is our culture. Yet to see spiritual resurgence among Mosaics and Busters, I hope our response to this observation is like that of the recipients of Paul’s letter. I hope we put aside casual forms of Christianity, piercing the antagonism of our peers with service and sacrifice. We may think the answer to the perception of our being unChristian is for outsiders to understand our faith. The church is not effective when it calls outsiders to live virtuously, which is never really possible apart from regeneration through Christ anyway. The reprieve from our deep-seated image problem comes when Christ followers become more faithful to a God who has redeemed us and more concerned about a hostile culture in need of the same redemption. 4 "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

19 " Christianity is perceived as separated from real spiritual vitality and mystery. It seems like a religion of rules and standards. Surprisingly, the Christian faith today is perceived as disconnected from the supernatural world—a dimension that the vast majority of outsiders believe can be accessed and influenced. Despite outsiders’ exposure to church, few say they have experienced God through church. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters

20 " we have let discipleship languish in far too many young lives. Our enthusiasm for evangelism is not matched by our passion for and patience with discipleship and faith formation. "

― David Kinnaman , Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters