unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters | 
| Authors: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons
Publisher: Baker Books
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 361
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0801013003
Dewey Decimal Number: 277.3083
EAN: 9780801013003
ASIN: 0801013003
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
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Product Description
Based on groundbreaking Barna Group research, unChristian uncovers the negative perceptions young people have of Christianity and explores what can be done to reverse them.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 How many ways can you say hypocrite? May 4, 2008
0 out of 9 found this review helpful
In recent years the Barna Group has been focusing on the failures, rather than the success of Christianity. It wasn't bad enough when George claimed that no spiritual transformation at all is occurring in the brick-and-mortar traditional church. Now the new president of his organization reiterates that position by basically saying that the Christian church is a hotbed of hypocrisy that is turning off enthusiastic young converts and supporters.
What else is new? What do you expect from a generation growing up on Mario Brothers and Grand Theft Auto that only learns to communicate via text messaging?
Discipleship is based on discipline. And that is the one thing sorely lacking in our Christian lives today. It is the fallacy of attempting the mass marketing of the pretense that to be a Christian all you have to do is try to be a nicer person and send in your tithe check that is tragically transparent to a youth culture that has grown up having to sort out truth from the hype and pitch of deceptive advertising.
Ironically, the Bible says it all: "You must be born again." "The old has gone, the new has come." The big lie of the postmodern church is that conversion from unrighteous living to righteous living is a lifelong process, but the Bible clearly says it is a complete rebirth and an instantaneous happening: either you walk as Christ walked or you walk like the other guy. It does not say "Try to be perfect", but it says point-blank, "Be as perfect as your Heavenly Father." The Old Testament makes it very clear. Only one person every 500 years or so makes it to perfection, and it takes 144,000 of these perfect ones before Christ can return. So the only really redeeming value of this book is that it clearly documents, using statistical research, what is really obvious to the rest of us: "our righteousness is like filthy rags", just as the Bible says. This book is dull, statistical, and redundant. Kinnaman needs to stick with research and leave the writing to the writers...
 Where is my free shipping? May 2, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The product is fine... I however deliberately ordered more books so I would qualify for free shipping. When I received my books, I found that I had been billed for shipping.
Depressing and Hopeful at the same time. April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is the fruit of a 3 year study of perceptions that those not it in the church have about Christians and the church. Simply put, Christianity has an image problem.
One surprise to the researchers was "many Christians have lost their heart for those outside the faith" (p.14). To me, that's a no brainer seen true by simple observation.
The title term "unChristian" takes it's clue from the most common reaction to our faith: "Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind, that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be" (p.15).
38% of those surveyed (2 out of 5) have had a "bad impression of Christianity" and 1/3 said that Christianity represents a negative image with which they would not want to be associated (p. 24).
Another lesson learned from the research is that "Christians have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for (26).
Inside each chapter is an analysis of the most common points of skepticism and objections to Christianity, and how the church can reshape the perception.
For example, the term "Sheltered." The perception is that "Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality." The solution is to reshape that perception as "engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face" (121).
But reshaping is not playing with semantics. The book is a call to action and provides practical steps and suggestions for pastors, church leadership, and lay people.
A Must Read April 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
UNChristian is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the relevancy of the Evangelical Christian faith to the younger generations. More than just exposing the serious perception problems, UNChristian offers alternative perspectives and responses that are meaningful and helpful. UNChristian is also easy to read in a few sittings.
 Heart breaker April 1, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Hopefully if you read this book it will break your heart and ruin you. Sad but unfortunately true
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