You don’t have to watch the news very long to observe that; Joy Behar’s recent criticism of Christianity, as practiced by Mike Pence particularly, could be “Exhibit A.” I have encouraged preachers and Bible teachers, elders and deacons, to subscribe to the e-mails sent out by the Barna Research Group. Barna is a Protestant organization that polls and surveys Americans on their religious beliefs. They keep their finger on the pulse of the American people and it is helpful for us to know what Americans think of Christianity, in general. Barna also publishes, from time to time, books that elaborate on their research and I have called your attention to some of those in the past.
Their most recent book, written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons is Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme. They begin by pointing out that being nice is not enough. They write “aiming for niceness as our ultimate goal can give us a false sense of making a difference in people’s lives” (18). Being nice typically keeps us from confrontation. That keeps down controversy but it does not change anything. Additionally, being “nice” (as an end-all) also portrays Christianity as being irrelevant.
Barna has found that 75% of American adults have some type of Christian background. Yet, 3 out of 5 (60%) do not actively practice their convictions. In their chapter on relevancy, Kinnaman and Lyons writes about perceptions Americans have of Christians and Christian leaders. Leaders are not credible. They are viewed something like greeters at Walmart. They point you toward your destination and then let you go off on your own. Similarly, Christian teaching is not relevant in our modern society; it does not touch on the “real stuff” of our culture. In fact, many Americans believe you can live a “pretty good life” without Christianity. In that sense, it is not unlike a board game that some may enjoy playing but it may not be worth learning.
Incidentally, Christians contribute to this perception, in my view, when we talk so much from the perspective: “I don’t know how people manage without God…” as if God only exists to come to our aid when we are in need. If you have no need, then you don’t need God. That is a misperception that Christians, I think, feed when we talk more about God helping us in our needs rather than God being worthy of worship for Who He is.
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The other point of the book is that Christianity is viewed as extreme. I suspect much of this reaction is due to the extreme nature of Islam and many of its practitioners. In order to be politically correct, in order not to offend the Muslims, many people, it seems to me, lump “Christianity” into the category of “extreme religions,” when even its worst practitioners do not decapitate people, shoot unbelievers, or blow infidels to pieces.
Nearly half of American atheists, agnostics, and those unaffiliated with any religion see that Christianity is extreme. Nearly half! Forty-five percent. Part of the problem, to which I alluded to earlier, is that most Americans do not understand Christianity. They have a false view of Christianity. Part of that reason is because we have not talked about Christianity openly to others; I mean New Testament Christianity. Related to that, we do not know how to communicate Christianity to most people in our society. That is, 73% of Americans say they do not know how to carry on a conversation with their Muslim neighbors. Sixty percent say the same thing about Mormons; 56% can’t have a conversation with atheists; and 52% can’t talk to someone in the LGBT community. No wonder they think we’re extreme. We’re not talking to anyone; we’re not communicating with folks.
That’s all the space we have for now. But, let me close with this prayer from Paul: “pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).
Paul Holland
