unChristian

I've started reading through unChristian this week, by the Barna Research Group's very own David Kinnaman. He's going through the six most common points of skepticism that "outsiders" - anyone who's not a Christian, basically - hold against the Church.

Chapter 4 is about complaint #2: That Christians are too focused on getting converts, and we don't really care about people.

He gives some shocking testimony and provides startling numbers, all to explain that people think Christians just want them to be another notch on their Salvations belts. He discusses the frequency with which young people leave the Church after a try (or being forced into it by their parents), and how Christians have largely dumbed-down salvation to say-this-prayer-and-come-to-church. He continues with the transformation that the Church needs to make and he confesses this:

In the last two years, we have completely reengineered the Barna organization around this concept - that the church must become a catalyst, an environment for genuine and sustainable spiritual transformation.

(Emphasis mine.)

He goes on to explain that emerging generations are looking for process, and journey, so the kind of discipleship that Jesus modeled is actually quite appealing. What they're not interested in is say-this-prayer-and-come-to-church.

When people become Christians, we must describe appropriate expectations for them; engage them in significant, accountable relationships; and fashion environments where deep life change can take place.

(Emphasis mine.)

How do we fashion these environments? I'll let David explain,

We can create an environment in which relationships facilitate spiritual formation.

Relationships are key.

There is a resounding call for the Church to move back into mentorship and back into the art of making disciples - one at a time. Young people don't want to feel like a head to count, they want the people who are trying to tell them how to live their lives, to understand their lives. In the next chapter, David writes, "Our research demonstrates that conversations begin to open up avenues for spiritual influence."

How easy would it be to offer to buy a young visitor a cup of coffee if you both only had to walk across the lobby?

And part of this research is speaking to the need for the Church to be more relational in general. The Senior Pastor can't mentor every young adult that walks through the door, but a church family that is comfortable with themselves and acclimated to conversation can. Something else that will only happen in the correct environment.