Book Review - "UnChristian

Book Review: “UnChristian,”
by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book, 2007

This book is the result of a research study looking at what today’s generation, those between the ages of 16-29, think about Christianity. I think this is something that should interest us all since that is the generation we have lost or are losing in the Adventist church.
Did you know that the SDA church’s median age in North America is 59 years old? That’s a problem! The median age in Sonoma County, the county I live in and where my church is, is 32 years of age.
The premise of this book is that people born during a certain period of time (In this case, Mosaics, born between 1984-2002, and Busters, born between 1965-1983) naturally will reflect and be influenced by a unique set of circumstances and global events, moral and social values, technologies, and cultural and behavioral norms. The result is that every generation has their own way of seeing things.
The authors of this book, weave together polling data, interviews, and personal anecdotes with biblical commentary, to communicate the perceptions by this age group and the effect it has on their desire for spirituality (and how they view the church). What they discovered from this research is very interesting, and unfortunately, unflattering. The study shows that this generation perceives six "un-Christian" characteristics in Christians today. They perceive Christians are hypocritical, hostile to homosexuals, overly political, judgmental of others, out of touch with reality, and merely interested in converting people.
The authors then discuss why these negative perceptions exist. They spend a chapter on each one explaining how this generation has come to this conclusion, and sharing some ideas (gleaned from Mosaics and Busters themselves) on how to reverse these perceptions in a Christ-like manner.
Another thing I liked about the book is that each chapter concludes with short reflections written by different Christian church leaders that are aimed at identifying steps we can take toward changing these perceptions.
The book helped me to understand how Mosaics and Busters think, and motivated me to continue to do all I can to connect with this missing generation of our church. I would highly recommend it!

Ron Aguilera