Lead Worship

unChristian – Chapter 6: Sheltered

Posted on June 30th, 2008 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: unchristian.

“Christians enjoy being in their own community. The more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the real world. So many Christians are caught in the Christian ‘bubble.’” (page 121).

“Outsiders think Christianity is out of tune with the real-world choices, challenges, and lifestyles they face. Only one-fifth of young outsiders believe that an active faith helps people live a better, more fulfilling life. Three-quarters of Mosaics and Busters outside the church said that present-day Christianity could accurately be described as old-fashioned, and seven out of ten believe the faith is out of touch with reality. Most outsiders and nearly half of young insiders say that Christianity is confusing” (page 122).

“If you have spent much time with people in their twenties or thirties, you know that Mosaics and Busters are the antithesis of ’sheltered.’ This is one of the reasons Christianity, in its sheltered, clueless, non-intellectual form, makes no sense to them” (page 125).

“Mosaics and Busters thrive on unexpected experiences and enjoy searching for new sources of input…A vast portion of their typical day is spent consuming media and exploring the burgeoning realms of the Internet” (page 125).

“A majority of Busters, including most born-again Christian young people, believe that the spiritual world is too complex and mysterious for humans to understand. Millions of young people admit that life itself is too complicated to really grasp” (page 125).

“Young people’s perspectives about the world are not neat and tidy. They find themselves brushing aside thoseunwilling to expolre life’s intricacy and irony and idiocy, as they would say. A faitht hat does not effectively addresss convoluted and thorny issues seems out of tune with a generation asking big questions and expressingcandid doubts. Spirituality that is merely focusd on”dos and don’ts” rings hollow” (page 126).

Fractured generations

1. Busters have grown up in a social setting more violent than that of their Boomer parents.
2. Family structures have undergone dramatic changes since the times when Boomers were growing up. Currently more than one-third of children born in the Unity States are born to unmarried mothers.
3. At least two out of every five Busters and Mosaics admit to viewing some type of pornography in a typical month.
4. 75 percent of young people approve of sex before marriage.
5. The average age when a young woman lost her virginity is 15. And Busters are twice as likely as Boomers to have had multiple sex partners by age eighteen.
6. One out of seven admits to dealing with an addictuion. One-third describe themselves as overweight. One-sixth recognize they are already in serious debt. Almost one out of every four Busters who have been married has already experienced a divorce.
7. Halv of young adults say they are trying to find a few good friends. One-eighth are lonely. One-quarter feel unfulfilled in life. Nearly half say they are stressed out.
8. Suicide is the third leading cuase of death among people aged fifteen to twenty-four (pages 126-128).

“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 truths in tension, you invariably become useless and separated from the world God loves. For example, if you only practice purity apart from porximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatists, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from fallen culture and useless in God’s Kingdom” (Mike Metzger, page 133).

“This may not surprise you, but the perception that Christians are sheltered is most significant among the subculture of intellectuals and influentials. Our research shows that upscale outsiders-those with advanced educational and financial profiles-are much more likely than average to express resistance and skepticism toward Christianity. The sheltered perception-that Christians are ignorant and uninformed is most common among young intellectuals” (page 135).

“These young Christian leaders realize that they must display excellence at their craft. Their credibility as Christians depends on their ability to do a great job” (page 136).

“So how do you stay connected? Relationship. Talk to people. Anyone. Everyone. Ask questions. Lots. Liten closely to the ansers. Open up your life to strangers, visitors, and friends of friends” (Margaret Feinberg, page 141).

“We’ve tried too long to educate their minds instead of engaging their lives. The more we try to change the way we do church so this generation will join us, the more they seem to stay away…We have discovered a short window of time during the teenage years when students need to experience something beyond church as a spectator sport. If a young person is not challenged by hands-on personal minsitry, their faith will likely be sidetracked and even sabotaged” (Reggie Joiner, Page 142).

“It really bothers me that Christians are perceived as boring. Other perceptions may pass, but the idea that Christinaity is boring will not, unless we work hard to recover the true robust nature of the gospel. We have succeeded in making Christianity tepid. We are lukewarm, and God says that he will spit us out. Current forms of Christian practice have become a poor substitue for the real thing. That is way this perception exists.
“The excitement of Chritinaity won’t come back because of ‘happy music’; it will come back when we begin to understand the vibrance and vitality of the biblical story of what the kingdom of God is all about” (Chuck Colson, page 144).

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