Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2008 Spring Issue -- What Do Young People Think About the Church?

The Emerging Church movement is not worth recommending as a personality movement. To whatever degree it is connected to the influence of Brian McLaren, I could not recommend it. But, fortunately, it is diverse. Anyone who stays rooted in God’s word and committed to the church should know that there is much to be learned from this movement.

The Emerging Church movement has identified a serious problem. Many churches are not keeping young people from their teens to mid-thirties. The good news is that they are willing to tell us why. Some emerging leaders, like Dan Kimball of Vintage Faith Church in California, are asking them why. Right or wrong, don’t we need to listen?

Kimball, in his presentations to the National Campus Ministry Seminar in 2007, and in his book “They Like Jesus But Not the Church” (2007), listed six things (see below) that the emerging generation think about the church. Kimball works hard to be fair-minded and he acknowledges that some of their criticisms are misconceptions, but in every case, he reminds believers to ask “What Can We Learn From This Misperception?” This enabled me to lay aside my defensive reactions and try to be a learner more than a critic. Here are the six things:

: 1. The church is an organized religion with a political agenda. Madonna once said, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with the teachings of Jesus, but I am suspicious of organized religion.” I wonder why those who complain about organized religion are often supportive of organized education? The human body is organized. So are family dinners. Why is it controversial for religion to be organized? I have also noticed that those who accuse others of having a political agenda usually have a big one of their own. I’m grateful to live in a country where we are allowed to have them. But what we can learn here is that our concern for kingdom growth must run deeper than our political agendas, right or left. And organization is useless without love.; 2. The church is judgmental and negative. Those who accuse others of being judgmental, often do so with great intolerance and negativity. The fact is, some will take any discussion of sin as some sort of personal rejection. For too many church people on the attack, it is. To reach the emerging generation, we sometimes need to let the Holy Spirit do more of the convicting of sin. He may choose to use you in this process, but be careful. Kimball does not discount the reality of sin, but he asks us to be graceful about when and how we communicate that reality.; 3. The church is dominated by males and oppresses females. You may differ with Kimball’s stance at this point, but his call for us to be better prepared to explain our positions in a spirit of love is worth its salt. Every church should reflect on how they honor their women (whether from the right or the left). Dishonoring them will drive the emerging generation far away.; 4. The church is homophobic. I take particular umbrage at this charge, as it is such a cheap shot. Wherever one sees actual hatred for homosexuals (or any human beings), call it out! But don’t smear Christians in general. Christians are called to hate the sin (no way around that) and love the sinner (no way around that), and we have Jesus Himself as the perfect example of this in the way He treated us. Still, I needed to hear Kimball’s challenge to take care how I react to cheap shots.; 5. The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong. The adverb here seems stereotypically unfair, but for the sake of kingdom growth, can we be patient with our critics? Kimball cites Madonna’s belief that “all paths lead to God,” and we know she is not alone in this perspective. Instead of reacting critically, we might find a way to explain that human slavery to sin is more like a disease than a path and we would never go to a doctor who claimed that all medicines lead to the same cure. Still, it is instructive to know that showing respect for other religions, regardless of agreement, is imperative.; 6. The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally. Kimball’s challenge is excellent here. He calls for a church that “holds beliefs with humility and strives to be thoughtful theologians.” Again, he’s asking us to learn from our critics. He shows respect for the Scriptures while challenging the simplistic “The Bible said it; I believe it; that settles it” approach. We also need to know why we believe it. Dogmatic fundamentalists (whom I defend when they are attacked unfairly) often fall short in communicating the ‘why’ to unbelievers -- as if the ‘what‘ should be good enough. That’s a mistake. We can hold fundamental convictions without coming off as fundamentalists.

These are just a few of the concerns young people have regarding Christianity and the church. I took Kimball’s challenge to get out of my Christian bubble personally. I deserved it. I have a lot more listening to do than I once thought.

Joel Mark Solliday , B.A., M.Div., is the editor of Campus CrossWalk and the pulpit minister of the Northern Light Church of Christ in Minnesota. He earned his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary and has worked at Pepperdine and ACU. His wife Katie is a junior high school teacher.