The Next Christians – Gabe Lyons

© 2010 Doubleday, New York

Gabe Lyons is the founder of Q (qideas.org), an organization that studies society and looks for answers. I was first introduced to this young Christian thinker when he coauthored unChristian. I was intrigued, challenged by, and sometimes enraged at the research conclusions that he and co-author David Kinnamon reached. They were not painting a very bright picture for the Christian community, but one that in some circles, is well-deserved.

The future seems brighter for Christianity in Lyons’ new book—not because the traditional Christians are really changing their ways, but because those who are finding faith in this new generation are affecting a change. This new generation of Christians are those who the author has named “the next Christians”.

According to Lyons, these next Christians are adapting to the changing scenery in the western world, not changing their faith, but living it incarnationally. They take their cues from the record of the Bible as a whole not (as he sees it) choosing the fall and redemption stories at the expense of the creation and completion stories. In so doing, he lauds this new generation of Christians for living lives with a view to restoration. He includes a number of examples of people from all walks of life who have seen a need and, without forcing their faith on others, have still let their faith drive their action—to restore the world to the way God had designed it (or take a step toward restoration, at any rate).

While the author hints at this sort of lifestyle occasionally leading to the conversion to gospel-driven faith of those who are influenced by these next Christians, it seems to be more of a happenstance than a purpose. Yes, I will agree that the traditional (20^th Century) evangelical emphasis on evangelism at any cost has developed within the Christian community an almost mercenary mindset that ignores the person in order to reach their soul (usually toward the end of marking another tic on the scratch-sheet of ‘souls saved’), I am not convinced that disguising our faith and only mentioning our Jesus is the answer either.

I suppose another struggle that I have with this book is its dismissal of anything over thirty years old. This may not be the author’s intent, but it is the message that comes across. Have we gotten things wrong through the years that should be addressed? The answer would certainly be yes. Should we dismiss all that has gone on over the last three to five hundred years? I don’t think so. If I were to analyze my own response to the message of this book, I would say that what leaves the distaste in my mouth is the tone of arrogance that comes across (which is exactly the message that I believe Lyons would not want to be perceived).

The book is not all bad, but it isn’t necessarily the aid to bringing about change that it wants to be. 2 ½ reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, March 4, 2011

[Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]

unChristian – David Kinnaman with Gabe Lyons

© 2007 Baker Books, Grand Rapids

People say all different kinds of things with statistics. Pollsters are a mainstay of ministry people as they try to either justify what they are doing or prove to someone that they are right or not. I’ve never been a big fan of doing the kind of tedious work required to gather the information found in books like Comeback Churches or our current feature, but I have found the information helpful once someone has done the work. David Kinnaman is the president of The Barna Group, which collects this kind of information for Christian ministries, and he has done this data collection well for several years. This is his first time to write more than a collective report for the group commissioning the research, and the book that is the result is shattering, while not altogether unexpected.

At the request of Gabe Lyons, who at the time was preparing to start what has become the Fermi Project, Kinnaman set out to find out what the upcoming generations of young adults think of Christians and Christianity. What he found over a three year study gives the modern expression of the church more than just pause for thought, but a siren-laden wake-up call that, if ignored will contribute to the slow, painful, gasping death of the church as we know it. However, if we perk up our ears and listen to the cry that is coming out of the “Buster” and “Mosaic” generations, we can make adjustments and return to the church Christ promised to build on the faith statement of Simon Peter.

The book itself is written in such a way as to be read by even the most statistically challenged of us all. In it you will find the findings that younger adults (both from within and without the church) find these common perceptions of Christians and Christianity:

1. Hypocritical.

2. Too focused on getting converts.

3. Anti-homosexual.

4. Sheltered.

5. Too political.

6. Judgmental.

Regardless of whether we agree with the assessment or not, Kinnaman suggests that Christians must pay attention to the perceptions because they are the perceptions that are driving young people out of the church and away from Christ.

Throughout the book you will find not only Kinnaman’s assessment, but also suggested responses to move us from living out “unChristian faith” and being more Christ-like in our actions from leading Christians in America today. Most poignant, I believe, are the quotations scattered throughout the text—some from the interviewees in the research, and some from Christians who are trying to get the faithful back on track. In reaction to the perception that Christians are anti-homosexual, 34-year-old Peter said, “It’s very much an “us-versus-them” mentality, as if a war has been declared. Of course each side thinks the other fired the opening shot.”

Perhaps some of the perceptions held by these young “outsiders” (those who are not part of the established church) are well-deserved. In a conversation with a friend, Kinnaman relates the story of how one church leader turned people away from a “free” concert because he didn’t want “those people infecting our youth group.” (see pages 190-191 for the account)

The difference between this book and others that are meant to wake up the church such as I’m OK, You’re Not is that while the information may be scary and even maddening to Christ followers, it is not presented in shock form, but with a loving attitude toward both the Christian and the outsider as well.

As with all research of this type, the statistics will be current for at most five years, and then more reports will be necessary. But for today, Christians need to read this book if for no other reason than to open their eyes. (Five out of five reading glasses—get this book and read it.)

—Benjamin Potter, May 4, 2008