For example, according to Kinnaman and Lyons, Mosaics and Busters have an “anything goes mindset” (36), an “image-driven, self-oriented mindset” (43), they are irreverent, blunt, skeptical and are “in a nearly constant search for fresh experiences and new sources of motivations” (22-23). In an interview posted online Kinnaman states, “The central message of this book is, How do we understand, accept, love and bring the transformational power of Jesus to a generation that is very skeptical, that is very done with Christianity as we’ve expressed it in this culture for the last twenty, thirty years, fifty years.”Īlthough their study is designed to find out what outsiders think of Christianity, the authors also have very specific ideas about Mosaics and Busters. The result of the research shows a predominantly negative view of Christianity by those outside of it – referred to in the book as ‘outsiders’ one that is not based on unfounded perceptions, but grounded in the personal experiences outsiders have had with Christians and with the church (often they are people who are “dechurched” and not simply “unchurched”).Īlthough the authors consider their research to be “objective” (a word they frequently use both in the book and in interviews posted online), their presentation of the research in this book is shaped by very explicit objectives: “to be strategic agents for the kingdom of God” (8), to “connect more effectively with people outside the faith” (14), “to engage nonChristians and point them to Jesus” (16), and “to be effective agents of spiritual transformation in people’s lives” (19). To this end he partnered with David Kinnaman, the primary author of the book, in launching an extensive three-year research project in which thousands of people between the ages of sixteen to twenty-nine were either surveyed or interviewed about their perceptions of Christianity from an outsider’s point of view. Unchristian is a book that results from a research project inspired by Gabe Lyons’ interest to “help a new generation of leaders understand the perceptions and images that young people have of Christianity,” perceptions he already suspected to be very negative (13). Candidate in Practical Theology, Concentration: Congregation and Community Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2007.īook Review submitted by Xochitl Alvizo, Ph.D. Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity…and Why it Matters. Congregational Research and Developmentĭavid Kinnaman.School of Theology Center for Practical Theology

UnChristian by David Kinnaman