As individuals and churches we are communicating a story – a story that is either attractive or repulsive in nature. Unfortunately, culturally we haven’t done a great job of communicating a story of compassion and grace. As a result we have created greater obstacles in the minds of people when it comes to their perception of Christianity. In many ways the gospel has become repulsive because of the story we have been telling with our perceived intolerance and prejudices toward those who do not share the same values and beliefs that we do as followers of Christ. The story that we have been telling has not been wrapped in respect and communicated in love. Which is foundational to the “good news” of the gospel according to Jesus. The picture that we have painted has not been a very pretty one. Many have become hostile and putt off by Christianity because of the story that we have been telling. To further illustrate this point, here is an excerpt from the book UNChristian written by David Kinnaman and Gaby Lyons based on their research of how our culture generally views Christianity:
“The primary reason outsiders feel hostile toward Christians, and especially conservative Christians, is not because of any specific theological perspective. What they react negatively to is our “swagger,” how we go about things and the sense of self-importance we project. Outsiders say that Christians possess bark-and bite. Christians may not normally operate in attack mode, but it happens frequently enough that others have learned to watch their step around us. Outsiders feel they can’t let Christians walk over them.
One of the surprising insights from our research is that the growing hostility toward Christians is very much a reflection of what outsider feel they receive from believers. They say their aggression simply matches the oversized opinions and egos of Christians. One outsider put it this way: ‘Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.”
This perception hurts and grieves my heart. We have a lot of work to do in retelling a different story – a story that is packed with love and grace. It’s time to get back to painting a picture of respect and humility with our lives and churches. The only way to change a perception that seems to get more and more entrenched in the minds of people is to tell a different story.
