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99 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, challenging book for all Christians, March 16, 2007
This review is from: They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Paperback)
Everyone who takes the Christian faith seriously should read this book and be prepared to do some sober reflection. Whether a pastor, youth worker, elder, deacon, lay leader, or church member - those who take Dan Kimball's book to heart may very well need to make some significant changes in their approach to outreach and evangelism.
In They Like Jesus But Not The Church, Dan Kimball first points out the convicting and humbling truth that the longer one is a Christian, the less likely one is to have significant friendships with those who are not Christian. Instead, most Christians today find their lives consumed with church-related activities - and those whose primary jobs are ministry-related are often the worst offenders. How can anyone know what the needs of the unchurched are unless they are involved in trusting relationships with them?
The church in America has become nearly irrelevant to most 20- and 30-somethings. Yet those who follow Jesus rarely venture outside our cozy Christian comfort zones to learn why. Unless individual Christians are actively engaged in open and trusting relationships with non-Christians (without a conversion agenda), the life-changing gospel message won't effectively be spread merely by changing our worship service structure, format, or atmosphere. Furthermore, most Christians tend to compound the problem by generally taking one of two approaches to evangelism: either we see every non-Christian as a potential target, and if we spend any time with them at all the goal is to "seal the deal;" or we isolate our faith from our everyday lives and generally avoid faith- or church-related conversations with anyone other than our church friends.
One of the biggest strengths of this book are the voices of many people (most in their 20s and 30s) with whom Dan Kimball has spent hours in conversation. He has developed trusting relationships and most importantly has really listened to where they're coming from when they talk about Jesus, the church, and Christians. Dan's goal was not to convert them, but to hear them. And likely, in doing so, he began to remove some of the stereotypes about Christians and the church that they might have held.
It is surprising and refreshing to learn of the positive and often even accurate views many people outside the church have about Jesus. In general, they deeply respect him and his teachings. But they see the church as very un-Christlike, and the church must not ignore their perceptions and feelings. Whether or not their ideas about the church being homophobic, male-dominated, judgmental and negative, or having a political agenda are true of all churches or any single church, the reality is that these perceptions are a significant barrier to trust in the church and acceptance of Christianity.
Dan does not compromise his orthodox beliefs as he interacts and engages with the people and the issues, and neither does he advocate that any church or individual compromise. But he is willing to ask difficult questions - questions that any serious Christian should consider. At the end of each chapter are excellent discussion questions which challenge and provoke thought about specific issues, about the reader's own attitudes and perceptions, and about ways the reader might take action.
This book has deeply challenged me, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about our great commission to make disciples out of all nations. They Like Jesus But Not The Church is a reminder to me that God is indeed working in the world, and that I am called to be in relationship with people at all points in their journey of faith, doing what I can to help point the way to Jesus, yet trusting that each person is ultimately in God's hands.
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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You Love Jesus And His Church, February 22, 2007
This review is from: They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Paperback)
If you love Jesus and love the church, I strongly encourage you to read this book with a humble heart and an open mind. First let me say that the author, Dan Kimball does not pull any punches on sin or soft sell in this book. I believe this is the heart cry of God in our polarized generation to rebuild bridges to those that have lost respect for the church. I urge you to view this book as a mirror as you read it. Like a mirror it will show you yourself as you read it.
Those interviewed in this book are both intelligent and varied in the walks of life that they represent. They range from:
* A coffee house barista
* A lead singer in a rockabilly band
* An advertising director for newspaper
* A molecular biologist
Their honest open thoughts about how they and the world outside the biosphere of Christendom views us is both heart breaking and helpful. I am glad that there are those out there who still like Jesus even though they have difficulty identifying with and relating to the church.
After reading this book I was both humbled and convicted at my own shortcomings. I was also reminded by this book, that we sometimes avoid giving people intelligent answers to their tough questions. We need to admit that we aren't perfect and don't have all of the answers, but are willing to make an honest effort to find them and humbly apologize when we are wrong.
This is just this book's effect on me personally. There is so much more to this book than I am sharing here. It reminds me of a recent movie titled "The Island". It was reminiscent of the first Matrix movie. It was
about this underground commune of clones that didn't know that they were clones. They were told that the outside world was contaminated, so they couldn't go outdoors. Their life was marked by sameness and not questioning the status quo. Their one dream was to one day when the lottery that everyone was automatically entered in and go to the island, a paradise free from contamination. I am sure I don't have to explain the parallels to what some view the church as from the outside and from those within. There was one clone among a growing few that questioned everything in his world mercilessly bringing the accepted norm to task. He eventually was the one that found the real truth and freed the other clones from the underground controlled bubble that they lived in. I see the author of this book as that lone clone questioning his environment in a world of clones where most are too content or too afraid of bucking the norm to ask sincere questions.
I hope this long winded review has whet your appetite to read this book from cover to cover. We can counteract the negative images of Christians by allowing people to get to know real Christians in their real world. We can do this by building real relationships with them without any ulterior motives other than love and a desire for their well being in this life and beyond.
The author Dan Kimball is optimistic about the church, her innate goodness, and her ability to repair the breach between herself and the rest of the world. This book is like a friend who notices you walking around in public with your shirt on backwards or inside out and tells you, so that you can change it.
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111 of 143 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some good ideas, though a bit judgmental of some Christians, July 3, 2007
This review is from: They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Paperback)
The title of my review probably got some of you to read what I'm going to say here, but hear me out. First of all, yes, I read the whole book, and I appreciate many of the things Kimball had to say. He made me think, and I believe the Evangelical Christian church can learn from the emerging church movement. I especially appreciate the zeal that the astute Kimball has to reach the lost. He has a great ministry in the coffee houses of his area as he builds relationships while sharing the Christian faith. As time passes, things change, and we Christians need to be willing to not remain status quo, to "be all things to all people" and culturally not drive people away from the gospel based on an unbiblical stubbornness. This is exactly what scholar D.A. Carson says in his book on the emerging church, titled "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church." (I highly recommend it.)
"They Like Jesus" is helpful in showing Christians that we need to be aware of the culture around us and make sure we're not offending just for the sake of arrogance. We must understand that there are many people who will never set foot into a church building; unless we go out to them, how else can they ever understand and know the gospel? Kimball does a good job here and has given the pastor/reader some things to consider. I appreciate his fresh perspective.
Where he does become judgmental, however, is painting straw man figures of those who don't do evangelism the way he apparently deems proper. (Note: We must remember that, in good Postmodern thinking, "perception" is everything, as Kimball's entire book is built on the perception of the emerging generation whom he meets in the coffee houses. Thus, what I am about to relate is my perception, whether I am accurate or not to the real intent/meaning of the author. Fair enough.) The reader is thus left with a caricature that, while maybe true in some or--for the sake of argument--even many cases, is nothing more than a mere generalization. The idea conveyed is, unless you do it Kimball's way, it isn't the right way. And this is where I think this book falls short.
For instance, on page 99, he writes: "This unflattering perception of the church and Christians comes from seeing Christians protesting on the streets with large signs telling people they are going to hell." Later, on page 167, he writes, "There seem to be plenty of Christians who will hand out a tract or hold a street sign saying 'Jesus is the only way,' but not many who build friendships and trust with people about what that means." Then, on page 238, he writes that those who are approached on the street "will only get an impersonal tract that focuses on hell or see a street evangelist who many times ends up making things worse."
From these images, Kimball makes it appear that any type of signage used in witnessing is "protesting." Street evangelism is apparently discouraged, regardless of what method is chosen. Just because these methods may not be to Kimball's liking does not mean they are "protesting." (I think of "Hell no, we won't go" and other silly protest slogans when this word is used.) Yet, in the right place and time, I have seen many instances when street evangelism and signs work, whether with "Million-Dollar Bills" or messages on placards that are produced in creative love. In fact, Kimball--whether he intends to or not--gives the appearance that the only correct method to do evangelism is through the building of "relationships." Of course, building relationships ("friendship evangelism," we called it in the 1970s) is obviously going to bear the most fruit. Nothing can beat time invested into people's lives. But it's only one type of evangelism. Can't/shouldn't we take the Great Commission to the streets and approach strangers as well? Isn't there a way to build relationships in the context of a three-hour airline flight or stopping someone sitting in the park and bringing up spiritual issues? Of course, I am a firm believer that any sharing must be done in gentleness and respect, but what I took from Kimball is that these methods apparently don't work with today's generation. Is this the message he intended to convey? I'm not sure, but that's the meaning I took in my reading.
Another bothersome thing for me is found on page 102. Kimball tells the story of how he was offended at a new believer's Bible that he wanted to give away because it included commentary notes he considered judgmental. He tells the story of trying to tear out pages from this Bible that he felt was offensive until he realized he was going to have to tear out too many pages. What did he consider offensive? Well, the initial page he wanted to tear out had a note saying that Christians shouldn't have sex before marriage, in reference to 1 Cor. 6-7. But the new convert he wanted to give the Bible to was living with his girlfriend. So, in order not to offend him, Kimball finally decided to not tear out pages and instead get another Bible to give away. He didn't want the new believer to become offended at the note. I was puzzled by his consternation. Just what exactly does 1 Cor 6-7 intend to say to the audience? Was the note in the Bible incorrect?
He explained that a new convert might think the commentary notes should be considered scripture, But would someone really be so naive to think that? If so, wouldn't it have been easy enough to have quickly explained to the new convert that the Bible had notes in it but not to consider these "scripture"? I'm not sure I understood the full reason for his apprehension to these notes, and it made me wonder what things he might hide from those to whom he was speaking at the coffeehouse. Would he hide some truth of Christianity merely to convert them? Of course, I'm not saying the Christian needed to immediately open up to 1 Cor. 6 right after the moment of conversion and say, "Now, be a good Christian and don't live with your girlfriend any longer!" That would obviously be silly and not very wise.
But isn't the idea of sex before marriage going to become an issue somewhere along the line? And I really doubt that the new believer would have gone home that night and immediately opened up to 1 Cor. 6. What were the odds? So, I just think that the very idea of ripping out pages from a study Bible was troublesome to me. And, while I understood that he is against sin, his chapter on homosexuality made me wonder what he would say to someone who approached him in the coffeehouse and asked about this issue. Would he tell them this is wrong (something he says he does believe)? Or would he steer around the issue so as not to offend? I'm not sure hiding the truth is something commissioned in scripture either. We must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Hiding the truth might be considered wise but not innocent. Honestly, I'm not sure how he might handle himself in this situation.
Finally, Kimball seems to hold a negative stereotype of Calvinists. For instance, on page 240, he writes, "If the arrow of someone's gospel presentation doesn't hit the target, then the person is dismissed as nonelect." This wasn't the only place where he bashed on Calvinism, whether overtly or not, but I think he has made another unfair stereotype, this time with those who stress the sovereignty of God and whom he made to appear as generally arrogant people. Just as Kimball wants to protect the image of Christianity, I think he needs to be careful to carelessly dissing his brothers in Christ merely because he disagrees with him. We can disagree in love and save the potshots.
In conclusion, I really wish my Christian brother would have stuck with presenting his methodology without being so judgmental. Jesus himself had something to say when the disciples were up-in-arms about others who were casting out demons. If they're not against us, they're for us, he said. Before I leave this review, I want to reiterate that there are good things to take away from this book, and I think discerning pastors ought to consider reading it, whether or not they agree with the emerging church. Yes, I do have reservations, but I need to get down to the coffeehouse...it's time for a tea.
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