A book called “Unchristian” has been put out, in part by the Barna Research group. They are studying the responses of people to the notion of Christianity and Christians in general. In a nutshell, the news isn’t good. The “church” has lost credibility and strikes many as hypocritical and judgmental and specifically not a strong reflection of Jesus.

The last section has comments from many leaders with a wide range of perspectives. The last piece is by Brian McLaren and I thought it was worth sharing….

In thirty years research could tell us that when people think Christian they think things like this:-Christians are the ones who love people, whoever they are - gay or straight, Jew or Muslim, religious or atheist, capitalist or not, conservative or liberal.- Christians are the ones who have dome more than anyone in the world to stop the HIV/AIDS crisis.- Christians are the people who gravitate toward the poor and who show compassion through generous action and seek justice so that systemic causes of poverty are overcome. They call the rich to generosity, and they call on rich nations to work for the common good.- Christians are people who believe that art and creativity are important, so they consistently produce the most striking, original and enriching art.- Christians are willing to give their lives for the cause of peace. They oppose violence in all its forms. The will lay down their lives to protect the vulnerable from the violent.- Christians care for the environment. They don’t just see it as raw materials for economic gain, but they see it as the precious handiwork of their Creator.- Christians have personal integrity. They keep their marriage vows and are aware of how destructive misused sexuality can be. Yet they are compassionate toward people who make sexual mistakes and they never consider themselves superior.- Christians build harmony among races. You always know that you’ll be respected when you’re around a Christian.

McLaren concludes: perhaps I am a dreamer. But when hard realities jolt you out of denial (as the research presented here can help do), the status quo becomes less acceptable, and one is motivated to dream of better possibilities.