//ryanweaver.me//

While shopping at Ollie’s a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a pair of  books by Dan Kimball entitled They Like Jesus but Not the Church. I had read a couple of reviews on the book, so when I saw it at Ollie’s for $5.99… I grabbed both copies without hesitation.

Why BOTH copies?

Because my Dad and I have been intentionally (and strategically) reading some of the same books over the past couple of years… and I knew that this was going to be a book that I wanted us to read together. After I mailed a copy to Pops, we both decided to move it to the top of our “stack of books to be read or are reading or stopped reading but will someday be read.” And I am glad that we did. They Like Jesus but Not the Church was thought-provoking and insightful. I consider this book number five in my commitment to read 12 soul-shaping books in 2009.

While reading They Like Jesus but Not the Church I received a “tweet” from David Jackson announcing that the BCM/D was planning to host “A Day with Dan Kimball” on the 12th of May. I will be attending this one day conference in Columbia, MD tomorrow and I’m pretty stoked about it because Dan Kimball is known for two things:

• His study of and involvement in the Emerging Church movement. (I have read large portions of two other books by Dan about the Emerging Church… “Emerging Worship” and ” The Emerging Church“)

• His rockabilly hair. (which I will see in person and will undoubtedly twitpic at least once during the conference tomorrow)

They Like Jesus but Not the Church is formed around six common opinions (or misperceptions) that Kimball discovered while interviewing (read: conversating with) many individuals who are a part of the emerging generation and who are resistant to involvement in “the church”. Kimball does a great job balancing the weight  in the quotes from these individuals by providing theological context and giving the reader just enough of his perspective to soften the edge of these important topics.  These six common misperceptions of the church are…

• The church is an organized religion with a political agenda
• The church is judgmental and negative
• The church is dominated by males and oppresses females
• The church is homophobic
• The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong
• The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally

I recommend this book for every pastor and church leader who desires to connect with the twenty-somethings (and thirty-somethings) who are probably very absent from their church, but very present in their city. (I also recommend the reading of David Jackson’s interview with Dan Kimball)

The price is too costly for us to get our feelings hurt by misperceptions that others have about our congregation or the Bride of Christ. It is time for us to listen to the those who do like Jesus but are wary of the collective church. It is time for us to re-think the framework of our church programs (read: Are you enabling your small groups to develop authentic community? Really?), to re-examine the way that we initiate conversation with the seekers (see: the list of questions on page 241 in “They Like Jesus but Not the Church”), and it’s even time to re-consider where we write our sermons (read: Is your church building/office really where you should be spending the majority of your time? Really?).

Here are a few challenging quotes from They Like Jesus but Not the Church:

I believe we are in a great and wonderful period when emerging generations are open to the teachings of Jesus and even to the church. (p. 21)

Instead of viewing our towns and cities as Judeo-Christian and feeling that everyone needs to automatically adhere to what we believe, we need to act like missionaries do when they enter a different culture. When missionaries enter another culture, they listen, learn, study the spiritual beliefs of the culture, and get a sense of what the culture’s values are. (p. 30)

When a part of us misrepresents Jesus, we are all misrepresented. If part of us is misunderstood, we are all misunderstood. (p. 68)

We need to bridge this chasm of of the Christian subculture by befriending people outside the church, inviting them to participate in community, and dialoguing with them. We need to be the light of Jesus and the living gospel to them, building their trust in us so that they will be ready to listen. (p. 236)

——————–

.:rweaver:.