Christianity No Longer Looks Like Jesus
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Young Americans today are more skeptical and resistant toChristianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago, says anew study.
Negative perceptions toward the Christianfaith have outweighed the positive as a growing percentage of youngerAmericans associate with a faith outside Christianity.
Only 16percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a"good impression" of Christianity, according to a report releasedMonday by The Barna Group. A decade ago, the vast majority of Americansoutside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorablytoward Christianity’s role in society,
Young people have an evenlesser positive impression of evangelicals. Only 3 percent of 16- to29-year-olds who are not of the Christian faith express favorable viewsof evangelicals. In the previous generation, 25 percent of young peoplehad positive associations toward evangelicals.
"[Evangelicals]have always been viewed with skepticism in the broader culture," saidthe Barna report. "However, those negative views are crystallizing andintensifying among young non-Christians."
Common negativeperceptions among non-Christians is that present-day Christianity isjudgmental (87 percent), hypocritical (85 percent), old-fashioned (78percent), and too involved in politics (75 percent).
For the mostpart, Christians are aware of the greater degree of criticism towardChristianity. According to the study, 91 percent of the nation'sevangelicals believe that "Americans are becoming more hostile andnegative toward Christianity."
Half of senior pastors say that"ministry is more difficult than ever before because people areincreasingly hostile and negative toward Christianity."
Therewere also some widely held favorable perceptions toward Christianityincluding beliefs that Christianity teaches the same basic ideas asother religions (82 percent), has good values and principles (76percent), is friendly (71 percent), and is a faith they respect (55percent).
Criticism, however, was not limited to young peopleoutside the Christian faith. Half of young churchgoers said theyperceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical and too political.Also, one-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.
Moreover,the study showed a new image attached to the Christian faith that isgrowing in prominence over the last decade. Overall, 91 percent ofyoung non-Christians and 80 percent of young churchgoers saypresent-day Christianity is "anti-homosexual."
"As the researchprobed this perception, non-Christians and Christians explained thatbeyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality, theybelieve that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudestowards gays and lesbians," the Barna report stated.
YoungChristians largely criticize the church, saying it has madehomosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else and that the church hasnot helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to theirfriendships with gays and lesbians.
Among other commonimpressions, 23 percent of young non-Christians said "Christianity ischanged from what it used to be" and "Christianity in today's societyno longer looks like Jesus." Young born-again Christians were just aslikely to say the same (22 percent).
"That’s where the term'unChristian' came from," said David Kinnaman, president of The BarnaGroup who presents the findings in his new book unChristian."Young people are very candid. In our interviews, we kept encounteringyoung people – both those inside the church and outside of it - whosaid that something was broken in the present-day expression ofChristianity. Their perceptions about Christianity were not alwaysaccurate, but what surprised me was not only the severity of theirfrustration with Christians, but also how frequently young born againChristians expressed some of the very same comments as youngnon-Christians."
Research further revealed that those outside ofChristian faith have had significant experience with Christians andChristian churches. On average, young non-Christians said they havefive friends who are Christians; more than four out of five haveattended a Christian church for a period of at least six months in thepast; and half have previously considered becoming a Christian.
"Oldergenerations more easily dismiss the criticism of those who areoutsiders," Kinnaman said. "But we discovered that young leaders andyoung Christians are more aware of and concerned about the views ofoutsiders, because they are more likely to interact closely with suchpeople. Their life is more deeply affected by the negative image ofChristianity. For them, what Christianity looks like from an outsider’sperspective has greater relevance, because outsiders are more likely tobe schoolmates, colleagues, and friends."
The declining reputation of Christianity correlates with shifting faith allegiances of Americans, the study pointed out.
Eachnew generation has a larger share of people who are not Christians,which includes atheists, agnostics, people with no faith orientation orpeople associated with another faith). Among adults over the age of 40,only about one-quarter associate with a non-Christian faith compared to40 percent of 16- to 29-year-olds.
"This is not a passing fadwherein young people will become 'more Christian' as they grow up,"according to the report. "While Christianity remains the typicalexperience and most common faith in America, a fundamentalrecalibration is occurring within the spiritual allegiance of America’supcoming generations."