unChristian at Catalyst October 4, 2007
Posted by Zack in Georgia , trackbackThe final session of the Catalyst “lab day” last night was fascinating. Gabe Lyons, of the Fermi Project, and David Kinnaman, of the Barna research group, teamed up a couple years ago to study perceptions of Christians among young non-Christians (as well as young Christians too). They turned the study into a book, unChrsitian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters. In the final session last night, Gabe and David presented the research, and then brought up Shane Claiborne and Rick McKinley, two Christians who have done a lot to reach outside of the Church, to join them in discussion.
David reminded the audience several times that results of big-study research are hugely complex, and warned against over-simplification.
So I don’t want to oversimplify.
HOWEVER, one thing really stood out, and subtly became the main focus of the evening forum. Apparently, all the anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives and other anti-gay campaigning have really been ravaging the perception of Christianity among the general public, and even among young Christians. He showed one graph that showed favorability ratings over the past several decades for gays shooting up from low single digits to 33% today. (That might have been just among young people, I can’t remember.)
Meanwhile, right along with that, the favorability rating for “evangelicals” among the same group plummeted from high numbers to 3%! David didn’t argue for a direct correlation between those two numbers. But he talked about how today most young people know openly gay people, and they are having a hard time reconciling what their church says and their valued relationships.
He gave an anecdote from the research of one person who said he was sitting in church, with a gay friend who they had brought, and the pastor was preaching that “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
This topic requires a long, in-depth article, not a blog post. But you could hear a pin drop at moments last night, as the audience (a couple thousand strong) wrestled with the results. Shane and Rick gently danced around a different—more loving—way of relating to gays. But they weren’t arguing that homosexuality was Biblical. Looking around the audience, some people looked thrilled and enthusiastic about what Shane and Rick were saying. Others looked troubled.
At one point, Shane gave a rousing and beautiful little speech that closed with something like, “We need to be able to disagree with each other and with others, and still love each other.” Maybe 1/5 or 2/5 of the audience applauded enthusiastically. The rest sat still. I saw one head shaking.
Don’t misunderstand: that head that was shaking almost certainly would agree with the cliche “love the sinner, hate the sin.” In other words, he believes in loving gay people, but thinks homosexuality is “not the way God meant us to live,” right along with pre-marital sex. What he probably disagreed with was that his church should tolerate open and practicing gays as a member of the community. (Shane had earlier explicitly argued that the church must welcome gays.)
So, is the Christian right (with its high profile anti-gay campaigning) shooting the Church in the foot? That 3% favorability rating sure suggests it. There is a new generation, a new guard, who are trying to undo the damage by practicing “uncensored grace”. If Catalyst is any indication, they are well placed, and well prepared to succeed.
Tags: Barna group, Catalyst, Catalyst conference, David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons, Rick McKinley, Shane Claiborne, unChristian
Comments»
[…] also this short blog entry (on Revolution in Jesusland) on Kinnaman’s presentation at Catalyst, an evangelical […]
Speaking as a young “spiritual but not religious” progressive, I’m still not sure you get it, though. You are correct in that I have many LGBT acquaintances, and that they are an important part of my life. And from what you say, I imagine you aren’t the sort who thinks Matthew Shepard got what he deserved. All of that is good, and I’m deeply heartened to know some Christians these days have actually read the book.
But–and I’m reading between the lines here, so correct me if I’m wrong–it appears that even though you’re willing to have gay people be part of your church and participate in your community, you still don’t see them as equals. Even though you accept that we are all sinners (”There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10)), you believe that the so-called “gay lifestyle” is sinful, and it’s a very small step from there to believing that heterosexual people are better, for whatever other sins they may commit, that of being gay isn’t one of them.
And this doesn’t hold water. Of course it isn’t a choice to be gay; if it were, nobody would be gay in this society, considering the hate it exposes one to. Because the exercise of free will is required for sin, it follows that gay people are merely following their God-given nature, not sinning.
Evangelical Christian political activism therefore worries me because even the most tolerant among them–as far as I can tell, and again, please correct me if I’m wrong–regard being LGBT as distinctly inferior to heterosexuality, through such actions as not accepting gay marriage, for example. A group like that gaining political power would be a very small step from making gay people second-class citizens, even more so than they are now.
I won’t make this longer than it already is with an extended discussion of women’s rights, but I will mention that the anti-suffragist movement had a great deal of evangelical backing in its day (and the reasons are easy to find). The parallels are obvious.
Equality is a fundamental value of progressivism. I am, as I said, pleased to see Christian attitudes like those you describe on this blog, but until I can be confident that evangelical progressives will support that equality, I will be hesitant to join with them.
What a wonderful blog!!!
I am so heartened by the fact that someone is taking the time and investing their energy into understanding the evangelical mind. I am an evangelical.
I am such a huge believer in the marketplace of ideas. We may not all agree, but we can all hear. If we, as evangelials, are unwilling to hear the opposing view, endure critique, or present a defense, then we have no faith. All we have is incredulity. The Bible never endorses incredulity.
Thank you for this blog. It makes me want to open, not just my coffeeshop conversation, but my dinner table to the non-believing community. Community, born out of Christ’s love, is such a rich and fertile seedbed in which the seeds of faith can grow.
In response to Marty’s concerns:
I can understand some of frustration Marty may feel. Alternatively, evangelicals only opening their hearts and minds to gays and lesbians is a huge step in the right direction and is far, far better than most stereotypical “conservative Christians.” Also, with groups like the National Association of Evangelicals launching their “Come Let Us Reason” together project as well as the ideological epoch of change that Zach discusses with regards to the Catalyst Conference these words are increasingly transforming into tangible success and progress from evangelicals (perhaps even both left and right).
Certainly, this doesn’t describe all Christians and certainly this will be a process like any social movement. But, these changes can’t be cast aside or overlooked. If anything they should be encouraged. Now is the time to put down our strident accusations and move forward. To do otherwise seems to miss this prime opportunity for unity, social justice, and communal understanding.
Marty…I’m sorry that you are frustrated. I’m not sure anything can unwrite some of those frustrations. I hope this addresses some of your concerns, however.
I thought you would want to know that Fermi Project just released the official “UnChristian: Change the Perception” DVD Curriculum designed for small groups and church staffs. It has David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons, Shane Claiborne and Rick McKinley talking through how the perceptions can change and is a resource I would highly recommend. Check it out at:
http://www.fermiproject.com/store.