Christians today are perceived much differently now than they were in past generations. In his book UnChristian, David Kinnaman reveals what the current standings of young outsiders, or those that do not identify with Christianity, are about Christians in comparison to past generations (referred to in the book as “Mosaics” or “Busters” depending on the year of their birth). Though unfortunate, this faith is seen more as club or a social circle of the elite rather than a group of people faithful to their beliefs.
Several negative issues that young outsiders perceive of Christians are presented in UnChristian. These include the views that Christians are hypocritical and are more focused on rules and regulations than people, as well as several controversial standings such as homosexuality and political involvement. In fact, in Kinnaman’s findings, only an estimated 34% of young outsiders believed that Christians really cared about them (68). Additionally, UnChristian challenges the Christian community to step up to the plate and redefine what the world thinks of them. For each negative perception that is assumed by young outsiders according to Kinnaman’s research, he offered what he referred to as “new perceptions”, or how Christians should strive to be perceived by outsiders. With these, he challenged them to change their reputation.
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Though the message of Christianity is forgiveness through Christ, this concept does not seemed to be practiced by those who claim to follow Him. In fact, young outsiders claimed that Christians were disinterested in listening to them and more interested in following their list of rules (33). In order to gain the respect of these young people, they would need to truly feel like Christians cared about them, no matter what their current circumstances might