wfn.org | CRC Home Missions at Work

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

January 23, 2008 -- Christian Reformed Home Missions is already doing many of the things to connect churches to their neighborhoods that author and researcher David Kinnaman suggested in his presentation on Thursday at the January Series at Calvin College.

Kinnaman recommended that churches look around their communities and get involved by offering services that may not otherwise be available. And he said to do this without being too overtly Christian, to show rather than to just tell.

Kinnaman hastened to add how hard this can be. When you believe in Jesus, you want to talk about it, he said. "I mean, I have been transformed by the message of Jesus Christ and I can't stop talking about it. But that can create a barrier in not helping people understand what it means to be Christian," he said.

Although CRHM does work hard to connect churches to their communities, it could do more and that is partly why the agency sponsored Kinnaman's talk at Calvin. "We appreciate his work," says Ben Becksvoort, leader of the Great Lakes Ministry Team of CRHM. "He prods and gives a little nudge, reminding us to connect with our communities. He gives us a way to look at things."

Kinnaman is president of the Barna Group, which provides research and resources that help in the spiritual transformation of people's lives. His talk was part of a month-long series of presentations on various topics at the college in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is author of the book unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity, the result of thousands of interviews with young people all over the United States.

In his presentation, Kinnaman said that a large majority of young adults, people 19-30 years of age, believe that Christians are anti-gay, hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, live sheltered lives, have gotten too political and are judgmental.

"We've been so busy being a Christian nation, that maybe some of us in the church have forgotten what it means to be Christian," Kinnaman told the crowd that packed the Fine Arts Center at Calvin and were listening and watching from several remote spots across North America
"The primary problem is superficial Christianity. Many people see it as a way of thought, and not a way of life."

Becksvoort agrees and said that CRHM has a mandate to address this very thing. CRHM starts churches in areas of need and helps established churches reach out to their communities. In many cases with CRHM encouragement and backing, CRC congregations have forged tutoring partnerships with schools, operate food banks, or have created numerous other outreach efforts. Sometimes, Home Missions has helped identify and put into place pastors who relate in solid and significant ways with a specific church.

There was another, though related, aspect to Kinnaman's talk. In interview after interview, young people told him that Christians seem too sure of themselves and are not very willing to sit down and listen. They told him that their Christian friends seem to live in a bubble. Conversely, even those young adults who defined themselves as Christian also said that Christians seem too distant and unwilling to listen.

In his book, Kinnaman writes: "Our research shows that many of those outside Christianity, especially younger adults, have little trust in the Christian faith, and esteem for the lifestyle of Christ followers is quickly fading among outsiders."

From the stage at Calvin, he added, "How are we going to help this next generation hear the voice of God? We need to re-think how we want to capture the imagination of a culture that says it is Christian, but doesn't live it out ? The truth is that young people say Christians are judgmental because they have been to church and have been judged." Christians need to learn to reserve judgment on what young people think and how they live.

Becksvoort agrees that learning to listen is a key. He suggests that churches invite young adults in for a pizza night, or some other activity, with a goal of having the young people take a few minutes to informally speak their minds on a range of issues. "We need to learn the skill of listening without an immediate response. It is the Holy Spirit really that is speaking to us in these kinds of presentations."

As Reformed Christians, says Becksvoort, "we are better at teaching than at listening." But by carefully listening, and by keeping judgment at a minimum, churches can then start to learn what is really on the minds of young people and then gear their teaching to ways that remain distinctly Reformed and yet reach young adults. "We need to keep asking ourselves how can we be of greater service to people in our own neighborhoods. Churches willing and able to make those kinds of moves, with God's help, will flourish."

> Chris Meehan, CRC Communications

> -- Chris Meehan
> News & Media Director
> Christian Reformed Church in North America
> 1-616-224-0849