There’s a great book called UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity. It is based on extensive research on how non-church attendees under 40 view Christians. The bad news is that it’s not very flattering. The good news is that it provides a great opportunity to take a hard look in the mirror. It identified several themes that cause some people to avoid church.
- Christians hate gay people.
- Christians are a bunch of judgmental hypocrites.
- Christians are a bunch of pushy right-wingers who want to shove their values on everyone else.
- Christians live in a different world. They’re too sheltered, naïve, and detached from reality. In other words, they are just kind of irrelevant.
There are two ways we can react to these perceptions. The first is to scream, “That’s not fair, I’m not like that,” or to just ignore it.
At Central, we think a better response is to listen carefully and then do some real soul searching, soul searching that sometimes leads us to repentance. We did that recently in the way that we treat members of the LGBTQ+ community. It led us to adopt a policy of full inclusion and welcome.
There’s one more perception out there that we address. That perception is that “the only thing churches care about is converting people.” We address this concern in two ways.
First, we believe the gospel is way bigger than just converting people. We believe that the gospel is about the complete restoration of the world through Jesus. It includes caring for creation, fighting injustice, addressing poverty, and restoring broken relationships. If you care about any of these issues, there is room for you at Central. Let’s work on these problems together, no matter what you happen to believe.
Second, we make it safe for people who do not share all of our beliefs, even some of our deepest beliefs, to be part of our family. We offer you a seat at the table (and in the pew!). In fact, we don’t think of you as part of them; we think of you as part of us, full-fledged members of our little community who serve with us, learn with us, and join us as we worship. We hope that someday they might come to enjoy all of the benefits of knowing Jesus that we enjoy, but our friendship and perception of their value isn’t contingent upon their willingness to adopt any particular expression of faith.
So, even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian, come check out Central. You can be honest about your questions, doubts, and gripes about Christians (some of which we probably share!), and we will treat you like a person, not a project.
