They Like Jesus But Not The Church: Introduction

Author: Dan Kimball

I've been having some issues with the campus ministry at Southern Hills lately, and so I went looking on amazon.com for books that talk about thinking about leaving  church, and sadly there weren't all that many, but this was one of the few that I found. the topic isnt exactly what I was looking for, but it talks about how emerging generations are not going to church and/or leaving church. its not that they hate Jesus; the opposite, they love Jesus, they respect Him, and are very much open to talking about Him; they just don't like church.  

I read the introduction, which gives an insight into this topic. obviously, it introduces it. :) anyway, I really liked this introduction and it really made me realize that this is a good book for me to read because in many ways, I am part of that emerging generation. I LOVE Jesus, and God, and am happy to learn about Him, have a relationship with Him,etc but church? as much as I like going, I don't...feel like its necessary. in fact, I didn't start going to church until fall of sophomore year. my main reason for loving it is because a lot of my friends attend southern hills, and I like spending time with them.  still, I dont feel like church is doing anything for me. they don't give me chances to be a leader, they don't pursue community with me(in fact I don't get acknowledged as much as other people) and it makes me wonder why the heck I am there.

the author starts the book out by telling a story of when he was talking to a group of about 500 pastors at an evangelican conference/meeting. he writes:

"i built a case for our need to think of missionaries not only as those you send overseas somewhere but also as ourselves here in our emerging culture in our own towns and cities. i then pleaded with the pastors to consider how we might spend our time and how our lives might change if we saw ourselves as missionaries."(page 12).

further down the page, 1-2 pararaphs later, the author writes that instead of staying in the church office all day, all week, he holds meetings and things on Mondays and Tuesdays at the church office, and then on Wednesdays he goes to a coffeehouse to study for the weekend sermon, and then on Thursdays he goes to another coffeehouse where he holds meetings with people instead of at the church office. following this he writes:

"I explained that I like going to these coffehouses because I find myself engaging in conversations with non-christians, primarily in their twenties,who work there or regularly hang out there.and i shared how i dont just walk up to strangers but how instead,over  a period of time, i get to know the coffeehouse workers and regulars."(page 12).

surprisingly, these evangelical pastors were not very receptive of this message. some got very defensive and some even got mad. they seemed to think that their job was to stay in the church and attend to their flock,and that non-Christians should come to them. i so dont agree with that because Jesus did not just sit in the synagogue, teaching those who were already there and then waited for people to come to Him. no, He went to them, and so should we. anyways, what really struck me about this is two things. I really liked the idea of thinking of ourselves as missionaries, that missionaries aren't just those people that go to other countries to minister to people, to help them see Jesus through them, or who get a missions degree. maybe that is right, but maybe, there's more to being missional than that. maybe we are all missionaries who help people get to know Jesus,and build relationships with them. and maybe, like the author says, we can do that in our own towns and cities. I think that is so true. missionaries are expected to build relationships with people, to not force Jesus on them but to love them and help them to see Jesus through them. we don't have to go overseas to do that, ad we don't need to have a degree in it to do that , although we seem to think so. it really makes me re-think my perception of what a missionary is and how you can do that.

the second thing that struck me about this is kinda silly, but I can relate to him when he said that he gets to know the workers and regulars in the coffeehouses but that kinda happens to me. I'm a creature of habit, so I tend to go to the same restaurants, salon, etc a lot, so I become familiar with the people who work there, although I don't get into conversations with them like he does, I do become familiar with them and them with me, so I thought it was kinda cool that to a greater extend he does the same thing. 

"some people aren't even comfortable saying they are a Christian but come up with new terms  such as 'Christ follower' to avoid negative and distorted associations."(page 15).

this struck out to me because I do tend to have a hard time with calling myself a Christian, and I do prefer to think of myself as a Christ follower. i am not sure if I totally agree with this; some people think that there is a difference between being a christian and being a Christ follower, and that being a christian doesn't make you a Christ follower. it did however, make me realize that there is a grain of truth to what he said. 

I like that he said that "the American church is not above what happened in Europe"(page 15).(the pretty much abandonment of their great cathedrals. he said that most of them are pretty much empty on Sunday mornings and that they are more for tourists than worship, which i can testify to. i saw a cathedral in Scotland that was being used as a restaurant, and another one that was under heavy construction. so i did see that they were tourist attractions more than the worship buildings they were built to be). he talked about church elders and officials are for the most part unaware of ignoring this problem of emerging generations leaving church because they tend to focus more on the above 35 generation, and that as long as they see some young people at church, they assume everything is fine. with so many mega-churches and huge churches, it doesn't seem like American is headed for Europe's fate. what the author said about this really struck me. he said that Europe never would have predicted this would happen to them either, yet it did. i agree. i don't think that ignoring this growing problem is going to help anything. i think that a lot of young people do leave church because there is isn't a lot for people in their 20s, and for other reasons. after campus ministry for example at southern hills, there is one class for singles in their 20s but other that that there is pretty much nothing for people in their 20s. and unless we want our buildings to end up as tourist attractions, we need to deal with this problem.I think that thinking that something can't happen to us is a very human re-action, and so its natural to assume that churches might have been...abandoned in europe, but that doesnt mean its going to happen here in america. am not sure whether it will or it wont, but i think that like the author says, it needs to be dealt with.and even if a church has lots of young people in it, that doesn't mean that these young people wont leave like the author says, or that they are doing more than just sitting in the pew, and nothing more.

on page 19, the author wrote: " statisics and surveys can be helpful, but they miss the heart. you don't see people's faces and expressions in statistics. you don't hear their stories, and you don't hear the emotion in their voices." this really struck me because as a single girl, I am a statistic, and people telling me that am not alone, that there are plenty of other single people out there is quoting staticstis in a way, and that doesnt help me feel any better. the author is making the point that knowing the numbers of young people that leave, that don't go to church,etc is not the same as talking to these people, hearing what they have to say. i sometimes feel like that, that people just quote numbers at me, that they tell me there are othe single girls, that am not the only one who sometimes feels alone,etc but that's not listening to me you know? that is quoting numbers at me; they are missing my heart. i know its a stretch, but its how i can relate to this quote. i prefer stories to numbers any day of the week as anyone that knows me could tell you, so it makes sense to me that dealing with the problem is not knowing how many young people there are in your church, how many leave, how many come but dont get involved,etc. that's a way to become aware of the problem, but keeping your eye on the numbers does nothing. we need to hear their stories, their heart.

i wrote earlier that I really liked the author's 'call' for us to think of ourselves as missionaries and not just those who go overseas. that's the thing that really stuck out to me in this introduction, and it does change the way you view the way you deal and relate to people. in the last section of the introduction, he wrote:

"exciting things are happening in some churches in which hundreds and even thounsands of people from emerging generations are being introduced to Jesus and becoming disciples. having talked with many of the church leaders whose churches are seeing this great response, I've learned that the key thing is that they see themselves as misionaries and their churches as missional. by missional i mean that these churches dont just have an evangelism program but see their church as a mission. these churches are doing far more than just putting on concerts or hoping  younger people will come to their church by adding candles, couches, and coffee..."(page 21).

I really like this because it makes me excited for some reason to think about churches seeing that being misional is not just another ministry but who they are. jesus wasnt just doing a missional ministry, he was being missional, and i am starting to believe that there is a difference.

on page 20, the author put some bullet points to explain his use of the word "missional" and they were all awesome but these two were my favorites:

• being missional means that we understand we don't "bring Jesus"to people but that we realize Jesus is active in culture and we join Him in what He is doing.
• I love this because I totally agree. Jesus is everywhere, and being missional is not bringing Jesus to people because He is already there. its helping people to see Him. 
• being missional means we serve our communities, and that we build relationships with the people in them, rather than seeing them as evangelistic targets.
• sometimes at the campus ministry i just feel like i am another number, another body that is there, and not a part of it. i think that we need to learn that is not about  numbers but about building relationships with them; people are not targets.

this introduction was good and it makes me so excited for the rest of the book. it makes me glad to know that I'm not alone in loving Jesus but not being so hot on church. plus, it's giving me some good insights that I never would have thought of.