They Like Jesus But Not The Church: Chapter 1

Author: Dan Kimball

This is the first chapter of the book and it deals with the idea that people that don't like church,that don't like christians,etc usually feel that way because of christians that they have met, or how they've been treated by christians. the chapter's title,I problaly wouldnt like christians if I werent one, is one that i can certaintly relate to. i've had that feeling of being thankful that christianity is about Jesus and not us. i've had those moments where the only thing stopping me from quitting this christian thing, was Jesus/God. i wonder how many other people have had moments like that. Gandi was like this emergening generation: he loved our God but he didnt love us.

He starts out the chapter by telling this story of going to a gym and talking to the trainer( a woman) and she was showing him the machines, and they were talking, and finally she asked what he did and he said he was a pastor. she flipped out, as in she accindely tripped over one of the machines. she couldnt believe that this nice, friendly man she had been talking to was a pastor. to her, pastors are supposed to be creepy, and hate homosexuals,etc.  He wrote that her image of pastors is a growing one in the country: "In certain areas of the country  which are more conservative,such as the Bible Belt,there is a strong historial christian presence and churches are everywhere.there is some degree of cultural respect for Christians and church leaders, and so you might not find such a strong reaction as the trainer's. but please don't assume that even in conservative areas the sentiment about Christians and churches isnt changing,especially among younger generations."(page 26).    being in Abilene, it's hard to wrap your mind around the idea that there are people outhere that dont like christians. this is a town where christians are the norm,everyone seems to go to church, and that's all respected and even part of the town's...culture for lack of a better word. I didnt grow up going to church, or talking about God,etc. so i feel that i look at things a bit differently than a lot of my friends, who did grow up in it. not better, not worse, just a different perspective. i problaly come across as rude or something when I ask for advice and all I get is "oh pray about it" and i say that doesnt work for me, that it sounds like a cop-out, what you say when you dont have any advice but feel you have to say something. or when people try to make me feel better by pulling out the "everyone has  gift from God" speech.  from my perspective, outside of the Christian "culture" those things just sound empty, mostly because Christians say that so many times that by now, it's just what they tell everyone. but in a town like abilene, i suppose am a minority. and i guess i am a little used to it being respected, to it being the norm. yet in China, i might run across people like that trainer, and it makes me wonder, what i will do, what my reaction will be...how it'll make me feel. i think that it would be such  a blessing for me from God to...change someone's perspective of Christians a tiny bit  for the better or even that by meeting me they learn that maybe, just maybe, not all Christians are like the  ones that yell at people, that are judgemental and more focused on their religion that loving people. another thing i can relate to in a way is this: "....and that the only thing they have experienced from Christians is being told right away how wrong they are."(page 27).  this is about non-christians, but i can relate to the feeling of being told, though not directly, that am wrong. the night of the "Dan talk" i ended up asking anne to give me a ride, and we talked a bit, but it quickly became obvious to me, that she might have been trying to help, but all she was doing was telling me how what i wanted wasnt what i should want, and she basically did tell me i was wrong for wanting a relationshio with a guy, for not wanting to be single(coming from someone who is dating someone and has been dating him for years). and once i talked to abigail about the campus ministry thing and she basically told me i was wrong and that i was being selfish. so i can relate to feeling like sometimes Christians,despite motives, just end up telling someone why they are wrong, why they shouldnt want something,etc. i try not to do that,i try not to make people feel like they have defend/justify how they feel to me, and i might not be perfect at it by any means, but i do try. putting someone in the position of being told in a nice fancy christian way that they want the wrong thing is not a good way to love them. at least, that's my thought.

there are so many things in this chapter that i liked and that...caught my eye, but i wont talk about them all. mostly because it's almost 11pm and am kinda tired, so i do want to keep it short. lol

 He had a section wrote about a time that he  talked  to these two college aged people, and he never said exatly what their religion was, but it was different than christianity. but he talked to them, went to the bookstore they reccomended, and even though he didnt believe in their beliefs and believed they were wrong, he still respected their beliefs and took time out to spend with them.  he closed the section with: "i love the heart of Jesus, who spoke to people outside of the religious circles of his day. we should pay close attention to his example."(page 29). i love love love this! the part where he says he loves the heart of Jesus especially touched me. i think i get so caught up in trying to live like Jesus, and live like He taught us to  that...i guess I dont think about whether I am loving the way Jesus did, if I am working at modeling my heart after His. and i did just not have that thought. Jesus did teach us how to live, but he did also live it out, and His heart is the way ours needs to be, and how He loved is how we should love.

this is just a... thought I had so I thought i'll throw it on here. page  32 the author writes: "...or on seeing Christians standing outside of rock concerts with lists of sins on big signs and shouting through megaphones that everyone passing by wont find God in the concert." the author put in parentheses that he had experienced this the last 2 concerts he went to. when i read this, i had this thought: "how do you know they wont find God at the concert?" it feels to me like a statment like that is...egostical. God can reveal Himself any way He wants us, and by saying things like that, we are saying that we know God, we know how He works and how He doesnt work. and second, we are also putting God in a catergory. we are limiting Him like we are limited. i know, weird huh? but it's what ran through my mind and so I thought I'll write it on here.

the last section of the chapter, he closes with this: "we need to be careful that we dont do the same thing and make assumptions about others based on a few bad experiences."(page 34). i think this is important in so many ways, but for myself, it's very important in terms of my going to China. it's actually very similiar to one of the articles I am reading as part of my training to go. the article talked how we shouldnt get discouraged when we try to talk to someone about Jesus and it doesnt work, or we get blown off, or it doesnt work out, or they try it for awhile but then leave,etc. we need to keep trying and not let the bad experiences stop us. this is the same idea, i think. it's important that i dont let the times that it's not gonna work, that i will try to talk to someone about Jesus and it doesnt work keep me from trying with others. it's hard to write down for some reason. i guess that i am not gonna go to China and successfully tell someone about Jesus and help them to meet and see Jesus with everyone I meet, and most often it's not gonna work, but that doesnt mean I should let those bad experiences stop me.

this chapter was so good! i really took away from it that we have to stop being so...judgemental in how we view non-christian people, or even non-church people. we have a bad steroptype on us guys, and we have to change it. we are supposed to be letting Jesus shine through us, but we dont seem to be doing a good job of that.