The Problem with Christians

An alarming trend is happening in the church and in Christianity in general today. Young adults are no longer interested in the Christian faith.

The median age of a member of the United Methodist Church is 59 years of age. The median ages for members of other denominations are similar. The median age for all persons living in this country is 37. The median age for church members will always be higher than the population because one usually does not formally unite with a church until they are around middle school age but the trend is still disturbing.

There are many causes for this. One cause is that the preceding generation has done a poor job in passing down the value of faith and family to future generations. The truth is that for the past couple of generations Christians have not made passing the faith down to the next generation a priority.

What is more disturbing is that many young adults are turning away from the faith because of their perceptions of Christians. In their book, unChristian, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons analyzed research which outlined why many young adults were outside the Christian faith.

There research showed that many young adults were bothered by what they perceived to be bigotry by many Christians. They also offered that they felt that many Christians were judgmental. Some were discouraged by actions of Christians they perceived that were hypocritical. Some felt that Christians were too political and others felt they were insensitive.

Noted United Methodist pastor Alan Hamilton observed in his book When Christians Get it Wrong that, “Some of the most insensitive, critical, judgmental and mean spirited people I’ve known claim to be Christians.” My own experience in 25 years of ministry and as an observer of people has formed similar thoughts in my mind.

Of course an overwhelming majority of my life I have had positive experiences with Christians starting with the two Christians that gave me life, to the one I married, to the one I parented, to those who I have been honored to serve as a pastor. Even so, there are times that we who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ do not put the best face on Christianity.

Over the next three weeks at the First United Methodist Church I will be doing a sermon series based on three attitudes Christians often display that turn non-Christians away from the Christian faith. The series is called “The Problem with Christians.” We will look at being judgmental and how that detracts from the cause of Christ.

There are times that Christian are considered anti-intellectual and we will examine the deleterious effect this has on the perception non-Christians have of Christians. Finally, we will look at how in moments of tragedy Christians often say and presume the wrong things.

I challenge all Christians to look at the way they present the faith to others and ask a simple question. That question is this: “Do I represent Christ in such a way that others might wish to follow him?” May we not be “The Problem with Christians.”