They Like Jesus But Not The Church

They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations
By Dan Kimball
Recommended by Jen from Shawmut Springs Church

Designed to jumpstart reform in how the Church interacts with emerging generations, Dan Kimball (author of The Emerging Church) puts words to the phenomenon we increasingly see in our culture—embracing Christ outside of the church context. Kimball’s work does not intend to diminish the importance of both the local church and the universal Church, but rather he is an avid proponent of Christians learning to see how ‘outside’ culture views church culture.

Kimball begins the first section of the text with chapters dedicated to his cultural observations. He spends significant time talking with non-Christians in Southern California and the rest of the country. Kimball actively cultivates relationships with a variety of people outside of the Church in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the ministry of his church, as well as to stay informed of the zeitgeist of people outside of church culture. He is not doing this out of a concern for ‘image management,’ but a wholehearted desire to reach this large people group that George Barna has described as “the most unchurched group in America.”

The middle section of the book contains chapters focusing on perceptions of the church often mentioned by emerging generations. Kimball frames each chapter with quotes from cultural icons and everyday people that express an opinion about the issue. Extended interviews with individuals outside of the Church are widely used throughout the text. The end of each chapter includes a useful “What can we learn?” section and open-ended questions to be used for personal or leadership team reflection.

The final section concerns how the Church can respond to these issues. This serves as a healing balm to the deconstruction of the previous section of the book. Though the solutions mentioned here are not necessarily concrete, Kimball uses Scripture to encourage and exhort the Church to journey through to resolution in these problematic areas.

In the afterword, Kimball includes a section on specific criticisms he’s received about the book and responds to those in a meaningful way. Also, the Suggested Reading section provides a useful and extensive list of resources about each of the topic areas mentioned in the first and middle sections of the book.

As Christian leaders seeking to reach college students in Boston, this book is vital reading. Be prepared for it to challenge thoughts and make you cringe at times. It was often difficult to read how the Church is perceived in the eyes of those we are trying to serve. Read this book with Bible in hand and a mind prepared to discern wisdom from unlikely places.