Alarming but not Surprising

I know it has been a while, maybe I finally found something worth blogging about, I don’t know. I have also confessed that I am a binge blogger. I promise to do better.

This article from the Tennessean today titled, America’s Youth Harbor Negative Opinion of Born Again Christians, is alarming but unfortunately not surprising.

I encourage you to read the article, here a few quotes to wet your appetite (and then one suggested solution to follow):

• "What a puzzle: Nearly everybody respects Jesus, yet the followers of
  Jesus, many times, are perceived as obnoxious. Now new evidence implies
  Christianity’s reputation in America is declining."
• "3 percent of non-Christians ages 16-29 have any positive impression of evangelicals"
• "[Christians] never cited Jesus’ "love thy neighbor" ethic as a principle for making government work better."

The comments at the bottom of the article from local readers is also interesting. Christianity’s "rep", brand, status, image, position—however you label it—is in a crisis. Again, it is  is alarming but unfortunately not surprising. Looking at myself first, I understand when I don’t live the life Christ has commanded me to live. Corporately, I understand when "Christians" bicker in public (even churches) and present a posture of arrogance instead of humility. I know there are many solutions, but my prescription (and it begins with me) is:
>>to out love and out accept the world instead of out debating, out boycotting, and out criticizing the world. The unchurched often know us by our condemnation and not our love and acceptance.