The #1 factor that determines whether-or-not someone comes to faith in Jesus has nothing to do with the size of our church.
It has nothing to do with our denominational preference.
And it has less to do with our theology than I wish it did.
It’s this.
Do they like the Christians they know?
After all, no one wants to hang around people they don’t like. And becoming a follower of Jesus means hanging out with other followers of Jesus.
In his important book, unChristian, David Kinnaman cites an overwhelming number of stats and stories about this phenomenon. The primary reason young people are no longer going to church like they used to, has nothing to do with their commitment levels or their understanding of Jesus. It’s because the Christians they know are unlikable. 87% of young nonbelievers “said that the term judgmental accurately describes present-day Christianity.”
Sad, but not surprising. We don’t need studies to tell us what our eyes can plainly see.
We’ve all watched people start coming to church because they were invited by a Christian they like.
And we’ve all seen the opposite, too. People who leave the church, or never show up in the first place, because too many of the Christians they know – or know about – come across as mean, judgmental jerks.
No one wants to spend their time with mean, judgmental jerks. Read more
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