You can check out the article: http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/features/MA07ftrILikeJesusNottheChurch.asp
Kimball writes, “For an upcoming message series on evangelism, we decided to go to this college campus to interview students and hear firsthand their thoughts about Christianity. We asked two questions: “What do you think of when you hear the name ‘Jesus’?” and “What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Christian’?”
Now there’s a novel idea – actually talking to the people we are trying to reach, rather than talking about them. Hmm… I wonder what you’d hear if you went out and asked the same questions. For you CoJourners, there's an "Explorer" idea!
Kimball suggests “the six most common perceptions of the Church [my note: notice “Church” not “Christian”] among post-Christian 20- and 30-somethings include:
1) The Church is an organized religion with a political agenda.
2) The Church is judgmental and negative.
3) The Church is dominated by males and oppresses females.
4) The Church is homophobic.
5) The Church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong.
6) The Church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally.”
I am not sure this list would match the answers heard on different campuses in different regions. But there is only one way to find out. Let’s get out there and ask the questions!
