A high tight wire

Evangelicals cannot ignore speaking truth–in a loving manner | Joel Belz

Source: Barna Group

If it's true that we evangelical Christians have a pretty ugly reputation in today's culture—and the newest figures from the Barna Group suggest strongly that such is the case—then it's certainly appropriate to be asking with increasing urgency: Whose fault is that? Who's to blame for our bad press?

I spent several hours last weekend with Barna's president, David Kinnaman, and he assures me that the numbers are accurate. And it's not just the pagan outsiders who are skeptical about us. We don't even see ourselves all that positively. Our own children share with unbelievers some of the same questions about what they see as flaws in our character.

For example, 91 percent of non-Christians "out there," in the 19-26 age bracket, see us evangelicals as "anti-homosexual." But 80 percent of those in the same age bracket who are regular churchgoers have the same perception.