To quote (loosely) the famous skeptic Bertrand Russell, "Most people would rather die than think; in fact, most people do". It is difficult to "think Christianly" and I'm always surprised when I find someone who is trying to think Christianly about what passes for news these days. But I've had a few interesting surprises lately, including:

This one that came out of left field (actually RIGHT field but that isn't a phrase that's been coined) so to speak, even though he's the answer to several trivia questions. It's an attempt to analyze in a Biblical/theological sense what Rick Warren was trying to do in his prayer at the Inauguration. Who knew when Mike Huckabee said he (Chuck, not Mike) was the answer to border defense that Chuck Norris had something legitimate to say.

So there I was earlier this week thinking about Rick Warren and what I've written previously about God working in small things when the Wall Street Journal gives me this article. As soon as I read it I wondered (because I'm not unaffected by Madison Avenue) "Has Rick 'diluted his brand' by moving in this direction?"

Then there's a book that I have passed over several times but will now put on my reading list. It's called unChristian and after David Mays did a summary of it, I was intrigued to say the least. See if these quotes whet your appetite - and remember they're from the viewpoint of people from 16 to 29 years old:

• "We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for." (26)  "We are known for having an us-versus-them mentality.  Outsiders believe Christians do not like them…."  "The three most common perceptions of present-day Christianity are antihomosexual (91%), judgmental (87%), and hypocritical (85%).  (27) 
• The six common negative perceptions are hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. (29-30) 
• "Perception: Christians say one thing but live something entirely different." (41)
• Remember, it was the most religious people that Jesus labeled hypocrites! (45) Like them, our lives don't match our beliefs.  "In many ways our lifestyles and perspectives are no different from those of anyone around us." (46)  They measure us by our own standards.  To them the primary way of being Christian is "being good."  (49) 
• "Outsiders think of our moralizing, our condemnations, and our attempts to draw boundaries around everything.  Even if these standards are accurate and biblical, they seem to be all we have to offer.  And our lives are a poor advertisement for these standards." (52) 
• "In our studies we discovered young Christians currently embrace the acceptability of many behaviors older believers staunchly reject.  For example, a majority of born-again adults in their twenties and thirties currently believe that gambling, cohabitation, and sexual fantasies are morally acceptable.  There are also huge gaps between young believers and older Christians when it comes to the acceptability of sex outside of marriage, profanity, drunkenness, pornography, homosexual sex, and illegal drug use." (53)  "Young people--even in churches--are reshaping moral and sexual rules." (54)
• "Only one-third of young outsiders believe that Christians genuinely care about them."  "Showing genuine interest in someone is hard to fake." (69)  More than 80% think Christianity teaches pretty much the same ideas as other religions. (69)  "We heard no favorable comments about so-called street witnessing…" (69) 

That's just a sample. I know it's hard hitting but I think much of it is accurate. The authors don't seem to be interested in knocking down straw men.

So at this point I'm thinking, "At least I haven't sold out" when our daughter sends this along from her alumni magazine. And suddenly I hear the siren song of "success" and acclaim and visibility and I think, "If only I could get every one who stops by the blog to tell one other person..... I could be a keynote speaker at next year's GodBlogCon. They'll probably even give me a cool polo shirt and an all-access back stag pass and..."

There you have it - left, right, center.... Now if you'll just subscribe to this blog it will be a small step.