Book Review: They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball

February 1, 2008 Posted by Roger Overton

When preparing for overseas mission trips, Christians often
go through some sort of training to learn about the cultures, languages, and
religions of the people to whom they’ll be evangelizing. They understand that
these differences present barriers for these people to hear and understand the
gospel message. Yet in America,
Christians often assume that there are no such barriers. In They Like Jesus by Not the Church Dan
Kimball examines the church through the eyes of non-Christians in today’s
emerging generations. He attempts to show that there are barriers and
misunderstandings we must address if we are to effectively present the gospel
message today.

Through the first few chapters, Kimball sets up the
situation by showing that our culture’s perceptions of Christianity have
changed. For example, instead of being view as trusted spiritual leaders,
pastors today are often referred to as “creepy.” Kimball argues that for many
of us, we haven’t realized the changes because we’re trapped in Christian
bubbles. The trend is that the longer we are Christians, the fewer
non-Christian friends we have. What we fail to perceive is that while the
church, and Christians in general, is not viewed favorable, most people do have
a favorable impression of Jesus. Many of their impressions of Jesus’ life and
teachings may be inaccurate, but they do provide a place ripe for fruitful
conversation.

Much of the book takes a look at specific issues through the
experiences of several non-Christian friends Dan interviewed for the book.
According to Dan, their sentiments represent general misperceptions about
Christians and the church that we must listen and respond to. The six
misperceptions are: The church is an organized religion with a political
agenda, the church is judgmental and negative, the church is dominated by males
and oppresses females, the church is homophobic, the church arrogantly claims
all other religions are wrong, and the church is full of fundamentalists who
take the whole Bible literally. In each topic Dan explains what his friends
have said, what the Bible says about the issue, and how Christians should
respond.

In the first of the concluding chapters, Dan explores what
his friends wish the church were like. He then revises the old “gap”
illustration where man is separated from God by a chasm called sin that can
only be bridged by the cross. Dan argues that another chasm exits called
Christianity and the Christian subculture that must be bridged by trust before
we can effectively speak to the problem of sin and their need for a savior.

There are some things in this book that will make some
Christians uncomfortable. For the most part, this is a good thing. While I
don’t agree with every single point made, I still recommend the book without
reservation. Christians must begin understand how we are perceived in our
culture so we can seek to correct our missteps. Dan Kimball is an outstanding
guide toward this task. They Like Jesus
but Not the Church effectively shows significant problems Christians must
address in evangelism and offers practical solutions along the way.