They Like Jesus but Not the Church (Book Review)

I finished reading They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball this week and I was thoroughly impressed. Dan's approach is not only a radical one, but I believe that it is one that is done with grace and humility. This book is written for leaders who are wanting to know hoe they can best reach the emerging generation. He has written a similar book geared towards those who are in the emerging generation and who would say, "I Like Jesus but Not the Church". Dan tackles six of the biggest problems that the emerging generation has with the church in America today. The emerging generations believe that the church (1) is an organized religion with a political agenda; (2) is judgmental and negative; (3) is dominated by males and oppresses females; (4) is homophobic; (5) arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong; (6) is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally. He went around and interviewed twenty and thirty-somethings in coffee shops and wherever he found them. This isn't just what is going on solely in Santa Cruz, CA. But is truly a cross-section of what is going on in this country. I know that with the people in my area that it is something that many of them have said. There are even quite a few guys that I work with that have expressed the same things and they are 40+. Dan does not come off as some arrogant church leader who has the latest and greatest way to do church, but as a humble fellow Christ-follower who is trying to do his best to see the world impacted with the good news of God's love for them. I encourage you to read it with an open mind and heart. As Lee Strobel is quoted on the front cover, "A powerful and passionate wake-up call for the American church." Are you and your church sleeping?