unChristian: Get Saved!

This is one of those chapters that proves the worth of Barna. Most insiders make assumptions that are totally out of synch with the truth. Here's a sample of those assumptions, all false according to Barna research:

• TV, radio, and large tent meetings are effective evangelistic tools.
• Quick little tracts are persuasive.
• Outsiders see and respect the sincerity and love of evangelizing Christians.
• Most outsiders have little experience of the Christian faith, so all we have to do is inform them.
• A "salvation experience" at a meeting or conference usually sticks for the rest of a person's life.
• Many adults are looking for a change in their spiritual foundation.

The truth is that most Americans have tried Christianity, usually as children and teenagers, and resent evangelism as an insincere attempt to bulk up a church's membership numbers. Another truth is that lack of ongoing relationship with outsiders dooms the whole project from the start.

As a personal note, the Alpha Course strikes me as just plain deceitful and wrong. The idea, as I understand it, is to set up a weekly small group, mainly for outsiders with a few church members mixed in, that includes a friendly dinner followed by a discussion of some spiritual or personal issue, with the implication being that Christian faith and community will meet some of the needs of the people who attend. The deceitful part is that the Alpha Course is a dead end. After the course is done, nobody ever has anybody over for dinner again, and small groups are never focused on friendship.

Have you ever noticed how often a newcomer to Grace shows a lot of interest, attends a lot of functions, gets  baptized, then never comes back again?