Lately, it has become trendy to write about how negatively Christianity is perceived and how Christians need to accept responsibility for this and more importantly do something about it. There are at least 5 or 6 books that have come out recently regarding this, from the immensely popular ‘UnChristian’to Jason Berggren’s provocatively named ‘10 Things I Hate About Christianity.’ All of these speak to huge problems within Christianity today, and we really should be listening carefully to them, but what I enjoy particularly about Adam Hamilton’s contribution (When Christians Get It Wrong) is his special ability to take complex, controversial ideas and clearly and gracefully explain them.
Hamilton is a Methodist minister of a large church in the States called The Church of the Resurrection, and was also a key-note speaker at the 2010 Global Leaders Summit. This particular book was originally a sermon series which he has bulked out into a book and stemmed from a conversation he had with a young man who carried extremely negative perceptions of Christianity. Hamilton looks at five particular areas of negative perception in Christian behavior; including science, politics, other religions, the problem of evil and homosexuality. All of these areas have their particular controversies and Hamilton spells out how Christianity has tended to ostracise others in the way it has approached and dealt with them.
Hamilton believes that the often errant Christian approach to these issues has raised barriers that prevent people from coming to Christ, and quite often these barriers are formed out of nothing more than our own hypocrisies, prejudices and fears that we hide behind words like “scripture,” “doctrine” and “truth”. In each case, Hamilton affirms that Christianity should be engaging with these controversial areas, but should be doing it in a way that is far more authentic, graceful, loving and thoughtful. As he systematically works his way through each larger issue, Hamilton proposes alternative understandings and approaches that might help people to Christ rather than hindering them. In each of these, he also lays down some challenges in widening our understanding, changing our attitudes and improving our behavior to those we might disagree with. Hamilton also helpfully includes some examples of what it looks like when we “get it right.”
You may not agree with all the conclusions that Hamilton draws, but we can all certainly learn from the behavior adjustments he challenges us to. At the end of the day, what we can all agree with is Hamilton’s desire to remove those unnecessary and sometimes downright cruel stumbling blocks to Jesus that Christians often erect in their churches and general thinking. Hamilton’s common sense wisdom and thoughtful grace shines through every page making this book well worth reading, but don’t just take my word for it because I have included below a recommendation by the renowned pastor and academic Scot McKnight:
“If there was one pastor in the United States to whom I'd go for pastoral wisdom on the issues that divide us and that need pastoral words of warning and compassion, it is Adam Hamilton. Even when one does not agree with each of his proposals, one will come away refreshed, enlightened, and determined to ‘get it right.’ Because we sometimes ‘get it wrong,’ we learn that the only way to get it right is the way of humility, confession, compassion, and renewed commitment to a deeper integrity.”