Do we have a PR problem?

[Pergamum]

It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,


Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books



According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

 

[Stomata leontôn]

* antihomosexual = believe bad deeds hurt others
* judgmental = will take you to task when you hurt somebody
* hypocritical = not actually Christian; probably Emergent and faddish
* old-fashioned = do not worship money
* too political = want to help everyone out
* out of touch with reality = have not caved in to money-worship, stupid fads, and Oprah
* insensitive to others = do not want others to burn in Hell; know that a just God will punish evil deeds (like hurting others)
* boring = the anti-Christian does not want to listen to talk about treating others well nor about having eternal life

Should we worry about these perceptions? No.

What should we do about them? Giving up is a sin and a disgusting sign of effeminacy.

Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? Yes, sinners need to begin to love and to do that they must learn to obey their Maker as revealed in the Bible.

How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us? Stay away from Emergents/ings and all other hypocrites.

 

[Pergamum]

Peter;

So glad you are clearly so non-judgmental.

 

[Stomata leontôn]

Peter;

So glad you are clearly so non-judgmental.

I love you so much I don't want to see you burn.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 5:10

I feel blessed right now...

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

I bet you that if Luther or Calvin had taken a similar poll in their day the results would be similar. So, No, I don't think we should be concerned. Preach the Gospel without fear of men and the Holy Spirit will bless it to it's intended purpose - [bible]Isaiah 55:11[/bible].

 

[Pergamum]

I know a lot of ungracious believers in grace that turn off the people around them and then blame it on persecution.

Do these critcisms of the church have any merit?


These statistics are drawn from polls from unbelievers. It appeas that the main beef that they often have is not against Christ or the Bible primarily but against the church and Christians.

Similar studies done in parts of SE Asia show that most new believers investigate the Bible because they find believers to be attractive and nice and full of love.

Again, do we have a PR problem? Do we blame our not-nice-ness on speaking the truth only (forgetting that "in love" part)? And are we setting up extra reasons for unbeleivers to balk at our faith besides merely the necessary offense of the Cross.

 

[Pergamum]

I don't know if we've got one, but we may have one.

Thanks Mr. English Teacher. May I be excused for recess?

 

[Stomata leontôn]

I know a lot of ungracious believers in grace that turn off the people around them and then blame it on persecution.

Do these critcisms of the church have any merit?

These statistics are drawn from polls from unbelievers...

No, they don't have merit. Almost every Christian I have met is worried about his self-image. I have little left, because I have been trashed and crashed and left for dead on the roadside. Love me hate me, neither will change my lot.

At the same time, I have had enough positive feedback from people about how "cool" I was and how "popular" I am and the "best ever" to feed my swollen ego for the next thousand years.

And after fifteen years of teaching public school, I can tell you that kids love it when you speak straightforward fearlessly. The minute they sniff you are concerned about your PR, is the minute they eat you alive.

An undoubted faith in Jesus Christ gives you an irresistible confidence. (Guess in whom?)

In my first teaching job I was put on the six o'clock news and in the local papers. I wish I could claim the credit for it, but I cannot.

Kids and healthy adults know when a man considers every one of his acts in Christian love.

Call it being judgmental.

 

[Christusregnat]

Pergy,

The moment that Christians begin to take their morrings from wicked men is the moment that we spit on Christ's cross. You can fear man or you can fear God, but you can't do both. If we raise our finger to find out which way the wind blows, rather than receive direction directly from God, we are on the path that leads to destruction. God's opinion poll is in the Scriptures. If we don't match God's idea of a good Christian, we need repentance. If we don't match man's opinion poll, we're probably good Christians: that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.

Cheers,

Adam

It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,


Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books



According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

 

[Pergamum]

antihomosexual
* judgmental
* hypocritical
* old-fashioned
* too political
* out of touch with reality
* insensitive to others
* boring


These seem to be people's perceptions of what we are.... is this troublesome? Is it true that we can be too political, insensitive to others, hypocritical? The world certainly examines us with a fine-tooth comb and diagnosis these things. Do we listen to this diagnosis at all?

 

[Pergamum]

Pergy,

The moment that Christians begin to take their morrings from wicked men is the moment that we spit on Christ's cross. You can fear man or you can fear God, but you can't do both. If we raise our finger to find out which way the wind blows, rather than receive direction directly from God, we are on the path that leads to destruction. God's opinion poll is in the Scriptures. If we don't match God's idea of a good Christian, we need repentance. If we don't match man's opinion poll, we're probably good Christians: that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.

Cheers,

Adam

It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,


Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books



According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

Who ever said that I feared man?


The issue is not about fear of man, but about extra offenses by which we make the Gospel ugly.

The issue is about removing unnecessary offenses so that unbelievers know clearly that the main offenseis the Cross, not that most believers they met were judgmental or hypocrites.

 

[David FCC]

I think there is a small degree to which these stats should worry us. There is a view of Christianity that we need to take care not to widen.
Very often I find that those in the media who give Christianity a false image are those claiming to be Christian. Even today I was listening to a bishop telling the whole of the UK about Christianity yet when someone phoned in and said that we should look to Jesus he was very non comittal.
Many things he said sounded OK but on the main points it seemed as though he was trying to please all sides. Now that is slightly off what we are addressing but I believe it is because of so called "Christians" in the media that people have no real idea about Christianity & believe all sorts of rubbish that is peddled.

If real Christianity came to the airwaves & it was explained about homosexuality for example from a truly biblical perspective there would be no grounds for arguing. The problem comes in when someone starts attacking homosexuals rather than homosexuality if you get my point
The same applies to the other points.

 

[Grymir]

Hey, I'm all those things...Except the boring. I'm not boring. That's for sure.

Of course, we could reverse it and make a list of things we think of the un-regenerate. If I didn't have to go to work, I'd make a list and get all the laughs.

 

[Stomata leontôn]

Hey, I'm all those things...Except the boring. I'm not boring. That's for sure.

Of course, we could reverse it and make a list of things we think of the un-regenerate. If I didn't have to go to work, I'd make a list and get all the laughs.

I don't like the cussing. The cussing really bugs me. I wish I could just make them stop.

 

[BJClark]

Pergamum;

*antihomosexual -We are or GOD IS?? And we say God is?
* judgmental - Again, we are? or God is, and we say God is?
* hypocritical - in the worlds eyes?? Or in Gods?
* old-fashioned --what does this mean??
* too political -- how so? because we are not afraid to speak out?
* out of touch with reality --whose reality theirs or Gods?
* insensitive to others --many people think honesty is insensitive
* boring --of course we are, they do NOT LIKE the things of God..

These seem to be people's perceptions of what we are.... is this troublesome? Is it true that we can be too political, insensitive to others, hypocritical? The world certainly examines us with a fine-tooth comb and diagnosis these things. Do we listen to this diagnosis at all?

Shouldn't we care more about what GOD Thinks of us, and not what the lost world thinks of us??

They examine us by what? Their idea of what they think Christianity is? Or Gods?

Calling sin sin?? And they don't like it, because God is ALL ABOUT LOVE??

It is not we who condemn the sinner, it is God, and most times if YOU tell someone that, they lament "HOW DARE YOU PRESUME TO SPEAK FOR GOD!!"

Can we take credit for their feeling condemned? Or judged by God's words??
I can't..

I honestly don't care what they think, I answer to God, not them.

 

[BJClark]

Pergamum;

The issue is about removing unnecessary offenses so that unbelievers know clearly that the main offense is the Cross, not that most believers they met were judgmental or hypocrites.

Why is the Cross Offensive? Because it shows mankind his sin..and they don't want to look at their own sin before God, they want to continue to compare themselves to wicked men.

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

God is too judgemental to the world. Why would you consider what the world says? It should be about God and His character. The world hates him. So they will hate us also. And they will cast aspersions upon us. What is new. Who cares what they think? If someone is acting in a wrong way and bringing shame upon Christs name for the wrong reason the church should approach him. That is why we have the church. Pastors, Elders, and teachers are gifts to keep us in line. That is who we should consider to be our friends and judges of character flaws. Not those outside.

I just reposted this from the other thread asking a similar question.

 

[Archlute]

...Barna study...
...* boring 68%...

I sometimes yawn when reading Barna and his prognostications.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,


Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books



According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

Pergy,
Yes we should worry about it. Part of being a good missionary to our own culture is knowing how to communicate the true gospel to them. Of course the gospel will offend people and many will hate us, but we should not add to the offense of the Bible by our own unwillingness to accept legitimate criticism. Unbelievers are not stupid. They can detect true hypocrisy and sin.

And frankly, these stats are disturbing because there is a brand of "Christianity" out there today which is not Christianity at all but just Phariseeism or legalism claiming to be Christian. There are many moralists and liberals, and neither have the real gospel. And it's giving us a bad name. It turns many people away from true Christianity without even hearing the true gospel. The only way we will get a hearing with these unbelievers is to show them by our example that we are not hypocrites, or judgmental, or insensitive. We need to show them that we actually love them and can offer something much better than the idols they worship now. We can agree whole heartedly with these unbelievers that the charicature of Christianity which they most likely reject, is something which true Christianity rejects also. We have a gospel that is not old-fashioned but relevant in every age.

They will not repent and believe without the Holy Spirit but at least we can show them that we do take loving God and our neighbor seriously, which means not judging them self-righteously, actually listening to their concerns, explaining what true Christianity is and how it alone can provide the framework to properly understand the good things they do believe in, and consciously not making alliances with these factions in our culture which claim to be Christian but in fact are not. In doing this we can at least break apart their misinformed judgment against true Christianity and bear a faithful witness to the real Jesus.

 

[BJClark]

Puritan Sailor;

And frankly, these stats are disturbing because there is a brand of "Christianity" out there today which is not Christianity at all but just Phariseeism or legalism claiming to be Christian. There are many moralists and liberals, and neither have the real gospel. And it's giving us a bad name. It turns many people away from true Christianity without even hearing the true gospel. The only way we will get a hearing with these unbelievers is to show them by our example that we are not hypocrites, or judgmental, or insensitive. We need to show them that we actually love them and can offer something much better than the idols they worship now. We can agree whole heartedly with these unbelievers that the charicature of Christianity which they most likely reject, is something which true Christianity rejects also. We have a gospel that is not old-fashioned but relevant in every age.

I have to laugh at this, because this is exactly what many have a problem with, saying "we are the TRUE CHRISTIANS While THEY Teach a FALSE Gospel"

So, while I agree with you 100%, even this comes across as if having a Judgmental attitude towards others, and something that is commented about, by non-believers.

 

[christianyouth]

Hmm... So what if Christianity was perceived as racist by the populace would it be wrong to work to dispel that myth?

Or what if say.. we were in the early Church and we were being persecuted by the populace because they thought we were subversive toward government and that we were cannibals? Would it be wrong to work at dispelling that myth?

Also, see John Calvin when he writes to Francis I

I am aware, indeed, how, in order to render our cause as hateful to your Majesty as possible, they have filled your ears and mind with atrocious insinuations; but you will be pleased, of your clemency, to reflect, that neither in word nor deed could there be any innocence, were it sufficient merely to accuse.

After the above quote, Calvin goes on to clarify his position and show how his accusers were misrepresenting his theology(and causing a lot of persecution to Protestants in France). Was Calvin pragmatic in trying to improve the PR of the Reformation with the French Monarch?



From what I've found, people are attracted to humility and warmth. I've been involved in street evangelism for the past year or so. One time I got someone really mad because I was combative in my evangelism. They were angry, said some pretty mean stuff, and stormed off. Were they taking offense at the Gospel? In this case, no. They were taking offense at some youth interrogating them to find out if they were a true convert. I could have walked away and eased my troubled conscience by saying, "Blessed are those persecuted..." but that would have been dishonest. I was obnoxious, and people don't like obnoxious, arrogant youths.

But then at other times I was humble and loving in my approach, and the reception was much different. I have evangelized to a homosexual working at the car wash, told him how he was in sin and unconverted. I did it in love, and he actually appreciated me taking the time to evangelize him. I was with some friends so I had to cut it short because we were walking to pizza hut, but I prayed for him at pizza hut, and went back, and gave him a pizza. This guy was really touched that I got him a pizza, and it opened up more opportunities for sharing the Gospel at that car wash with a young teenager who just that day had been evangelized to by his Grandpa, a Presbyterian minister. This kid was not the type you would suspect to get converted.. Had a convertible and an attractive girl friend in the car, yet he enjoyed me taking the time to talk to him, actually hugged me before I left and said that he would think and pray about these things.

Sorry for that long anecdote, but for some reason that's how I make points, lol. I just know that those two experiences have taught me how active we are in sharing the Gospel. But from what the majority of people have been saying above, it seems like it doesn't matter how we behave, God is sovereign and he will save the elect, and the world is evil and will hate Christians.

Let them hate us for our doctrine, not because we are ornery. We all know ornery Christians lol. I was an ornery Christian through most of high school because of low self esteem, and believe me, I quoted "blessed are those persecuted" when someone was mean.

 

[Galatians220]

Their terms and their perceived meanings are their own, and who with half a brain lets worldly clowns, buffoons and assorted self-deluded, craven nutcases set the agenda for any purported legitimate discussion, especially one of Christians and Christianity?

It's like trying to provide a decent, sane answer to the old question, "So when did you stop beating your wife, sir?"

These people live in an alternate "hound" of a universe and I don't want to "get up with fleas" by stepping into it for any period of time. Nuts to 'em all.



Margaret

 

[a mere housewife]

Certainly the world will always hate us but I think we do have a PR problem. Ironically I think some of it comes of not holding radically enough to what we profess to believe -- a salvation of 'exuberant' grace.

It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,


Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books



According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

Pergy,
Yes we should worry about it. Part of being a good missionary to our own culture is knowing how to communicate the true gospel to them. Of course the gospel will offend people and many will hate us, but we should not add to the offense of the Bible by our own unwillingness to accept legitimate criticism. Unbelievers are not stupid. They can detect true hypocrisy and sin.

And frankly, these stats are disturbing because there is a brand of "Christianity" out there today which is not Christianity at all but just Phariseeism or legalism claiming to be Christian. There are many moralists and liberals, and neither have the real gospel. And it's giving us a bad name. It turns many people away from true Christianity without even hearing the true gospel. The only way we will get a hearing with these unbelievers is to show them by our example that we are not hypocrites, or judgmental, or insensitive. We need to show them that we actually love them and can offer something much better than the idols they worship now. We can agree whole heartedly with these unbelievers that the charicature of Christianity which they most likely reject, is something which true Christianity rejects also. We have a gospel that is not old-fashioned but relevant in every age.

They will not repent and believe without the Holy Spirit but at least we can show them that we do take loving God and our neighbor seriously, which means not judging them self-righteously, actually listening to their concerns, explaining what true Christianity is and how it alone can provide the framework to properly understand the good things they do believe in, and consciously not making alliances with these factions in our culture which claim to be Christian but in fact are not. In doing this we can at least break apart their misinformed judgment against true Christianity and bear a faithful witness to the real Jesus.

 

[ericfromcowtown]

According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%

Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?

Sure, I think that on some levels some of these have merit.

Anti-homosexual: I think that sometimes we deliver only part of the scriptural judgment of homosexuality and in doing so fail to deliver the message that homosexuality isn't the unforgiveable sin. I pray that God, in his mercy, has elected some that are currently identifying themselves as homosexuals to salvation.

Too Political: If by "too political" those polled mean that Christians should never have a voice in the public square, then I disagree. If by "too political," however, they are referring to pastors using their pulpits to preach a political message rather than the gospel, then yes I think this criticism has some merit. I found the WHI's recent broadcasts on the doctrine of the two kingdoms interesting on this front.

Some of these verdicts aren't true of Christianity, but sometimes we do Christianity poorly. We can't let the unchurched masses direct us, but I think a little self-criticism can be a healthy exercise once in a while.

 

[Timothy William]

According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:

* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%


Should we worry about these perceptions?

I think *too political* has some merit. Some Christians are, to the extent that involvement in politics - or worse, endlessly talking about politics - seems to become their primary form of Christian expression.

*Hypocritical* is also true of too many Christians and churches. The others are, in my opinion, mostly with little foundation.

How many Christians do you know who speak warmly of how other Christians (all of them, not just the small group we get on with) are kind and sincere and honest and loving and forgiving? If we don't think those things of each other, can we be surprised unbelievers don't think them of us?

 

[Galatians220]

How many Christians do you know who speak warmly of how other Christians (all of them, not just the small group we get on with) are kind and sincere and honest and loving and forgiving? If we don't think those things of each other, can we be surprised unbelievers don't think them of us?

Well, that's certainly true! I'll hoist a champagne glass to that:



Margaret

 

[Archlute]

It should be noted that many of those who would hold Christianity in disdain would do so on the basis of reading Scripture alone. I have heard enough atheists, feminists, and that whole crew making angry assaults upon God's word using the same nomenclature of "homophobic, out of touch with *my* reality, bigoted, oppressive, old-fashioned (regarding men and women's roles, sexual boundaries, etc), and intolerant/insensitive" to take any sort of poll like this with a grain of salt. God haters will go on hating God, whether they take it out on His word or His people.

Remember that the second Psalm is clear in pointing us to the fact that God's antagonists hate Him, His rule, and His people. However, God doesn't sit in a corner somewhere, fretting over His loss of public esteem. Rather, He leans back in derision, and laughs at them (v.4, also Psalm 59:8), a term which has no "nice" angle to it if you trace its use throughout the OT.

Of course, as agents of His inter-Advental mercy, we are to approach them with pity and with grace, knowing that God holds his wrath in check until the final day, but make no mistake about it that most of those who polled negatively would do so regardless of the Christians whom they had met - they poll in such a manner, because in their unconverted hearts they hate God, which is something upon which the Psalms do not equivocate.

 

[a mere housewife]

This is true. But besides other points made about specific things like the half presentation we often put forward about homosexuality, one is sometimes drawn up short in wonder at the gracelessness in the conversation of many Christians, esp when compared to some of those I have known with merely common grace. It makes me realize that God does indeed choose for Himself us weak and foolish people. But that isn't an excuse for us. I would think we had a PR problem regardless of what the poll said; because I have seen firsthand the way, as Timothy Williams said above, we speak about one another, and the personal animosity that enters into our dealings with unbelievers. I have seen them firsthand in myself.

It should be noted that many of those who would hold Christianity in disdain would do so on the basis of reading Scripture alone. I have heard enough atheists, feminists, and that whole crew making angry assaults upon God's word using the same nomenclature of "homophobic, out of touch with *my* reality, bigoted, oppressive, old-fashioned (regarding men and women's roles, sexual boundaries, etc), and intolerant/insensitive" to take any sort of poll like this with a grain of salt. God haters will go on hating God, whether they take it out on His word or His people.

Remember that the second Psalm is clear in pointing us to the fact that God's antagonists hate Him, His rule, and His people. However, God doesn't sit in a corner somewhere, fretting over His loss of public esteem. Rather, He leans back in derision, and laughs at them (v.4, also Psalm 59:8), a term which has no "nice" angle to it if you trace its use throughout the OT.

Of course, as agents of His inter-Advental mercy, we are to approach them with pity and with grace, knowing that God holds his wrath in check until the final day, but make no mistake about it that most of those who polled negatively would do so regardless of the Christians whom they had met - they poll in such a manner, because in their unconverted hearts they hate God, which is something upon which the Psalms do not equivocate.

 

[Christusregnat]

Who ever said that I feared man?


The issue is not about fear of man, but about extra offenses by which we make the Gospel ugly.

The issue is about removing unnecessary offenses so that unbelievers know clearly that the main offenseis the Cross, not that most believers they met were judgmental or hypocrites.

Pergy,

Since you just asked questions, I didn't say that you feared man.

However, regarding man's opinion is fearing man, and is a misplaced value system.

By the bye, Jesus said that we would not just be persecuted for "the Cross", but all for "His Word": all 66 books. The things you've listed fall (in many/most of the cases) within those 66 books.

Believers are often seen as judgmental or hypocrites only because the unbeliever is so overwhelmed with his hypocrisy and is judgmental in judging believers. This is why it really should not matter what an opinion poll says; it only matters what God says.

Cheers,

 

[Archlute]

This is true. But besides other points made about specific things like the half presentation we often put forward about homosexuality, one is sometimes drawn up short in wonder at the gracelessness in the conversation of many Christians, esp when compared to some of those I have known with merely common grace. It makes me realize that God does indeed choose for Himself us weak and foolish people. But that isn't an excuse for us. I would think we had a PR problem regardless of what the poll said; because I have seen firsthand the way, as Timothy Williams said above, we speak about one another, and the personal animosity that enters into our dealings with unbelievers. I have seen them firsthand in myself.

It should be noted that many of those who would hold Christianity in disdain would do so on the basis of reading Scripture alone. I have heard enough atheists, feminists, and that whole crew making angry assaults upon God's word using the same nomenclature of "homophobic, out of touch with *my* reality, bigoted, oppressive, old-fashioned (regarding men and women's roles, sexual boundaries, etc), and intolerant/insensitive" to take any sort of poll like this with a grain of salt. God haters will go on hating God, whether they take it out on His word or His people.

Remember that the second Psalm is clear in pointing us to the fact that God's antagonists hate Him, His rule, and His people. However, God doesn't sit in a corner somewhere, fretting over His loss of public esteem. Rather, He leans back in derision, and laughs at them (v.4, also Psalm 59:8), a term which has no "nice" angle to it if you trace its use throughout the OT.

Of course, as agents of His inter-Advental mercy, we are to approach them with pity and with grace, knowing that God holds his wrath in check until the final day, but make no mistake about it that most of those who polled negatively would do so regardless of the Christians whom they had met - they poll in such a manner, because in their unconverted hearts they hate God, which is something upon which the Psalms do not equivocate.

This is exactly why I believe that the popularity in recent years of affirming a commitment to expository preaching in our churches is insufficient. Lives will not be changed in the way needed unless the Gospel of grace is at the center of our sermons (expository, or otherwise), and as a result, in the center of the thoughts of our people as they subsequently interact with one another, and with the world.