When Christians Get It Wrong by Adam Hamilton

by Adam Hamilton

More and more young adults have opted out of Christianity and the church. The reason? Christians. When young adults talk about the problems they have with Christianity and the church, they often name certain attitudes and behaviors they believe are practiced too often by judging others, condemning people of other faiths, rejecting science, injecting politics into faith, and being anti-homosexual. With his familiar style, Adam Hamilton tackles these issues and addresses the how’s and why’s of Christians getting it right when it comes to being Christ in the world. Those who read When Christians Get It Wrong will gain a different way of understanding the issues that keep people away from Christianity and keep Christians from living a more compelling faith. Because, honestly, if we don’t start getting it right, we may lose an entire generation.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Christian, Spirituality, Theology, Christianity, Church

Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Rev. Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. He grew up in the Kansas City area. He earned a B.A. degree in Pastoral Ministry from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity Degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has grown from four people in 1990 to more than 16,000 adult members with an average weekly worship attendance of more than 8,600 in 2011. The church was listed as the most influential mainline church in America in a 2005 survey of American pastors.

Adam has been married 30 years to LaVon. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Hamilton is a Methodist Pastor from Kansas City. He summarizes in 120 pages why the church is turning off the 20-30 year old ex Christians and atheist's. His purpose is not to prove anything but to answer the questions from his personal beliefs, showing that Christians do not all follow the pattern of belief that young people believe. He backs this with church history and cultural reasoning.

He says from a study which he conducted that there are 5 reasons young people rejected Christianity because of the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of Christians that they personally knew. He then summed the 5 reasons as: 1) The unchristian ways some Christians act; 2) The anti-intellectual, anti-science stance of some Christians 3) Christianity's views of other world religions; 4)Questions related to the role of God in human suffering; and 5)the way Christian's view homosexuality.

This is an easy read as it is written for the age group and audience above. I guess I am a liberal as I totally agree with his theology. If you are conservative, you may disagree on some points but you will not have trouble understanding where he is coming from. A good read for anyone who wants to understand how we can coexist on this planet with others who think differently. Lance

[Angela Juline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a lot of questions regarding religion, and this book answered a good many of them. The author/minister is amazing - such a fantastic way of not alienating people (unless of course you are super conservative...but they would benefit the most by hearing and processing what he has to say). I'm glad I read it on my phone, because I can easily refer back to it.

[Sherri Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this one a million stars! It is wonderful! It has the potential to change the world if we could everyone in it to read it.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: More and more young adults have opted out of Christianity and the church. The reason? Christians.

When young adults talk about the problems they have with Christianity and the church, they often name certain attitudes and behaviors they believe are practiced too often by Christians: judging others, condemning people of other faiths, rejecting science, injecting politics into faith, and being anti-homosexual. With his familiar style, Adam Hamilton tackles these issues and addresses the how’s and why’s of Christians getting it right when it comes to being Christ in the world.

Those who read When Christians Get It Wrong will gain a different way of understanding the issues that keep people away from Christianity and keep Christians from living a more compelling faith. Because, honestly, if we don’t start getting it right, we may lose an entire generation.

REVIEW: I found most of this book thought provoking, but there were some things that I did not agree with. My own personal thought was in a couple of places, he was using God's word in a way to appeal to young people rather than what God's word directly says. Still overall an interesting read.

[Barb Flory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Hamilton is an intelligent and godly Christian, whose books always hit the mark. This is an excellent read that hits all the hot buttons that Christians are dealing with today. I recommend it highly.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Hamilton is an excellent preacher and author, and in this easy to read book, based on five of his sermons at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, he gives an excellent accounting of some of the obstacles Christians create (mostly inadvertently, hopefully) that hinder others from experiencing God in Christianity. Adam writes with great humility and clarity, sharing where Christians make mistakes, but also sharing examples of when Christians get it right.

[Eric K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good read, nothing really new though. Rev Hamilton provides a decent read for laity and clergy alike as they learn to dialogue in a culture with divergent views of life and faith.

[Silvia Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

I simply did not align with a lot of the major-topic theological explanations that he provided!!! I would 10000% recommend it to others because I think it does make you wrestle with questions and get at the core of what you believe about God, which I think is always a win— whether or not you agree with the stance the author took!

I LOVED how it explained the five key themes that usually turn people away from Christianity:
1. The unchristian way some Christians act
2. The anti science stance of some Christians
3. Christianity’s views of other world religions
4. The role of God in suffering
5. the way some Christians view homosexuality

I WAS SO SO EXCITED TO READ THIS & as the author dove into each topic, I was like “YES— COULD NOT AGREE MORE” as he was introducing the topic and how a lot of Christians get it wrong when it comes to each of these topics.

With that, he swung TO THE OTHER EXTREME in his explanations & I did not agree with his theological justifications to each topic.

In summary, I agreed with the issues at hand but disagreed with a lot of the responses (not all— there were some very great responses!)

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, thought provoking book by Adam Hamilton, who definitely "got it right it" when he authored this book.

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Christians Get It Wrong / 978-1-426-70914-2

I am not a Christian. In fact, I consider myself to be an ex-Christian, at least in part because of some of the issues that author Hamilton brings up here in this excellent book. And yet, I've read some wonderful material from Christian scholars and pastors, and now I can add Hamilton's book to that category.

Hamilton has set out to catalog and address the issues that most seem to drive young people away from the church today. With scripture in one hand, logical analysis in the other, and with his heart firmly in the right place, he seeks to open a dialogue with older, more established members of the church and with some of the attitudes that are driving young people away.

For the most part, he succeeds admirably. Hamilton's tone is educational and explanatory, but it never feels like he's "talking down" to the audience; instead he seems very interested in always seeing all sides of a controversy. He explains his view of scripture, and why he thinks that disasters aren't God's punishment on people, and why he believes that evolution and Christianity are fully compatible. Throughout all his writing, there's these strong undercurrents of love and acceptance - Hamilton's God is clearly a god of love, and he wants to share it with his readers.

When this book gets it "right" it does so to the sound of my applause; for instance, I'm thrilled that Hamilton understands that to learn and teach others about "other religions", you MUST speak to people in that religion, rather than cribbing the writings of some OTHER Christian who may or may not have gotten it all terribly wrong. When this book stumbles, it at least errs on the side of angels - Hamilton's explanation as to why bad things happen may have as many logical holes as a sieve, but given an illogical explanation with a loving God versus an equally illogical explanation with a hateful God, Hamilton chooses the former and with my blessing.

This book isn't perfect; I was particularly annoyed that the homosexuality chapter had an extra little "disclaimer" to the readers at the beginning to coddle them, when nothing else did - why should a statement like, "Hey, let's be nice to everyone like Jesus said so!" be "more" controversial than, "Hey, we evolved from other lifeforms and that's okay!", but I guess I should trust Hamilton to know his audience and how to best not set them off. At the end of the day, this is a well-reasoned, well-written, and impassioned plea to live a version of Christianity that I heartily approve of, and for that, it gets all my praise.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Paul Froehlich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Hamilton is one of the leading modernizers in American Christianity. He’s the senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS, named the most influential mainline church in America by The Church Report. His previous book is Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, (which this author has also reviewed). Hamilton has been a repeat speaker at Willow Creek Church’s annual leadership summit.

One of the biggest challenges for the modern Church, writes Hamilton, is appealing to young adults, growing numbers of whom are shunning organized religion. Unless that trend can be curbed or reversed, Christianity will inevitably shrink sharply, as older generations pass on.

Young adults, aka Millennials, are much more tolerant on homosexuality than older Americans. Not all young people agree, but the tolerant majority are more than twice as likely as their less tolerant peers to reject the Church. The unchurched 30 percent say they are repelled by the perceived intolerance of the religious right toward gays and sex. Nearly nine of ten (87 percent) describe Christians as judgmental and 85 percent find them hypocritical, while three out of four found them too political.

Hamilton addresses the attitudes and actions of Christians who get it wrong and the beliefs that are most often cited as problematic by non-Christians. He also suggests how Christians can get it right.

“The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it.” Hamilton once believed that slogan, but he now recognizes the Bible is more complicated than simplistic slogans. Despite their assertion the Bible is “inerrant and infallible,” Christians “simply don’t follow each word and apply it literally in our lives.” If Christians followed just admonitions in the New Testament, then they would greet each other with a holy kiss, women would not braid their hair or wear expensive clothing and jewelry, men would not grow long hair, and women would not be allowed to speak in church.

Christians get it wrong when they speak in ways that alienate God’s gay children; Christians get it right “when we express the love and welcome of the one who offered living water to the woman at the well.”

[victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

[David Orphal]

Like many politically progressive Christians I know, I cringe nearly every time someone professing to speak for my faith gets on TV. Nearly every time, these pundits espouse views I do not share. At their worst, they look to me as if they are painting over their personal bigotry and vitriol with a whitewash of religion.

In this book, Pastor Hamilton courageously takes on some of these widely held positions:

Christians being judgmental of others,
Christians condemning people of non-Christian faiths, agnostics, and atheists
Christians rejecting science
Christians imposing their version of morality onto politics, and
Christians who are hateful of homosexuality.

Pastor Hamilton brings a strong Biblical foundation to his arguments and stresses that Christians have been interpreting and reinterpreting the meaning of the Bible for ages. For example, in his chapter about homosexuality, Hamilton points out that the oft-quoted verses in Leviticus prescribe death to homosexual men. Only a very few of the most rabid gay-bashing would actually go so far as to call for the murder of people who engaged in homosexual relationships. His point is, even those Christians who want to chant that the Bible says ‘Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” are rejecting parts of the Bible that they do not feel apply to modern life. These same anti-gay Christians would also, no doubt, ignore the Bible’s condoning of slavery.

Woven throughout each of the five chapters is Pastor Hamilton’s reference to the core message of Jesus. Christians have two commandments; love God with all our being, and to love one another. When Christians focus on this message, we often, “Get it right.”

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Christians Get It Wrong by Adam Hamilton
Abingdon Press, 2010
120 pages
Non-fiction; Christian
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free e-galley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick read addressing some of the points that have turned many young people away from Christianity and the church. I identified as some of those issues had turned me away when I was younger. These are covered in five chapters looking at unchristian behaviors, Christian attitudes toward science and politics, relationships with other religions, the question of "why does God let bad things happen?", and homosexuality. I thought some of his treatments were a bit shallow but this was a good broad look with some nice things to ponder. I felt really encouraged to reflect on how I and other Christians act. I see this as a nice jumping-off point to pursue other books devoted entirely to one of those topics.

Hamilton concludes with a lovely chapter about how Christians get it right. Mainly we do that when we follow the example of Jesus and put people before rules. He is a shining example of compassion and love and that is how Christians and the church need to be when interacting with outsiders and within our own community.

[Jenn Raley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give Adam Hamilton credit for tackling a wide variety of issues in such a slim volume. Bearing in mind that this book is intended for young adults, it's a worthy effort.

If one thinks of this book as a platform for conversation and an inspiration to a more thoughtful, Jesus-centric practice of Christianity, it's a good read. Otherwise, it would be tempting to be frustrated by the overly simplified diagnosis of "Christians who get it wrong" as well as Hamilton's recommendations for Biblical interpretations to help solve the problem. His ultimate conclusion is good, though again explored in a fairly rushed manner.

This is a good book for teens and college-aged people, especially those who are struggling with their own faith or have concerns about the religious practices of others. If you don't fit into this demographic, look somewhere else. (I recommend some Brian McLaren.)

The one actual critique I have, though, is that this book is in sore need of a copy editor. It contains numerous punctuation, grammatical, and spelling errors (even misspelling the name of one of the authors it quotes). Could someone volunteer to copy edit Hamilton's next book - please?

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Christians Get It Wrong is a thought provoking but easy read, aimed at addressing the "big five." Hamilton bases his work around an interview with a young atheist, using the young man's concerns as a launching point to explore the issues of unchristian behavior, politics and science, other religions, why bad things happen, and homosexuality.

I do not personally fit into a neat category in terms of my faith...I am much too liberal for many conservative Christians and much too conservative to be liberal. But I think that all of us, on both sides of the spectrum and in-between, need to address these issues. Hamilton's approach is sincere and loving; his conviction admirable. I don't agree with him on all points (most of my acquaintances won't) but I truly appreciate what he's trying to do. These issues are major hot topics in our society right now, and they need to be addressed. Wherever your opinions lie, Hamilton's discussion of the issues is a great jumping off point for your own research.

[Jennifer AlLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

In his book When Christians Get It Wrong, Adam Hamilton takes a look at perceptions and actions that chase people away from organized religion. There are some parts of this book that I agreed with. I nodded my head, recognizing the error. Or I saw it for the first time in myself, and bowed my head in shame. But there are other parts that made me raise an eyebrow. Parts that had me thinking, "Is that really scriptural?" Notice, I'm not telling you which parts are which. That's up to you to decide for yourself.

I think it's natural that a book meant to point out error can cause controversy. Most people who read this book won't agree with everything in it. But it definitely provides a great starting point for some lively conversations about theology, doctrine, and (most importantly) the love of God. Read it for yourself and make your own conclusion... are you getting it wrong?

NOTE: I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author writes, "Following Jesus can be more about open doors than locked fences, more about serving people than judging them, more about joyful living than angry fighting". Great book for anyone who, like me, is grieved that the words and actions of some Christians seem to have more in common with the Pharisees than Jesus. The book is an equally good read for those who have rejected Christianity because of what Hamilton calls "the big five" obstacles to faith: When Christians Are Unchristian; Christians, Science and Politics; When Speaking of Other Religions; When Bad Things Happen, and When Dealing with Homosexuality". Hamilton offers a different (I would say saner)way of understanding these complex theological issues than that what you may have heard from some of today's louder voices.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. With a small group of friends, we also watched his video clips and discussed the chapters. The author had on-going conversations with a young man who was turned off by Christians and the Church because of the attitudes and actions of offensive Christians. He found that young adults are leaving the Christian faith in greater numbers than ever. The author wrote this book in response, to encourage us to examine ourselves to see if we are "getting it right" or "getting it wrong," by reflecting Christ to the world, vs. being judgemental, hypocrital, etc. Be forewarned, my Christian friends: I will be passing this one around and you might find that it will challenge your comfort zone!

[Alicia Kellum · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you look at the people Jesus hung around with in his life it wasn't the religious leaders nor the ones who looked down on everyone who sinned. He came to call the sinners not the righteous.

This book is a great reminder of this. It addresses issues like evolution, homosexuality, other religions, and when things go wrong in life. The Pastor takes each topic and looks at some "typical" Christian responses and then brings things from Jesus' teaching to light.

I felt like he does a good job examining these topics and focusing some attention on more of "what would Jesus have said about that".

In a time when there is a lot of judgment being passed on people I would like to see anyone who is a Jesus follower to read this.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the title may be off-putting to some, Adam Hamilton provides a quick read about why so many young adults are disenchanted with Christians and Christianity.

Though there are some typographical errors, it is put together well.

Since the book is slim, don't expect in-depth analysis about how to live a "Jesus-centric" life.

Some helpful insights on how to address some of the malaise young people feel towards Christians.

All in all, a decent read, especially for it's intended audience.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this book. I know, you've heard that before, but really, this little book is a life-changer. Every young person who has been turned off of religion should also read this book. As Christians, we have become more concerned with rules than we are with love, and that is not why Jesus died on that cross. We have got to be more loving and less judging of others if we want to lead our young generations to the saving grace that God offers. This book is a good starting place for us to rethink some old rules and to reach out with love in our hearts.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Hamilton wrote this book in response to a man (and also surveys) he met that provided feedback as to why many in our society are not interested in attending or joining a church. Christians are percieved by many as judgmental, anti-intellectual, anti-science, hypocritical. Topics covered: when Christians are Unchristian, when bad things happen, dealing with homosexuality, politics and science. He offers great examples of "when Christians get it right" Very readable, I really enjoyed reviewing this book with my Sunday school class.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the issues addressed in this book represent np many of the same concerns I had growing up as a Christian. I thank God for my mother who taught me never to look at others when studying to become a Christian because I would be very disappointed by the actions of most people who call themselves Christians but rather read and study the Bible and pray. This is an excellent book to open up discussions with both teens and adults.

[M.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was worried I wouldn't like what this guy wrote, especially since his talk at the Global Leadership Summit was less than inspiring. However, I believe he hit the nail on the head. Read it if you ever feel frustrated by how much Christians can hurt themselves and others. It actually gave me some hope.

[Joe Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book encouraging people to be more open-minded, and not so dismissive and judgmental. Helps us to see that we don't have all the truth, and it is best to respect people of other religions, political views, sexual orientations, and listen to them and realize that you may (will) be able to learn something from them. Definitely a refresher on how I want to live my life.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully written, thoughtful and insightful book about the way Christianity/Christians are viewed by Young Adults and what Christians can do to attempt to change the negative images and stereotypes. It is also a very quick and easy read.
I look forward to reading other books by Adam Hamilton.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reminder about what it means to be Christian. Starts with the assertion that young people are turning away from Christianity faster than before for 5 main reasons. Then works through those reasons and possible alternate Christian responses in those situations. Generally thought he stretched the amount of actual information in order to make a book but it was thought provoking.

[Kathy jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Becky recommended this book and I am glad I finally read it. Very thought provoking. Explains why the younger generations turn away from traditional religion. The author who is a pastor isn't afraid to tackle tough subjects and his answers make sense. It encouraged me to be less judgmental and more inclusive which is how Jesus showed us how to live. Worth the read.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for free when I renewed my subscription to Sojourners Magazine. Great, easy read - Adam speaks from his own humble experiences and provides the theological tools to help both Christians and non-Christians alike come to a better understanding of what the Christian faith is supposed to be about, providing many examples of what it means for Christians to "get it right."