There are a lot of books in the Christian publishing industry and most of them are garbage.

It’s no one’s fault really, publishing is an industry and as such there is a systematic need to fill millions of pages a year with content. Christian publishing, while popular, is a microcosmic niche in comparison to the broader world of publishing and as such has a smaller number of quality producers to fill the hopper with.  So what you get is a lot of filler. You get Amish romance novels that are shameful at best and Christian porn at worst. You get conspiracy minded apocalyptic writers who present subjects like eschatology in a pseudo-theological way all the while fanning the flames of racism and xenophobia creating Christians full of fear and anger.

I say all this because a book like David Kinnaman’s You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church… is a refreshing glass of cool water in the dry, parched desert that Christian publishing can often be.

The book is an example of what a good non-fiction mass market text should be – it is accessible, based on solid research and best of all – well written.

Kinnaman avoids alarmist language but the message of the book is clear – the body of Christ in the western world is bleeding – badly and in a way it has never done so before in its history. Focused on a large scale study of 18-29 year old Christians the book reveals that this demographic is leaving the church…but (and this is an important but) they  are not leaving faith.

Kinnaman clearly presents the proof of this and then spends time presenting the many reasons why young Christians are disengaging and unflinchingly points the finger back at you and I. The church, its leadership and older generations have failed to understand and keep up with dramatic cultural change to such a degree that the language being spoken now in our sanctuaries and sermons, in our songs and liturgy, is so foreign as to be complete nonsense – even to those who have grown up in the church.

Refreshingly Kinnaman does not leave the reader hanging, after defining the problem he presents some possible solutions in chapters like What’s Old is New, and Fifty Ideas to Find a Generation.

Let me be clear – this is an important book. I also want to state that this is not something a senior pastor or board chair can simply throw at the youth pastor to read to solve the problem…this is essential reading for every church leader. The content must be synthesized into the psyche of the church, prayed deeply over and responded to in radical fashion. Unfortunately the study Kinnaman bases his book on suggests that the very attitudes that have led the church to this place of loss is probably an attitude that will lackadaisically  ignore these warnings until it is too late.

In short – an excellent book. A must read.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.