How Christians Talk About Those Who Aren’t: The problem with labels

In April I attended the Pepperdine Bible Lectures where urban missionary Ben Cheek, who was invited to speak at a panel on church planting, was asked the following question: “The people you’re targeting in the New York City Metro area – would you say more of them are unchurched or dechurched?”

As a missionary I’m familiar with these terms.  Up until now I had been using them myself.  The idea is that the term “unchurched” describes those individuals who have never attended a church (or at least have not done so over a significant amount of time, say, within the last year).  The term “dechurched” is meant to describe those individuals who have a religious past but have become so turned off by their experiences with Christians and church-as-they-know-it that they are not ‘coming back.’  The problem with putting people neatly into these categories is that life is never that tidy.

Ben explained, “How would you label, for example, a Latino couple in New York who come from a Catholic background, attend mass twice every year, but literally know nothing of Jesus?”  (This illustration, Ben pointed out, is typical of 40 to 60% of the population they live among in the NY Metro area.)  Because of their church-centered mindset and faithful attendance twice per year, it is difficult to put this couple into the “un-churched” box.  It also is difficult to neatly insert them into the “de-churched” box because they probably will continue attending mass twice per year and for special occasions for as long as they live.  From one perspective, the couple is neither churched (as we’d like them to be), unchurched nor de-churched.  I can relate to Ben’s problem with labels.  We’re seeing that life isn’t that tidy in East Hollywood, either. 

Now that Ben had completely deconstructed the question, the panel moderator patiently asked Ben how he would describe the people they’re targeting.  Ben replied, “Maybe the question could be re-stated: Are the people you’re reaching Un-Jesused or De-Jesused?  Or maybe we could put it in terms of the kingdom… Are they surrendering to Jesus the King or do they even know about the King?” 

Ben figured those in his mission field who have never heard of the King (Jesus) amount to probably 9% of the NYC Metro population.  Those who have heard of the King but are not surrendering to Him probably amount to 90%.  If Ben’s percentages are anywhere near accurate, and if they reflect at all what is happening in my own city, then the picture is much starker than the old ’unchurched/dechurched’ labels would have revealed.  And so our task to join God in his mission suddenly seems all the more urgent!

As Ben helped me to see that evening, labels like these assume the goal of a missionary (or of any Christian for that matter) is to help the world become “churched”.  Maybe it’s impossible to totally get away from using labels, but that’s not even the point.  I’m very excited to move away from a church-centered mindset and into a more Jesus-centered (or kingdom-focused) mindset.  New life is about more than “joining a church”.  It is about discovering the surprising joys of surrendering to Jesus’ loving reign!