They like Jesus but..

The latest "hot" book to come out of emergent is They Like Jesus but not the Church. I have not read the book (I did read this article "I like Jesus but..")but have a good idea of what he has to say. Dan interviews many people of the younger generation to find out why so many are not going to church. I have heard a few interviews with Kimball and like a lot of what he has to say. Dan mentions that people admire Jesus as the following "Jesus is beautiful," "He is a wise man, like a shaman or a guru," "He came to liberate women." One girl even said, "He was enlightened. I'm on my way to becoming Christian." . But when asked about Christian's they had a lot of negative to say. Then Dan sections out the perceptions of the church that these folks have:
1) The Church is an organized religion with a political agenda.
2) The Church is judgmental and negative.
3) The Church is dominated by males and oppresses females.
4) The Church is homophobic.
5) The Church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong.
6) The Church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally.

Like I said, I didn't read the book so maybe Dan addresses this but is it possible that some of these stereotypes are portrayed by the media and our society as a whole? Let me make a point, This Article discusses a school in NJ that did a mock terrorist drill where the terrorist were fundamentalist Christians who were upset because their daughter was not allowed to pray in school. Are you kidding me? It's this type of propaganda that plants seeds in those who have never dawned the doors of a church and gives them this impression of Christians. Dan has a lot of good things to say about properly dealing with these impressions, like I said in a previous blog, we as christian traditionally have tried to "get the sale" and have not planted seeds in unbelievers, so I agree with what he has to say there.
Another issue that I have is that when you say they like Jesus but, and I think Dan addresses this, which Jesus? New Agers(or Spiritualist) admire him as Master, one who achieved "Christ consciousness", Buddhist and Hindu's view him as enlightened, Islam admire him as a prophet with Mohammad, not to mention the many Christian cult offshoots that view Jesus in a different light of what we have in scripture. This is why I keep contending that we need to know scripture so that we can contend for the faith when error comes our way.
I really want to get my hands on this book, I am sure I can learn from Mr. Kimball, especially as my little ones start their venture in this formerly Christian, post modern society.

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26) I would bet they don't like this Jesus very much. I certainly have a hard time with this kind of message.