"Amazing grace," the classic hymn goes, but author Philip Yancey hears that sweet sound fading in a cacophony of grace-less and harsh Christian voices. Is the church in today's culture losing the very quality that defines us as followers of Jesus? It's a question explored in Yancey's latest book, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News? (Zondervan, 2014).

Leadership Journal associate editor Paul J. Pastor joins Yancey for a conversation about why grace is vanishing—and what we can do about it.

You see grace in the church vanishing. What's happening?

The Barna Group has documented that ordinary Americans, especially the "nones" who have no religious commitment, view Christians much less favorably than they did even 20 years ago. Books like unChristian spell out why. Outsiders to the faith see Christians as judgmental, self-righteous, right-wing, and anti—anti-gay, anti-science, anti-sex—the usual stereotypes.

I'll ...