“This disappearing trick [of the church] would never have been possible if evangelicals were still thinking in doctrinal terms. But they were not” (11). When you come across someone who is putting into writing the same things you yourself have been thinking it is rather exciting and serious business. The dissonance I felt during the “seminar movement” and their after effects producing little if any results is unnerving. I wonder if the foundational elements of the author are valid or are simply his perspective--so I am cautious of embracing them.
We need to have “the courage to be faithful to what Christianity in its biblical forms has always stood for across the ages” (21). The author writes with great clarity of the dangers presented in society and how believers have been so enculturated in our thoughts and beliefs. He calls us to have the courage to protest again.
Are we being faithful to biblical Christianity? I think so, if we at least look at it from the way churches established by Paul were behaving. We have things to work out just like they did. And that is good news—God is still in the business of helping His church be the Church in the world! Jesus is still revealing Himself and His will to churches today as he did to those in the seven letters of John’s Revelation. The warnings of “doing” church in the past won’t work with the newer generation, of trying to win parishioners as worshipers or consumers, and of advertising environment or trusting attractiveness of truth. I too have wondered, “Should Christian churches really be so different here as they are in other places in the world?”
It is easy to pick on Hybels and Warren, and I think I understand where the author is coming from, but I couldn’t help but ask, “Have you ever heard Hybels or Warren preach?” On the other hand, I would say I would identify with the comparison game I feel I play when I look at success in ministry—and I have a problem with that. I am also very uneasy with the sensing of the “look of success” and believing that “I will be successful if my ministry looks like theirs.
I am deeply concerned for what kind of Christians are being made today. “The product we will naturally seek will not be the gospel (53).” With the depleted self there seems to come two things: cultural idolatry—images demanding our attention, and spiritual adultery—the uniting of the self with what we believe brings identity. These instead fracture the self even more.
The Beast in Western societies is still in business to make all things “work together to create a context in which the soul withers” (112). What is “outside shapes what is inside” (142) but I believe this is cyclical. They both feed into each other. What is going on deep within gives structure and meaning to the world within which we live, which is then a feedback loop. And the “preoccupation with the outward appearance… what others see… how we ‘come off’ before others” (148) I believe is the ‘personal fable’ of adolescence!
What place does the author believe experience has in life? I wanted to hear the author address this. I definitely believe experiences bring a level of validation to truth.
I have confessed to people that I am not religious and that ‘it’ isn’t about religion but about relationship. I had to admit that I haven’t really thought this through. ‘It’ isn’t about religion, but religion is still important. We need to be careful in confessing we are spiritual but not religious.
I have a deep concern for the church today but have been too cowardly perhaps to address it. When I have preached expository sermons, the response hasn’t been…encouraging towards continued efforts. “Whatever else we give with our preaching, we include with it the impressions of what Christianity is all about.” I definitely don’t want to be guilty of giving people on Sunday something that is irrelevant and impractical on Monday and foster the two-fold life--one for the private and one for the public.
The argument that we need to have something in place to protect the name of Christ and the reputation of the church is interesting. How has this been addressed biblically? Ananias/Sapphria perhaps, the 1 Cor. 5 adulterer with mother-in-law, Paul withstanding Peter to the face; and in each case are there similarities? Differences?
Overall I would recommend this book and I have two more of Wells' writings on my shelf I look forward to working my way through. Be sure to have a pencil in hand when you read!