A few days ago I mentioned in very brief passing Francis Schaeffer's work, The Great Evangelical Disaster. It's a book every well-meaning Christian should read. In it, Schaeffer offers a diagnostic of some of the damaging trends in Evangelicalism. But remember, this was a book that was written some 25 years ago. Back then, the evangelical ship was heading toward the iceberg, and Schaeffer as one of the ship's spotters sounded the alarm.
Tragically, few listened to Schaeffer's warnings. Today, the S.S. Titanic of Evanglicalism is slipping beneath the waters and it is clearly time to abandon ship. This is not a call of warning, it is a call of rescue. But just like the Titanic, the problems are far from over once you're off the ship. Not only are the waters icy, but there are sharks circling the ship.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Any honest observer will admit that there are any number of problems in evangelicalism, as there are in any movement comprised of people. But some problems are worse than others. Here's a very sort list in no particular order of problems that frustrate me, and that I think are weighing down the ship.
1) Lack of cultural awareness. We (Christians in America) live in a society in which culture is shifting rapidly against us. Not only has evangelicalism failed to issue sufficient warnings about it, in many cases it has followed the worldly trends. Because we are so much like the world, we cannot in good faith offer any alternative. And those that have taken the "Christ against culture" approach are utterly irrelevant to those in our culture looking for escape.
2) Relativism. The war for objective truth within evangelicalism has been lost. The evangelical conversation is being dominated these days by people who gain attention by digging up the ancient stones laid by our ancient fathers in the faith. The collective memory of the noble accomplishements of evangelicalism since the Great Awakening have been lost.
3) Legalism/antinomianism. The great 19th Century Southern Presbyterian, James Henley Thornwell, wrote an excellent essay on Antinomianism, where he traces that lawlessness and legalism had a common spiritual root. Those who want to impose artificial rules on others are those who realize that the rules are artificial. And so they come to believe that ALL rules are artificial, like "don't covet your neighbors wife", etc. There are so many examples of this available to discuss, there really isn't any need to elaborate.
4) The Self-help gospel. In evangelicalism, the gospel today means little more than therapy. And usually the solution it offers is, "I'm OK, you're OK." There really is no grappling with the reality of sin in our lives. The self-help gospel is no more than stating the blatantly obvious, not providing the real solutions that the world is looking for. They are looking for more than the 12-step, self-actualized Jesus. They (and we) are in desperate need of redemption. And the gospel is about the grace and the work of God accomplished once and for all in the Person and Work of Christ, not about spiritually and emotionally masturbating our ego.
5) The problem of authority. Amongst Protestants there is a growing unease with the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura. Critics claim that sola Scriptura has led to the radical individualization and relativism of evangelicalism. But is this true? Has the Roman Catholic Church avoided these same problems with the magisterium and the Pope? Not hardly. The Church of Rome is just as fractured and divided as Protestantism. The Anglican option is an even worse prospect, with it about to shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment. I predict that the Anglican communion won't survive a generation, and the Church of Rome won't last another century. But evangelicalism doesn't even have prospects that rosy.
Maybe in the next few months I'll present some options for those who agree (and it might just be me) who want to get off the ship and back to safety.
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3 comments:
Patrick, as a former Catholic, I'l have to disagree with your predictions for Catholicism. It is vital and vibrant and in the process of being hauled back into line. Especially in America. It's actually growing.
The Episcopal Church, of which I am a member, is less healthy and may not survive. Anglicanism in England is doomed but in Africa it is healthy and growing.
The evangelical tradition has much to offer, but one of its flaws -- inherent in the evangelical outlook-- is that "all is lost" and we're about to go overboard.
The sea will not claim Christianity and its outcome is not in our hands. Do you have so little faith? So little hope?
We all want a church which is "comfortable," one which we know and feel that it knows us. But it shifts and changes; it has for thousands of years.
Even though I am from a sacramental tradition, I like the evangelical faith. But I do feel compassion for your misery as you look at God's handiwork.
Dymphna, I appreciate your comments (and I love Gates of Vienna, BTW). I think you misunderstand my point. I don't despair for Christianity at all. I agree with Chesterton's chapter of the "Five Deaths of the Faith" in The Everlasting Man that every time mankind writes the Church's obituary, it is the world, not the Church, that dies. But the Church today is not Roman Catholic or Anglican, though it never was. The majority of Christians exist today outside those two communions, and that trend is rapidly increasing. Read Kennedy's The Rise of Global Christianity. The very forces tearing American evangelicalism apart are having exactly the same effect on the Church of Rome and the Church of Canterbury. That their cultural influence in their former areas of strength (Europe/England) is non-existent today puts the lie to their long-term viability. Yes, Anglicanism may survive and thrive in Kenya, but it will have long severed its ties to the Anglican communion in the West. And from their perspective, good riddance. It's not that Rome and Canterbury are dying. They are dead and we are watching their corpses rot while we wait for the funeral. That won't come as a breath of fresh air for those (like yourself) in those traditions. But American evangelicalism has committed suicide. But I don't believe the fortunes of the Church are tied to evangelicalism, or Rome, or Canterbury. The Church is victorious in every age.
Of course the Church of Rome has many internal differeces of style, emphasis, custom, conscience and opinion. But as far as doctrine, dogma and theology, the church is virtually unified. The same could be said of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches. This stands in stark contrast with the 40,000+ Protestant denominations.
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