I have been googling to find serious responses to Ms. Wicker’s book propheysing the end of evangelicalism as we have known it, and I can’t find much. I guess it is like trying to find articles on the housing bubble before it burst. No one was interested. And maybe no one is interested in the kind of reshaping we are going to have to do to keep a serious and authentic evangelical expression of the church.
Yesterday I saw another evangelical pastor describing the glories of sex and the billboards his church has posted around his city announcing the message series. He has no clue as to how big a joke this is. The sad thing he is very serious. The sadder thing still is the very water us evangelicals swim in keeps us from realizing how culturally conditioned we are. And when the religious consumer finds out how culturally conditioned we are, we just get traded for a newer model somewhere down the road. To keep them, we have to invent another act. It’s crazy.
I have always been aware that when Roman Catholics meet Roman Catholics they never talk about how big their parish is. The first question an evangelical Protestant will ask is, where do you go to church? The next question is, how big is church? Of course, the Protestant church has no validation except in how many people are willing to attend it. The local RC parish is so connected to the larger church that people who attend see themselves as RCs first. Parish identity is of a second order.
I do think this can give RCs staying power. Evangelical churches seem to me to be much more fragile. What makes it even more fragile is the constant search for the brass ring – the ultimate program, approach, paradigm, whatever you want to call it, that is going to do the trick.
We need to settle down. Someone needs to lead a boycott against the multiplication of conferences on the next brilliant idea. Churches need to focus on a few things, not the things that keep the crowds coming if you do those things for them but who have no interest in more authentic expressions of Christian community and service. Let’s develop some rhythm here, folks. Constantly changing the dance steps keeps everyone off beat and out of sync. Reminds me of CS Lewis’ quip that he didn’t go to church to find out anything new but to be reminded of what he already knew.
If anyone finds more reflection on Ms Wicker’s stuff from evangelicals, let me know.
