First Baptist Church of Minneapolis in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I just finished reading James Emery White’s latest book The Church in an Age of
Crisis, subtitled 25 New Realities Facing Christianity. The timing of the
reading of this book coincided with the end of the 2012 Presidential
Campaign.
If you were paying attention at all to the campaign, you would have
seen and heard many of the 25 new realities in Dr. White’s book showcased:
marriage, the modern family, celebrification, media supersaturation, and the new
American dream, to name a few. Not all of them were debated as part of political
platforms, but all of these topics were on display in some form or
another.
One section of the book, titled “Forgetting How to Blush,” could
have used the campaign video sometimes referred to as “The Virgin Voter”, as an example for the
chapter. That video upset me, but even more unsettling to me than the video is
that “The Virgin Voter” was apparently an effective political campaign tool,
because the party that made that video is now in office. (There is a link to the video at the bottom of the page) Dr. White points out in The Church in an Age of Crisis, that one of the new realities facing Christianity
in America is understanding that there isn’t much that can be put before the TV
viewing public or You Tube fans that will cause them to question whether what
they are seeing is morally acceptable or not. Point taken.
In his book, Dr. White refers to the men of Issachar – men who “understood the times and knew
the best course for Israel to take.” The emphasis of the book seems to be that
Christians need to understand the times in which they live. I think The Church
in an Age of Crisis offers us good way to do that. Not all the information
contained in the various chapters is particularly new, but reading about the
issues with the understanding that most of these new realities have come
about in the last two decades, makes the message of the book compelling.
I have to admit, reading The Church in an Age of Crisis was a bit of a downer, but
it was worthwhile for the truth that it speaks to those of us who sometimes long
for simpler times.
Tip: The most encouraging section of the book is contained in
the Afterword; don’t miss reading it.
Review in 140 characters (or there abouts): Straight talk to Christians about the real world in which we live, and the
real hope we need to share.
I received a free copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing it. My review, whether positive or negative, is solely my own opinion
BOOKNIP 