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Intersect Community - The Younger Evangelicals
Book Review
The Younger Evangelicals
Reviewed by Dave Livermore
Webber’s Younger Evangelicals is one of the most significant pieces I’ve read in a long time. It made me a negligent parent for a couple days because I kept slipping away from my kids to read another chapter…and another…and another. It was like I was reading an autobiography…mine!
Without putting people in boxes nor coming off as one with an axe to grind, Webber looks at evangelicalism over the last century and explores three movements within the Evangelical Church—Traditional Evangelicals, Pragmatic Evangelicals, and Younger Evangelicals. Webber’s book couples good narrative with helpful charts that make some meaningful comparisons between these three movements.
Webber raises a number of shifts that have occurred in these movements of evangelicalism, including a shift from an ahistoical attitude to a deep appreciation for what the People of God have been about throughout the ages. The shift theologically has moved from an emphasis upon propositional truth to a story-oriented theology. As for apologetics, the shift is occurring from an emphasis upon rational argument to an appreciation for truth verified through community.
As for me, I grew up in a strong strand of Traditionalism. Our hallmarks were separatism, inerrancy, and avoiding the slippery slope of liberalism. Meanwhile, pragmatic boomers were reacting against a church culture that was largely becoming irrelevant to most of the rest of culture. I found some freedom in the relevance of the seeker churches that were emerging during my adolescence and college years. But somehow I still felt this burning desire for something that connected to the church of the past, with a relevance to what was occurring in the world around me.
Life as a “younger evangelical” can be a lonely road at times. When I was a grad student at Michigan State, my friends there gave me warm acceptance when I expressed great disdain for some prominent vice of evangelicalism—either our unthinking boasting of truth, our extreme rationality that ignores mystery, or our acceptance of the American market way. However, as soon as I challenged some of the ills and inconsistencies of relativism and tolerance, my grad school friends gave me cold stares or passionate tirades, accusing me of being an evangelical bigot.
Meanwhile, my peers in the evangelical community have often felt no more accepting. My unwillingness to write off postmodernism as the greatest threat to the Gospel brings me accusations of being a relativist who simply wants to let people “feel good” and a person with a faulty hermeneutic. I’ve been told postmodernism is “much ado about nothing”. I’m a passionate theologian who longs to live out my theology in relevant wineskins for the contexts where I find myself.
Webber says postmoderns don’t want to be handed a plate of relativism. He writes, “Today, young people come to church because ‘it stands for something.’ But the gospel it stands for is presented as ‘story,’ not a noncontradictory, rationally defended, logically consistent fact apprehended by cognitive acquiescence” (page 49).
I urge you to put Webber’s book on your “must-read” list. It’s a provocative and challenging book that challenges the way we practice church in the 21st Century. I’ve included several samplings from the book below, though the charts don’t have nearly as much meaning apart from the narrative Webber provides with them in the book. Order the book!
Check out a few samplings…
Characteristics of the Younger Evangelical (Webber, page 54)
1. Grew up in a postmodern world
2. Marked by a post 9/11 era
3. Have recovered the biblical understanding of human nature
4. Are aware of a new context for ministry
5. Differ with the pragmatist approach to ministry
6. Minister in a new paradigm of thought
7. Stand for the absolutes of the Christian faith in a new way
8. Recognize the road to the future runs through the past
9. Committed to the plight of the poor, especially in urban centers
10. Willing to live by the rules
11. Facility with technology
12. Highly visual
13. Communicate through stories
14. Grasp the power of imagination
15. Advocate the resurgence of the arts
16. Appreciate the power of performative symbol
17. Long for community
18. Committed to multicultural communities of faith
19. Committed to intergenerational ministry
20. Attracted to absolutes
21. Ready to commit
22. Search for shared wisdom
23. Demand authenticity
24. Realize the unity between thought and action
Approach to Theology (Webber, page 92)
|
| Traditional Evangelicals | Pragmatic Evangelicals | Younger Evangelicals |
| Approach | Systematic | Christianity 101 | Ancient-Future |
| Theologian | Carl F.H. Henry | Gilbert Bilezikian | Stanley J. Grenz |
| Creation | 7 days or 7 lengthy periods of time | Mystery | Creation and Science brought together in interactive view |
| Hermeneutics | Grammatical Historical Reformed | Internal Consistency | Typological Communal What does it say to us? |
| Biblical Theology | Dispensational Reformed | Internal Consistency | Covenantal Metanarrative |
| Historical Theology | Post-Reformational history is valuable | Not a helpful discipline | An essential feature of theological thinking |
| Eschatology | Premillenial | Not a matter of great import | As essential feature of cosmic salvation |
| Salvation | Concentrate on the individual | Individual in community | Cosmic Salvation God saves individuals and the created order |
| Sin | Depravity | Brokenness | Rebellion |
| Redemption | Sacrificial Substitutional | Sacrificial Substitutional | Recovery of Christus Victor. By His sacrifice, Christ won a victory over the powers of evil and left an example for us to follow. |
| Sacraments | Ordinances | Ordinances | Return to more sacramental understanding |
Approach to Leadership (Webber, page 153)
|
| Traditional Evangelicals | Pragmatic Evangelicals | Younger Evangelicals |
| The Origin of Leadership | Ordination | Vision | Calling |
| Management of Ministry | Board of Elders or Deacons | One person with the gift of leadership | Team ministry Consensus |
| Power Base | Congregation or representation of congregation | Founder Leader | Rejection of power. Affirmation of ecclesial servanthood |
| Model | Hierarchical Top Down | Hierarchical Top Down | A circle of equals |
| Driving Force | Denominational power base | High-energy leader | A community of committed relationships |
| The Place of Diversity | Diversity generally rejected | Leadership diffused among staff members | Leadership diffused among members |
| The Right to Lead | Denominational or congregational appointment | Inherent within the person or position | Recognition of God’s calling |
Approach to Spiritual Formation (Webber, page 185)
|
| Traditional Evangelicals | Pragmatic Evangelicals | Younger Evangelicals |
| Prayer | Petition | Relationship with God | Union with God |
| Scripture | Read Bible in one year | Daily Bible reading | Lectio Divina |
| Church | Doing Church | Innovative Church | Being Church |
| Witness | Four Spiritual Laws | Friendship witness | Communal Witness |
| Goal | Sanctification | Getting one’s life together. Meaning | Discipleship |
| Setting for Spiritual Growth | Local Church | Retreat Centers | Monasteries practice of the Christian year. Labyrinth. All of Life. |
| Rules | Do’s and don’ts establish uniformity and abstinence | Freedom from cultural restrictions. All things in moderation. | Primary rule to become an authentic human being. The freedom to be real. |
| Sacramental Understanding of Life | Rejected | Rejected | Affirmed Seek to understand and live out through symbol and practice |
Approach to Worship (Webber, page 201)
|
| Traditional Evangelicals | Pragmatic Evangelicals | Younger Evangelicals |
| Style | Traditional Program | Contemporary Presentation | Liturgical Ancient/Future Contemporary |
| Content | Thematic | Topical | Triune |
| Structure | Threefold: sing, preach, invite. | Twofold: music set and preaching. | Fourfold: narrative of gathering, hearing the Word, Communion, dismissal |
| Participation | Primarily congregational singing | Singing of choruses | Highly interactive |
| Arts | Banners | Arts as illustration. Drama | Art as embodiment Environmental arts |
| Seating | Rows | Theatre Seats | Relational configuration |
| Space | Traditional turn-of-the century buildings | Theatres or theatre-type spaces | Homes Warehouses Churches Modified Cathedrals |
| Christian Year | Seldom Followed | Almost never followed | Frequently followed |
| Symbols | Stained glass Pulpit and Table Baptist font or pool | No symbols | Strong use of symbols Icons in many churches |
| Eucharist | Quarterly or Monthly | Quarterly, monthly, or sporadic | Weekly in many churches |
| Technology | Overhead Projector in some churches | Widespread use of PowerPoint, video, etc. | Restore authentic symbols PowerPoint generally used for icon projection |
| Instruments | Organ and Brass | Bands | Eclectic use of instruments |
| Music | Traditional Hymns | Contemporary Choruses | Eclectic use including ancient forms of singing |
| Preaching | Didactic | Therapeutic | Narrative with an emphasis on obedience and Christian living. Interactive |
| Scripture Readings | At least one Scripture Reading | Very little Scripture reading, often none | One to three Scripture readings |
| Intercessory Prayer | Weekly | Seldom | Weekly and usually engaging the people in participatory prayer |
| Choir | Traditional Choirs Presentational | No choir Worship leader teams | Singing serves the text Strong emphasis on congregation leadership |