The Younger Evangelicals
You Need This Book
If you are under age 30 stop reading here—and go read another column. This is not for you. However, if you are over 30—especially if you are in my own “boomer” generation, this is probably the most important column I’ll write this year.
There is a book you need to buy. No, it isn’t one of my own books—I don’t use the Tuesday Column to promote books—not even my own. I review them sometimes (but that only makes it easier for you not to buy them—since my reviews are pretty complete.) I’m breaking my own rule today—I found a book every person over 30 interested in church ministries needs to own.
Why I kicked out the Twentysomthing crowd at the start is the book is about them. Well, not exactly them, but about an emerging movement in the church made up of mostly Twentysomethings—the students I teach and have taught. That crowd might not like this book because it tells us boomers all their secrets. In fact they hate being labeled at all, and hate it doubly when Boomers do it. But since they are no longer reading this column let me tell you over-30 folk why this book is so important.
If you are a regular reader of these “Tuesday Columns” you already know I often chasten boomers for our generational arrogance. We think we are so cool, so “contemporary.” We think our ways of doing church are so wonderful that we assume we’ve made something lasting. But our churches are headed toward becoming “Boomer nursing homes” where we continually congratulate ourselves on how cool we still are, while totally losing the next generations and the world and never noticing!
Here is a book that explains what is happening in this massive generational shift. So far there have been bits and pieces here and there, but now Robert Webber has put together a book outlining the secrets of this enormous shift that involves younger people mostly, but many older folk as well. Using the term “Younger Evangelicals” instead of “post modern” or some other silly term, he outlines in chapter 1 the recent history of evangelicalism since 1950 in the most concise way I’ve seen anywhere—(take that Martin Marty!) That chapter alone is worth the first ten dollars of the book’s $16 price tag. But the rest of the book outlines chapter by chapter the immense shifts in the world occurring under our boomer feet. Most boomers reading this book will feel old—like they are still leading singing in a “praise team” in a church with mauve carpet while using colorful sponge covers on our individual microphones. Be careful—this book will make you feel out of date, out of touch and out of coolness. If you are a “successful pastor” you’ll hate it more—because some of what is happening among the next generation are the very things you spent ten years overthrowing when you were younger.
In this book you’ll discover in an easy to read format how communication has changed, how the view of history has changed, how propositional theology is in total meltdown, how apologetics has shifted, and how ecclesiology has shifted. You’ll find out how the view of the church as a marketed product has shifted, how the role of the pastor-CEO has become laughable, how youth ministry is switching from parties to prayer, how education is changing, the new way to see spiritual formation, how worship leadership has shifted, how art is being renewed, how evangelism is altered, and how activism happens in a new way. In short you’ll discover how this new wave coming along will overthrow the excesses of our own generation. Face it boomers—our revolution is about to get overthrown.
Boomers don’t have to read this book, though. We’ve got our churches going nicely now, we’ve constructed our cool wraparound-the-stage worship centers and have a good giving base. We can essentially blow of the next generations and the world too as we happily sing our way into retirement bringing our “sacks of rice on trays” every Sunday. We can wheel ourselves into retirement singing and preaching to ourselves. Remember how some of our parent’s churches did that—they are still around full of “the Greatest generation” still perplexed at why someone would want an overhead projector in the church. We can do that and “survive.”
But if we are interested in the enormous shifts that are taking place in our children and their friends—the students I teach—and we seriously want to know why they think the “way we do church” mostly stinks. And if we wonder why they feel compelled to plan “authentic churches” instead of take a seat in our cool theater seats and watch our “quality worship experience” then… this book is for you—it gives away their secrets. I think you should buy it. It is only 16 bucks at your local bookstore, and you can get it for &11.19 from Amazon.com
The
Younger Evangelicals: Facing the
Challenges of the
By Robert Webber
Baker Book House ISBN:
0801091527