A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars [Hardcover]

Jonathan Merritt (Author), Kirsten Powers (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Every day, major headlines tell the story of how Christianity is attempting to influence American culture and politics. But statistics show that young Americans are disenchanted with a faith that has become culturally antagonistic and too closely aligned with partisan politics. In this personal yet practical work, Jonathan Merritt uncovers the changing face of American Christianity by uniquely examining the coming of age of a new generation of Christians.

Jonathan Merritt illuminates the spiritual ethos of this new generation of believers who engage the world with Christ-centered faith but an un-polarized political perspective. Through personal stories and biblically rooted commentary this scion of a leading evangelical family takes a close, thoughtful look at the changing religious and political environment, addressing such divisive issues as abortion, gay marriage, environmental use and care, race, war, poverty, and the imbalance of world wealth. Through Scripture, the examples of Jesus, and personal defining faith experiences, he distills the essential truths at the core of a Christian faith that is now just coming of age.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Merritt represents a hopeful new current in evangelical America." (USA Today )

"By broadening evangelicalism's agenda, younger evangelicals like Jonathan Merritt..are doing us a favor." (Dallas Morning News )

"Merritt...writes with humility and clarity. He addresses the political, cultural and biblical assumptions many of us hold." (Christianity Today )

"In this book, Jonathan Merritt forces the reader to 'choose this day whom you will serve.' In choosing the right Kingdom and right King, we have the most affect on the one that is passing away. But in choosing the wrong Kingdom and King, we affect neither."
-Cal Thomas, syndicated and USA Today columnist / Fox News contributor

"After a wearisome decade where younger Christians welcomed the downfall of the Religious Right, Merritt charts the way forward--helping us imagine a constructive way to advance the common good in the public square. A Faith of Our Own provides a roadmap for how Christians can engage the future."
-Gabe Lyons, Author of The Next Christians

"In this personal, provocative, and well-written book-- part memoir, part manifesto-- Merritt lays out his journey and his case. If you want to understand shifts among younger Christians, this book is a must read."
-Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research

"A Faith of Our Own is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand a post-culture war generation of Christians."
-Matt Lewis, senior contributor, The Daily Caller

"In this provocative book Merritt again and again challenges Christians to reconsider their comfortable lives and their easy acceptance of either right-wing or left-wing politics as God's way of living their faith in the world."
-Steve Monsma, Senior Research Fellow at the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College

"Merritt represents an entire generation seeking to reconcile sanctification with service without embracing the extremes. This book provides a blueprint that if applied will replace the image of an angry, white evangelical in the public square with a compassionate follower of Christ in the heart of the community."
-Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

"With eloquence, wit and experience, Jonathan illuminates the incongruence between Christian political partisanship and the Gospel of Jesus... [He] inspires hope that there is a less divisive way for Christians to engage politics and culture-a way that looks more like Jesus, marked by humility, grace, mercy and respect."
-Phileena Heuertz, author of Pilgrimage of a Soul

"Tearing down sacred cows that served as idols to a previous generation, Jonathan offers insight into a way forward that encompasses a hopeful future for the role of faith in American culture. With A Faith of Our Own, Merritt reveals the courage to speak bold truth in love for the good of the Church."
-Soong Chan Rah, author of The Next Evangelicalism; Professor, at North Park Theological Seminary

"Jonathan Merritt gives us a personal and intriguing guidebook for Christian participation in the public square. As a church leader involved in the moral causes of our time, he helps us all understand how political participation can be yet another way to exercise our faith in Christ. This is a fresh look from a young leader!"
-Joel Hunter, author and pastor of Northland Church

"Jonathan Merritt is part of a new generation of evangelicals seeking to be kingdom builders rather than culture warriors. He thinks Christians should be salt and light rather than fire and ice. We should listen to him."
- Barry Hankins, author of Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties, and Today's Culture Wars and professor of history and church-state studies at Baylor University

"A forceful but loving critique of the tragic failures of my generation of evangelicals by a gifted young leader. Plus a biblically solid, Christ-centered way forward. A must read."
-Ronald J. Sider, bestselling author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and President of Evangelicals for Social Action

About the Author

Jonathan Merritt is a faith and culture writer who has published over 350 articles in outlets such as USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN.com and Christianity Today. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet, which Publisher's Weekly called "mandatory reading for churchgoers." As a respected Christian voice, he has been interviewed by ABC World News, CNN, Fox News, NPR, PBS, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Jonathan resides outside of Atlanta, GA where he actively serves and teaches at Cross Pointe Church.

You can follow him, but please, only on twitter: @jonathanmerritt

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446557234
• ISBN-13: 978-0446557238
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jonathan (www.jonathanmerritt.com) is a faith and culture writer who has published over 300 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Christian Science Monitor, and CNN.com. As a respected Christian voice, he has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, Fox News, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, the UK Guardian, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He is author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars and Green Like God, which Publisher's Weekly called, "mandatory reading for churchgoers."

His passion for tackling tough issues has made him a sought after speaker by colleges, seminaries, churches and conferences on cultural and religious issues. Jonathan holds an MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary a ThM from Emory University. He resides outside of Atlanta, GA where he actively serves and teaches at Cross Pointe Church.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The New Face of Religion and Politics May 20, 2012

By Eugene Mason

Format:Hardcover

I admit I'm frustrated with politics as a conservative Christ-follower. I have been for some time. I don't think that my government or my representatives reflect my views, much less the views of the majority of the people in the U.S., much less anything outside of their own self-interest. I grew up in the Reagan era and in the urban South, there was a lot of pride in our leadership back then. We had an enemy in Communism, we were strong economically, and in conservative circles, everything just seemed "right" with the world.

Of course now, years later, I realize just how much was wrong with the world back then, and that politics glossed over much of the real challenge of making a positive difference. We fought the Communists, but we tolerated the racists and the bigots. We built great wealth, but we ignored the poor and let AIDS run rampant across Africa. The Berlin Wall fell, but walls of class envy and ethnic division were built up across our country. Today, much travel, experience and wisdom that comes with age, along with my beliefs, presses me to do something significant to help the poor, to change attitudes on race and to use our resources to better the world.

If only some of these things could be done without the muck and stench of politics clouding the way. In "A Faith of Our Own", I found a voice of many of these concerns in Jonathan Merritt's experiences. The book shares this sense that Christ-followers today, especially the younger generation--the one behind mine--wants to impact their world in a meaningful way. And, like me, they're turned off by the political banter. Worse, and I think Merritt does a masterful job of writing in this regard--they're just frustrated with politics in general and feel used as a "voting bloc" for others with agendas.

So how does one drop a political agenda and embrace the "human agenda"? A God-centered and world-impacting agenda? I think Merritt's book is a great place to start. If you have deeply held convictions that you feel are not represented by the left or the right, and want to find a line of thought and action as you seek to be a part of solving--really solving--some of our woes... you know, the ones in our own back yard where your own personal effort can do some good?--then be encouraged and emboldened by "A Faith of Our Own".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book Every Christian Should Read This Political Season May 14, 2012

By Scott Elliott

Format:Hardcover

One of my favorite quotes is by David Lipscomb. He once wrote, "We are satisfied that voting does much more harm to the church than dancing does." I love that quote because I believe it to be true, but also because it has probably been perceived differently by every generation since it was first written. The Christian generation before mine viewed dancing as a great evil, and voting as part of a Christian's duty. Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find a Christian of my generation who believes in the evils of dancing, and voting is no longer an essential element of the Christian faith. This monumental change is documented in Jonathan Merritt's new book, A Faith of Our Own.

A Faith of Our Own is a well written book about things that are taking place right now in Christianity. The book is not just a collection of data, although Merritt has done his research. It is his personal story of growing up in the church. He is the son of a Southern Baptist President. He attended Liberty University, while Jerry Falwell, leader of the Moral Majority, was president. He was brought up in a church where Bill Clinton and other liberal politicians were rebuked publicly from the pulpit. He was raised in an all around conservative environment in the middle of the culture wars. During his upbringing he bought into the hope the religious right was selling. They wanted to convince everyone that, "If all you will do is vote a certain way, then we can change America." Merritt eventually discovered that this was a false hope. Even with a Republican in the White House, and a Republican controlled house and senate little or nothing changed. The two issues that were at the forefront of the culture wars 30 years ago, abortion and gay-marriage, are still at the forefront today. Neither has been resolved.

Merritt does not just point fingers at the religious right. He spends more time talking about the right, because that is the side he knows best, but he also points to similar problems coming from the religious left. The problem for Merritt is not right and left. The problem is how people have practiced Christianity for the last 40 years. Often conservative and liberal churches have driven people to be more conservative or more liberal, instead of being more like Jesus. They have sought to work from the top down, by influencing people of power, such as politicians, to vote their way. So far, this has failed miserably, and the current generation is looking to change how church is done.

Merritt is not alone in recognizing the hypocrisy and flaws of the previous generation. Many Christians have come to the same conclusions. The religious right was awakened to this fact when they lost the youth vote in the 2008 election. They quickly began asking questions, trying to figure out what they had done wrong. Merritt recalls an occasion in chapter 4 of his book, when he was called to speak in front of a prominent conservative Christian organization about why they had lost the youth vote. The group was eager to hear Merritt's data, but when it came time for him to offer some advice he was quickly silenced. They had no interest in making any drastic changes that would allow them to connect with the voters they had lost contact with.

Merritt also points out other reasons for the changes seen in this generation of Christians. They have been more willing to take mission trips. These trips have radically changed how these Christians now view the world. They no longer take the issue of poverty lightly. They have witnessed with their own eyes the poor living conditions of people around the world. The idea of the rich becoming richer is ridiculous, and even becomes a justice issue. This generation has also changed their view on issues related to homosexuality. Many still believe the passages which speak against homosexuality in the Bible, but they no longer view homosexuality as a choice that is made, but rather something a person wrestles with. They reject the idea that homosexuals should be treated as "modern-day lepers." They are more likely to support "protections against violent hate crimes" and "hospital visitation rights and inheritances for gay couples" (116-117). The main reason for this change is that more and more young evangelicals know someone close to them who is homosexual. This generation of Christians has been reminded that homosexuals are people who are in need of Christ's love.

One of the great things about A Faith of Our Own is that it is bi-partisan. Some may be tempted to pigeon hole it into a category, but that would be because of their own prejudices. A Faith of Our Own is neither conservative nor liberal. It does not lean toward the left or the right. If you want to call it anything, call it biblical. It seeks to put forth a way of looking at the world, by first following Jesus. Merritt understands this generation will not be perfect, and that they are already making some mistakes, but they are striving to live out their faith in a way that makes sense. Although he is critical of the previous generation, he does not demonize them. He points out faults they had, but he also reminds the reader of some wonderful things they accomplished. A Faith of Our Own is a book about a generation of Christians who is "more interested in winning hearts than in winning the culture wars" (129). It is a book for anyone who wants to understand the current generation of Christians. As a person who belongs to the generation of Christians Merritt writes about, it is a refreshing look at how this generation has come to faith in some turbulent and confusing times. Although some parts are sad, and even hard to read, it is a book full of hope for the future of Christianity.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of A Faith Of Our Own May 11, 2012

By Matthew Dabbs

Format:Hardcover

Let's start with the unique value of this book, A Faith of Our Own. The big question of this book is how should Christians' faith influence our political views and how we engage in political discourse? More importantly, how do we as Christianity instigate meaningful change in this world in a way that is in tune with the kingdom over worldly political processes? What makes these questions so important is that they are questions more and more young people are asking. What makes Jonathan Merritt's perspective unique is that he grew up in a family that was entrenched in Christian conservatism. Just to give you an idea he starts the book with a story as a senior in high school having lunch with Jerry Faldwell trying to get him to come to Liberty University. His family has connections with the Religious Right.

By reading Merritt's thoughts you gain insight into the struggles and questions of many young adults today in regard to faith and politics (I am still wondering how the word politics didn't make it into the title of this book). The biggest concern is trying to find consistency in faith and politics by wading past all the junk to the core of what is really most important. Reading Jonathan's perspective will help you understand where many young adults are coming from, what they have had to wrestle with and will make you, no matter what your political leaning, consider your own approach to faith and politics.

As has already been mentioned, Jonathan Merritt grew up in the inner sanctum of conservative Christianity. He has seen the inner workings of how previous generations have tried to put faith and politics together and reflects on how there can be a better fit than what he experienced growing up. He saw inconsistencies (and plenty of them) in how Christians of previous generations seemed to seamlessly and effortlessly interweave faith and politics in a way that seemed to be more about politics than it was about faith. That incongruity didn't sit well with Jonathan and it doesn't sit well with many today.

One of the issues I have with the book is that in dealing with these inconsistencies Merritt has a tendency to overgeneralize various demographics to a particular view. It is all very black and white. You get the feeling that all older people have problems buying into conservative politics and put politics over faith and young people have found the difficult balance. Here is another example. When talking about the perspective of young Christians he says,

"More than being central to their theology, the gospel has become integrated into their entire lives." Well, has it? That is an overgeneralization. Is there some truth in that statement? Sure but you could say the same thing about older Christians as well. Taking faith seriously is not exclusive to young people.

Jonathan believes Christianity has bought into the game of politics hook, line and sinker rather than mapping out a more biblical approach to how Christians engage their lives in what really matters. Merritt argues that for far too long Christians have allowed the political parties to use us as a voting block to move their agendas through while we mistook our partnership with politicians as a means to advance and engage in God's mission. His contention in this book is that our identity as Christians must shape our politics and not the other way around. He also believes that our identity as Christians overcomes the dividing lines between parties as the commonality we find in Christ can bring those who disagree on the issues together worshipping the same God.

Do you think the church has bought into political agendas (his conclusion is usually right wing ones) at the expense of God's mission and our identity in Christ?

Starting in chapter five there is a turn in the tone of the book. The gist is that there are more important things in life than politics. There are needs and hurts in the world that need healed that the church must be a part of and cannot let anyone or anything (including politics and culture wars) distract us from being involved in those things. These issues transcend politics and political parties. These issues bring Christians of various political views together in harmony. When you help the poor, serve the hurting, and reach out to the lost there is a unity those things bring to those who practice them together. Politics get put aside.

So how do we make this change? Merritt argues the change will never come from the top down (we have tried that over and over and failed). The change must come from the bottom up and the inside out (p.123). In other words, if we are going to change this world, we cannot depend on the tools of the world to get the job done. The primary way the world tries to get big things done is through politics. Leveraging politics to the advantage of Christianity is too small. There is a greater power at work in people of faith that can and will bring about significant and eternal change to this world.

One of the ways Merritt attempts to give a solution is through a discussion of their church plant, Cross Pointe Church. He talks about their unity in diversity and how they are attempting to be the church God wants them to be. They are trying to make a difference in the world. This all led me to wonder if it really takes church plants in order to make the necessary changes. He makes a big point out of having to split off of their 125 year old church that was "steeped in tradition" (p.156). What do you do with those who are left behind? How does that congregation go about doing the work of making the transition to being more mission minded? There are many churches in that situation and I would like someone to share some thoughts on how to bring them hope without having to split off to make the necessary changes. I am not being critical of church planting at all. We need more of it but we also need to help existing churches grow to a healthy place as well.

These are difficult waters to navigate and I am grateful Merritt wrote this book to start the conversation. I believe both young and old are starting to see the inconsistencies that have been in the church for years when it comes to these issues and that more and more people have a burning desire to be in the mission, making a difference. We have much to learn and much room to grow.