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A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church

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Joel Osteen's effervescent smile to the contrary, all is not well in American Evangelicalism. If you grew up evangelical, or spent all your Christian life in that domain, you might, like the proverbial frog in the kettle, not know how influenced by American culture modern American Evangelicalism is. Warren Cole Smith, veteran journalist and fellow evangelical traveler, is our guide to how accomodative and consumeristic we evangelicals are in relation to culture.

For instance, Smith argues that we evangelicals are just as prone to being power-hungry, materialistic and being builders of our own empires as anybody else, to the detriment of community.

Evangelicals are also often guilty of a new provincialism. Provincialism usually means our outlook is narrowly determined by our small localized setting. For evangelicals, our narrowness is due to being stuck only in the "now." Regarding seeker-friendly churches that are seeking earnestly to be relevant, Smith states, "Everything about these new churches reflects the rootless, existential, modernist condition of the world." Smith says that such evangelicals are so into the "ever present now" that they are disconnected from the lessons of history, (what C. S. Lewis called the "clean sea breezes of the past.") (I wonder - could this be the reason that some thoughtful evangelicals have been attracted to Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or even Roman Catholicism? It does bring to mind Joseph Sobran's comment that he "had rather be in a church that is 500 years behind the times that one that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing, trying to catch up.")

While many evangelical churches and ministries would give biblical doctrinal standards, it is their operational theology that gives away where their faith is. For example, many CCM Christian radio stations' formats are determined by a marketing strategy designed to reach a fictitious "Becky," who is 35, has two kids, and a not so great marriage. In other words, the airwave content is audience-driven, delivering positive feel-good music, that is "safe for the entire family." But, as Smith points out, the God we serve is anything but safe. In such a format, what becomes of pesky subjects like sin, repentance, and God's holiness?

Smith also makes the case that the First Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening were fundamentally very different. He argues that, contrary to the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening did not bear lasting fruit, and generally speaking, resulted in many stony-ground hearers. Smith lays much of the blame for this failure at the feet of lawyer-turned-evangelist Charles Grandison Finney. It is perplexing to see how Finney remains a hero in evangelical circles when his theology is biblically nightmarish. For example, he said that revival is not supernaturally caused by God but is a "right use of the constituted means." He rejected the biblical idea of original sin, and - amazingly - the substitutionary atonement. Evangelicals are acting like the heirs of Finney when they do "body count evangelism," amassing large numbers of "converts" but not integrating them into a community of believers with fellow disciples-in-progress, assuring accountability. What is telling is that the First Great Awakening came through the means of the church, while the Second came through the means of the parachurch, through mass evangelism.

The author also borrows from Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death," when he argues that we now live in a video culture. And -- in such a culture, entertainment will thrive, whereas in a print-based culture, reason will thrive.

But, it is up to the church to remember that it is by the foolishness of preaching that God saves. It is preposterous to suppose that the Word of God loses its power due to being trumped by multi-media.

Despite all the critique, Smith offers a way out. A trip to India to see the work of K. P. Yonannah's Gospel for Asia figures in his solution. You'll have to read the book to learn more.

I took this book on our family's beach vacation a week ago and I am still ruminating on some of the things Warren Smith had to say. If all the trappings of modern evangelicalism leave you nothing but hungry for something more substantial, then read this book.

Warren Smith dives head first into some deep issues with the Evangelical movement. I appreciate his research and interviews with Christian leaders, in this book he offers a unique perspective on what has gone wrong with this fast growing movement. I agree with him that changes are needed in order for the church to truly be "salt and light in a culture starved for redemption".

Christians are notorious for shooting their own wounded. One evidence of this could be the recent spate of books written by theologians, ex-ministers, or disenfranchised Christians, who take aim at the American Church, its leaders, its beliefs, and its trappings. Statistics seem to bear out a drift away from traditional religion and a growing gap between what we believe and what our religious institutions have become. But to what degree is this barrage of critical buckshot "removing cancer" or "shooting our wounded"?

I, too, have many gripes about the state of contemporary evangelicalism. But who doesn't? Images of a contrite Ted Haggard and a perpetually sunny Joel Osteen are just bookends to the disturbing collage that is the American church. Still, I've been reluctant to join this growing legion of dissenters for several reasons. Despite its charlatans, sex scandals, money grubbers, and milquetoasts, it remains the Body of Christ and there are many, many, fine people within it. No matter how deep the dysfunction, Christians are commanded to "love one another." Perhaps that's why the title of Warren Cole Smith's new book caught my attention -- A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church.

The objects of Smith's "quarrel" are not trivial. Nor are they anything new. For decades, American Christians have been warned about the corrosive effects of modernity and materialism, the danger of relying upon marketing models and the therapeutic industry to grow people and churches. Smith rightly connects evangelicalism's waning growth and cultural impact -- and some of its more blatant public sins -- to deeper philosophical, theological, compromises. Along the way, the author uses history, methodology and current events to deconstruct "The Evangelical Myth" and its components.

Herein lies the bulk of the book and the meat of Smith's objections. But chronicling the deficiencies of the evangelical church is like shooting fish in a barrel -- it's just way too easy. To Smith's credit, his analysis is neither mean-spirited nor superficial; he writes as one who has a genuine stake in the people and the outcome. But after a while I found myself growing tired of the analysis and wanting constructive answers. Which is where the book lacks, in my opinion.

For instance, Smith asks, "Does Scripture dictate a preferred medium for the communication of the gospel?" (pg. 176). It's a loaded question, especially after the author has spent significant time establishing that "media are not neutral," (pg. 178), and that radio and television have negatively influenced how we perceive and present the Gospel. He answers, "Words - and not pictures, drama, or any other medium - seem to be the preferred strategy of God, of Jesus, and of Scripture" (Pg. 179). Of course, by entering history when He did, God limited His "preferred strategy" to those of the times. But is that an endorsement of one method and a disavowal of every future medium? Furthermore, Smith must concede that technology assists the spread of his own message -- even if that message calls into question the very medium he employs.

Perhaps the most disturbing of Smith's inferences occur in his identifying modern evangelicalism with the Second Great Awakening, and then casting the former movement in near heretical terms. As such, in Smith's estimate, Charles Finney is the precursor to today's televangelist, wheedling "commitments" from his listeners with melodramatic prowess, and unfurling the "body count" as evidence of God's blessing. Along the way, oodles of evangelical "icons" are thus incriminated. But really, was Billy Graham that destructive to the fabric of American Christianity? There's no question that Arminianism and premillennialism have shaped certain aspects of evangelical methodology. But is Reformed theology really the antidote? In this, I found Smith's "quarrel" a bit more like a "quibble."

Perhaps Smith's lack of concrete solutions is indicative of the nature of the problem. Evangelicalism's issues are vastly more complex than a single solution will provide. Yes, the Church should contemplate the downside of electronic media. But by not using the mediums of the day, Christians risk isolating themselves from the culture they are commissioned to reach. We are right to question the real impact of mega-churches. But is adopting a numeric cap upon the local church the real answer? Are hymns and liturgies imperative to the health of a church, and are overhead projectors really that big a deal?

It's hard to argue with the thesis of A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church, and in that I would recommend it. No objective observer could rightly give American evangelicalism a clean bill of health. Warren Cole Smith does a good job cataloging the symptoms and exploring their root causes, asking provocative questions in the right spirit. My quarrel is not with the author's diagnosis, as much as his treatment.

Some messages are bound to polarize a crowd. "A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church," by Warren Cole Smith, is one of those titles. In the book, Smith identifies many diseases that plague the Church in America. He tips overs many "sacred cows" of American conservatism such as seeker-sensitive methods, Christian media, and a man-centered gospel.

I appreciated the attitude that Smith used when clearly communicating his observations. In his foreword, entitled, "To Build Up, Not to Tear Down," he explained how his motivation to share came out of a love for the Church. Just as a spouse must sometimes confront relational issues head on for the sake of love, so Smith felt compelled to share things that he identified as contrary to the pure religion of the Gospel.

Though he adequately identified some problems with the evangelical church in America, I felt his book was lacking in a suitable response to these problems. I was in agreement most of the way through the book until I reached the end and had not encountered a clear method to respond to these problems.

I think it's definitely worth the read. If you're aware that the evangelical church has some serious problems, especially in the way we relate to society, this book will help put words, stories, and facts to the feelings you have. If you're unaware of the problems in the Church in America, this book is bound to ruffle your feathers, but do so in enough gentleness that you can sensibly consider his argument.

Book Review: A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church by Warren Smith
Dan Burrell, Ed.D.

Before I do this review, it's important to do some "disclosure" caveats. First, I am friends with Warren Smith. I met him nearly a decade ago right after I moved to Charlotte and it was an instant connection. We come from different branches of the "evangelical" tree - he is grafted "reformed" in his theology having moved away from this Southern Baptist stock. I am what I prefer to call a "fundagelical" having been raised in a strident branch of fundamentalism with which I have since disassociated over matters ranging from "soteriology" (I reject the name it/claim it version of cheap salvation) to tone to raising issues of tradition to superseding doctrine. At the same time, I do not identify with the squishy theology and associations that have plagued the "evangelical" movement for the better part of sixty years. Thus, I find myself somewhere in between the two as a "fundagelical". Also, it would be inaccurate to call me a full-blown "Calvinist". (I like to say that I'm a Calvinist to the extent that I accept about 2.7 of the five petals of the TULIP and I reserve the right to define the terms.) In addition, I have worked with and for Smith over the years. I wrote for the Evangelical New Services which he owns and I also wrote regularly for the Charlotte World and other newspapers that he has owned. We have both taught for Southern Evangelical Seminary, have spoken together at conferences and have worked on projects together. In addition, I was shocked to discover that I am even quoted in this book - something of which I was unaware until I actually read it.

However, this history with Warren may make me a tad bit more critical than I might otherwise be, just to demonstrate that I can write an even-handed review of this work. I might simply skip this exercise, except that I find the book too important to simply relegate to the stack of "read books" that clutters my offices. Having been asked to review it, I shall.
Over the years, I have grown increasingly frustrated and at times disenfranchised from my conservative Christian heritage because of some of the trends and practices which seem to dominate evangelicalism and fundamentalism on a regular basis. There is a certain "lemming" mentality among Christians that I find disturbing, even though at times, I have found myself rushing headlong to the cliffs with my fellow evangelical friends. This is the only world I know in terms of my theology. Born and bred a Baptist, I have moved in the circles of Bible-believing Christianity my entire life. And I've watched the silliness and trendiness from a front-row seat.

I remember trends like: week-long revivals, fighting the Southern Baptists, starting Christian schools, having a bus ministry, joining moral majority, opposing the World Council of Churches, prophecy conferences that assured us that Christ would return no later than 2007, Pastor's schools, Willow Creek, Purpose-Driven Youth/Church, worship wars, small groups, Bill Gothard, cell groups, church planting, emergent, megachurches, church growth conferences, Gaither Homecomings, Catalyst, Passion, Prayer of Jabez, Purpose-Driven Life, Promisekeepers, Beth Moore, Toronto Blessing/Brownsville Revival, Christian Coalition, The Passion of the Christ, King James Only Movement and an armful more. Most of these I simply observed and to my embarrassment some of them I joined.

Warren Smith's book, "A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church" looks at some of the most egregious trends in the evangelical church and in doing so, gives all of conservative Christianity - from the militant-to-strident fundamentalist to the sloppy agape evangelical - a well-deserved wrap on the knuckles. What follows are my impressions...

Smith begins his work with the standard introductions and an explanation of his perspective and origins. Then he immediately launches into bursting the bubble of what he labels the "Evangelical Myth". That is, that the evangelical movement would not simply be a religious movement, but would bring about cultural and societal revolution as well.

I was a little surprised that Warren took this on and so early in his book for two reasons. First, he holds to a "Reformed" view of theology and many within the Reformed movement (though not all) subscribe to a "Kingdom" mentality (reconstructionism) that is consistent with their amillennial eschatology. (I recognize that some Reformed folks are premillennialist, but many more are amillienial.) Many believe that in order for Christ to establish His millennial reign, there must be the establishment of a theocratic form of governance that will recognize Christ as the Sovereign Leader He is. Obviously, Smith does not hold this view.

The other reason I was surprised was because during the 2006 elections, I caught some heat from Warren and many in the "Christian Right" over my decision to distance myself from politics in my role (then) as a Pastor. I wrote several articles about it and as a result, the Charlotte Observer, my own legislator, Sue Myrick, several other media outlets and my good friend, Warren Smith either discussed it with me or took me to task in varying degrees. Warren had me on a radio show he was doing at that time as a substitute for Stu Epperson called "Talkback Live" and we spent a lively hour or so debating the matter.

Warren's conclusion is that whether we are talking about evangelical political movement, the evangelical "marketplace" of goods and services that has emerged or other examples of monolithic influence or impositions on our culture, there is more smoke than fire and beneath that smoke you are just as likely to find rather "unchristian" motivations like money and power than you are to find the Gospel of Christ at the heart.

In his next chapter, Smith labels the attitude that has emerged in evangelicalism as a "new provincialism" in which we ignore our heritage and traditions founded on sacred scholarship and we fail to pause about where we are heading with our illusions of wealth, power, influence and what is all-together a rather worldly methodology and scale of evaluation. In this chapter, Warren provides the readers with a brief, but vital overview of the First and Second Great Awakenings in American History and leads the reader to a damning conclusion that the Second Great Awakening was more of a myth than a miracle and he lays the evidence and the blame of the emotionalism and manipulation that sprang from the techniques of men like Charles G. Finney - a man who is often exalted like an apostle of his era. I won't go into the full case, but this chapter alone is important enough to know to justify the purchase price of the book. In the ministry of Finney, we see much of the seed sown for the excesses and unbiblical conduct of today's evangelicalism and fundamentalism.

I will note that in this chapter, Smith takes on premillenialism which is more than likely a reflection of his Reformed Theology. As premillenialist myself, I found myself disagreeing with a rather "broad-brushed" approach to defining the history and the impact of this eschatological belief. At the same time, I am not such a premillenialist that I will not even entertain the criticisms and the challenges to that position. I certainly do not elevate one's eschatological beliefs to be equal to other core theological stands and so in this, I listened thoughtfully to the arguments without completely buying into them. At the same time, Smith is thought provoking in how he deals with the topic and he also points out some tendencies and fallacies that have risen from those who practice a loose eschatological position without regard to other important doctrines and practical philosophy that emerges from a Biblical worldview.

With Chapter Three, Smith approaches, in rapid-fire order, some of the major "quarrels" that he and thinking believers should share with where evangelicalism is as a movement. He first targets "Sentimentality" which reduces the sovereignty and the very definition of God. Smith takes a courageous poke at some of the "stars" of the Sentimentality gurus including Joel Osteen, Bill Hybels, leaders of emergent churches and the megachurch celebrities.

Catch this quote, "We have lost, for example, the ability to look at a book by megachurch pastor Joel Osteen and see that its very title offers the same promise as the Serpent offered Even in the garden of Eden: "Your Best Life Now!" That Osteen could title his book thus, completely without irony, and that much of evangelicalism could accept it without criticism, are proof enough that these ideas are not irrelevant to modern evangelicalism." (I apologize for not having the exact page in Chapter three for this quote as I read it on a Kindle and it does not have the exact pages.)

In his next chapter, Smith takes on what he describes as the "Christian Industrial Complex" with a scathing examination of the Christian Contemporary Music, Entertainment, Publishing and other industries. He upsets some serious tables in this sacred mall and in doing so, he will cause even the most ardent "free-market" purveyor of "Christian" wares to take a second look at this industry and ask whether or not it a part of the solution or a part of the problem when it comes to what evangelical Christianity has become. If the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, then Smith squarely sounds a warning call to any who buys or sells the wares in this industry. Of course, some would point out the irony in that Smith has, for years, benefitted from this "complex" whether by selling them advertising in his newspapers or publishing this very book. That said, he makes a point that is worthy of discussion. With the skill that a journalist brings to a book such as this, Smith also shines the light on some unsavory techniques that high-profile "ministries" bring to the market place of Christian consumerism that will make most of us squirm a bit in our seats.

One of the most controversial, but important chapters comes next and is entitled, "Body-Count Evangelism". In this section, he takes on no less of a national icon than Billy Graham and others, like Rick Warren" who seem to have evangelism statistics that are "too good to be true" and asks the importunate question "where's the fruit?" He goes so far as to boldly "call out" some of the practices of body-counting "decisions" as opposed to those who are experiencing genuine Biblical "conversion". He also takes a rather insightful look at the "parachurch" phenomenon from a historical perspective and as a modern institution. In this chapter again, Smith's Reformed leanings factor into his conclusions and he makes some valid points. My concern is that again he over-simplifies what he describes as Armenianism and at the same time, there needs to be additional discussion of why evangelicalism is filled with a soteriology that is more about sentimentality and cheap grace than repentance and conversion. This chapter includes some great history of the "camp" and "brush arbor" movements of the 1800's and also makes some interesting connections to men like Graham and Jerry Falwell. I should note here that this is the chapter in which Smith lifts a rather embarrassingly transparent admission I made in one of my Evangelical Press News commentaries regarding my own involvement in the "Passion of the Christ" fiasco. My article was entitled, "Pimping for Hollywood" and actually does not cast me in a very good light. Smith goes on to discuss in a subsequent chapter the "Great Stereopticon" which is a fascinating critique of the Christian media and its impact on how we "do church.

Finally Smith closes his book with a call of action of sorts that is somewhat of a criticism of short-term missions and a challenge to plant churches. It's in these chapters that I find myself in sharpest disagreement with his thoughts. Warren seems to miss the impact of short-term missions trips on the "go'er" by focusing almost exclusively on the mission field. Yes, short-term missions involves a lot of people, spending lots of money, to have a mission-field "experience. But that's a little cynical. What he fails to realize is that when one gets out of the materialistic Western/American culture, for even a few days, and sees what God is going elsewhere, it invariably impacts them dramatically and permanently. Many young people who are preparing to go to the mission field themselves today would point back to a short-term missions trip.

The irony is that in conclusion, Smith himself shares the consequences of a short-term missions trip he made to India a few years ago where he observed K.P. Yohannan's ministry and how that has forever changed his perspective on church-planting and foreign evangelism. Now, he himself, has experienced the way God works through short-term missions trips and he is spreading that influence to those with whom he comes into contact around the world today. While he calls the reader to the ministry of planting small, indigenous churches around the globe, he does so like it is a new phenomenon. For many of us who have been doing this work for the better part of a quarter of a century, we're glad to see others discovering it, but it's hardly a new innovation.

In the end, like a good movie, I wanted more from Smith. I think he was just getting started on many of the fallibles within the evangelical movement. And in the end, I don't know if Smith offered any tangible or practical solutions. Maybe there's another book in there for him on that topic. I hope so.

How important do I think this book is? Well, I'm ordering a case. Half of those I'm giving to some friends of mine that are dabbling with the Emergent Movement and other things that Smith hits on in this book. The other half will be used in a college class I'm teaching in Boston in January - a class of young church planters who are being regularly seduced and approached by much of what is wrong in evangelicalism today. I hope they'll read this. More importantly, I hope they'll learn from it. Before it is too late.

If you are going to buy a book this week, put this one at the top of your list.

I've recently had the pleasure of finishing Warren Cole Smith's book A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church. As you might be able to discern from the title, Mr. Smith is concerned with the current state of American Evangelicalism. But unlike other books that serve as criticisms of Evangelicalism, Mr. Smith comes at the discussion as an insider; an evangelical who wants to correct the problems of Evangelicalism from within. Hence the "Lover's Quarrel" part of the book's title.

Mr. Smith's book is broken down into eight chapters. Each of the first six chapters diagnoses what Mr. Smith believes is wrong with the Evangelical church. The last two chapters address steps toward recovery. It might be helpful before going on to attempt to define what 'evangelical' means. Despite what some might think, Evangelicalism is not a denomination in its own right, but rather a 'movement' across denominations. As Mr. Smith points out in the introduction to his book, the etymology of the word evangelical literally means "good message," or "good news." To be an evangelical is, ostensibly, to be concerned with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As such, you can have evangelicals who are Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and even Roman Catholics. While our denominations may have many differences, the gospel is what unites all Christians. I like to think of Evangelicalism as those core essential doctrines that unite Christians of all denominations as followers of Christ.

However, somewhere along the way, Evangelicalism became more of an entity on its own as opposed to that which unites Christians. Instead of promoting the gospel as an end in itself, the gospel became a means to an end; that end being the expansion of a Christian political and media empire. Don't misunderstand me, neither I, nor Mr. Smith, are asserting that the stated goals of modern day American Evangelicalism are that Machiavellian. However, as Evangelicalism started to break away from its historical roots, in particular the Protestant Reformation, and started to embrace the culture they were trying to save; slowly but surely, the gospel started to lose its centrality -- substance gave way to process.

Mr. Smith highlights six problems within the Evangelical Church, and they are:

1. The Great Evangelical Myth
2. The New Provincialism
3. The Triumph of Sentimentality
4. The Christian-Industrial Complex
5. Body-Count Evangelism
6. The Great Stereopticon


The great evangelical myth looks at three myths: The myth of evangelical growth, the myth of evangelical political power and the myth of the evangelical market. Each of these myths serve to show to the reader that despite how things look on the surface, all is not well within the Evangelical soul. The new provincialism is what Mr. Smith calls the evangelical church's tendency to dismiss the past and forget its own history. He shows how this provincialism is evident by contrasting the first two great awakenings. Whereas the first great awakening was more of a return to the historic faith of the Protestant Reformers, the second great awakening turned its focus on the next new thing: Revivalism.

The triumph of sentimentality is Mr. Smith's way of describing the move within evangelicalism away from a more balanced view of God toward a more sentimental view of God as evidenced in the seeker-sensitive model of the mega-church based on Willow Creek Community Church and the positive thinking model based on Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. In both cases, we tend to view God more as we would like to view him rather than how he really is. The Christian Industrial Complex views how the Christian media and marketing empire has grown and become a multi-billion dollar business. When that much money is at stake, it is extremely difficult to remain pure and uncompromised, and Mr. Smith highlights several Christian musical artists (e.g., Michael Card) who have left the Christian music industry because they don't like what it has become and its effects on them.

Body-Count Evangelism is the phenomenon that occurs when the emphasis is placed on how many conversions are occurring. Everything is focused on getting people to 'make a decision' for Christ. The more decisions for Christ, the more souls are saved, and this translates into success. As such, any means are used to get people to come to that moment of decision. The problem when we play such numbers games is that truth is the casualty. This is essentially a trust issue. We don't trust the power of the gospel to save, so we invent methods of evangelism that all work toward getting a person to that moment of crisis. The chapter on the Great Stereopticon discusses the effects of modern media in the church. The main point Mr. Smith makes is that media is not neutral. You cannot make the argument that as long as the content is solid the medium is irrelevant. The medium necessarily shapes the message; and that holds for the gospel too.

The final two chapters provide Mr. Smith's remedy for what ails the Evangelical Church. In a nutshell, the remedy involves a return to church planting and multiplication methods that we see in the book of Acts, a return to the sense of community that the early church shared and a healthy sense of vocation. As Mr. Smith asserts, bigger is not necessarily better. The Evangelical church is trying so hard to reach the culture that it is becoming indistinguishable from the culture it is trying to reach.

I found myself resonating with much of what Mr. Smith wrote. His analysis of the current state of the Evangelical church was spot on, and his remedies show the proper focus on the sovereignty and power of God. They may seem foolish to the church growth gurus of today, but maybe that's a good thing! God has not only decreed that he would build his church, but he has also ordained the means for church growth, and Mr. Smith advocates a return to those God-ordained means for church growth.

I highly recommend Mr. Smith's book, not only for laymen, but especially for church 'professionals.' Pastors and elders need to stop trying to grow the church and focus on doing church right, preaching the gospel and administering the sacraments. God will take care of the growth!

A. Overview Summary

Perceiving something not quite right in the contemporary evangelical church, Warrant Cole Smith has courageously written this book to "name the diseases" plaguing the church and thus have power over them. He begins in Chapter 1 by busting several myths about the evangelical church and its growth over the last few decades. For example, contrary to popular opinion, the number of churches today per 10,000 Americans is actually about one third of the number of church per 10,000 Americans in 1900. Similarly, the percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians today is less than those who called themselves Christians in 1980 or in 1900.

In Chapters 2 - 6, Smith gets to the heart of the matter, naming the diseases plaguing the evangelical church:
- The New Provincialism (chapter 2). Today, although contemporary Christians are no longer limited by the geography that limited Christians decades ago, we have limited ourselves in time by so totally dislocating ourselves from history and biblical tradition "that the evangelical church risks ceasing to be a Christian church at all" (p. 60). To the extent that we deny history, we deny the incarnation of Jesus Christ, for the resurrection was much more than an abstract idea - it was God's revelation of Himself in time.
- The Triumph of Sentimentality (chapter 3). The sentimentality of the evangelical church "replaces a biblical God with one we prefer" (p. 91). For example, we praise and worship a God of love and of mercy, but we ignore His holiness and justice. The Scripture teaches that no one seeks after God; even our impulses towards Him are born of His grace. Nonetheless, we establish "seeker-sensitive" churches because we prefer to view humanity as we would like, not as it is.
- The Christian-Industrial Complex (chapter 4). The money-making aspect of Christianity destroys true community. For example, "there was a time when theologians and the wisest minds of a church determined what was said and sung in a church" (p. 111). But today, praise songs are largely determined by their popularity on Christian radio stations and by their ability to bring profits to their promoters.
- Body-Count Evangelism (chapter 5). This refers to the tendency of churches to hold enormous meetings and require their members to recite a twenty five word prayer and fill out a card to become a member. Yet the great commission did not say, "get people to make a decision"; rather it is to make disciples. The decision is only the first step in a process.
- The Great Stereopticon (chapter 6). The prevalent view in the evangelical church is that it doesn't matter how you communicate the gospel, as long as you don't change the message. This disregard of media is, however, dangerous; it is quite easy to shift between mediums without detecting the negative consequences that result. For example, most people welcomed the advent of print and of printing presses, without detecting the consequent detrimental effect on oral tradition and poetry. In this same way, the love of video and audio-visual effects in communicating the Gospel will similarly carry invisible negative consequences.

In chapter 7, "Christianity's Next Small Thing," Mr. Smith prescribes remedies. First, he urges leaders to shift focus from the parachurch to church planting, from short-term missions to long-term follow up, and from building empire to building true community.

He concludes the book in chapter 8 by discussing "true religion," which is to "visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). "We may have made a decision to follow Jesus, but we are not - most of us - really following him" (p. 220). True religion is becoming "the body of the Incarnate Christ" (p. 225), not simply proclaiming a belief.

B. Critique

This book is a powerful and cogent plea to bring the evangelical church back to historic orthodoxy. All of the chapters are strong, but I feel he could have strengthened chapter 6, "The Great Stereopticon." I would agree with his overall assessment that an obsession with new technology will harm the church. However, if we take his suggestions about being connected to history and tradition to their logical conclusions, we would all wind up with the worship of the early church: liturgies with no instruments, no PowerPoint presentations, no film clips, and no fancy lighting and no audio-visual effects. Although such worship is truly beautiful and can be found in Eastern Orthodox Churches today, I wonder whether it can compete with all of the forms of entertainment that wrest our youth from our churches on Sunday morning: cable television, the Internet, X-boxes, and so forth. I am convinced that, although liturgical worship is my personal preference, if we did not have some evangelical churches pioneering new technologies in presenting the Gospel in a new and powerful way through film or contemporary music, many youth would not be in church on Sunday morning, because they have not learned to relate to God through liturgy. Perhaps the solution is to teach youth to relate to God through traditional forms, or, if this does not work, to hold worship services using such forms during morning services and then to allow youth or those who relate to God in a more spontaneous way to meet later on the church grounds to worship in a way where they feel comfortable. In this way, a church could remain grounded in history and tradition while holding on to those members who may express their relationship with God in an alternative way.

"A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church", by Warren Cole Smith
Smith's book is wonderfully timed. Every bookstore you enter whether "secular" or "Christian" greets you with the works of megachurch pastors like Rick Warren, Joel Olsteen and others of a similar vein. While there are some points in the book with which I disagreed (like the somewhat pugnacious way in which he attempts to differentiate and dismiss those of "liberal" or "postmodern" persuasions), his analysis of the contemporary church is insightful.
The beginning of his book and title of his first chapter, "The Evangelical Myth," has many political, social and religious implications. Politically, he is right to feel concerned about the growing partnership of political and religious parties. While many feel that certain political wings (both liberal and conservative) have been co-opted by very specific religious ideologies, Smith rightly asserts that one should necessarily be concerned about such a pairing. In contrast to the words and life of Jesus which emphasize the meek and the poor (those historically subjugated through politics), the delusions regarding the "myth" of an American civil religion foster disparaging ideas regarding the "Kingdom of God" and the "Kingdom of Man."
One way in which these disparaging ideas manifest themselves is through society. In light of the growing pandemic of megachurch spirituality, Smith illuminates the parallels between the growth in megachurches and the lack of reduction to global ailments (e.g. poverty, violence, etc.). He correctly points in that, in the event that megachurches were cultivating the amount of believers they claim by way of church attendance, one would hope to see significant changes in society; however, affected in part by the myth of civil American religion, these believers often opt into (or know no alternative of) the shallow spirituality fostered in such churches.
Cole's metaphor and use of the term "New Provincialism" (NP) is affective and persuasive. His allusion to the theology of premillenialism and it's somewhat heretical past and its rapid surge into mainstream evangelicalism is one illustration of how New Provincialism has manifested itself into Christianity today. One additional way in which NP has shown itself in a dangerous way is the "Triumph of Sentimentality." While modern worship fosters a sort of consumer approach to worship in church living (in that if the worship service is not poppy enough or the sermon is not persuasive enough or the variety in a service is lacking), it has the effect of perpetuating the same short attention span (and, thus, lack of depth in understanding and practice) that many forms of popular, contemporary culture does.
To addition to fostering that same consumeristic approach to church, NP celebrates "more is better" much like the culture we are in. The success of megachurches is indicative of God's blessing and the proliferation of their ideas is a sign that this is how the church is supposed to act and grow. Or so they tell us. He presents some pretty wonderful quantitative data to illustrate that the growth of these churches is not an accurate reflection of the growth of the Church as a whole (for example, as mentioned earlier, lack of social ailments being remedied).
However, here is my second (and last) disagreement with an observation of his. While dismissing megachurches and the addition of numbers which are supposed to indicate growth and blessing, he then moves to discuss successful churches elsewhere in the world using only multiplication. While initially, this does seem to align itself more with at least Genesis commandments for the church ("Be fruitful and multiply"), he too falls into the numbers game. And I just wonder how indicative even that method of church counting is of the actual state of the church. When I think about the differences of adding to a church and multiplying churches and, thus, adding to the numbers associated with it, it's almost the same thing. Maybe there's a better way to measure the growth of the kingdom.
Here's a pretty undeveloped approach (that I'm hashing out in this review): what if it's more about volume than numbers? While numbers can be telling, as he notes, they can often be misleading or even intentionally deceptive. What if, instead of measuring the numbers, we measure a more holistic evaluation of Christians? What if it's the multiplication of the two and an additional variable? What if we measured the numbers within a church (let's say their height) and the number of churches and believers planted because of that (their width) and the effects of the church (their depth)? There can be thousands of people in thousands of churches but if their spirituality is ineffectual can we actually say that's a burgeoning body of Christians? Are they really imbued with a sense of God's purpose for this world (the enacting of the Kingdom of God in the World of Man as Christ made known in the Avinu prayer)? While even this cannot fully describe the people of God and their effects, I feel like it could better describe the status of Christianity and Christians than pure numbers.
So, with my two very minor issues with this book (his obvious concern/disdain for progressive/"liberal" believers and the question of numbers), this was a refreshing book. I recommend reading this alongside "A People's History of Christianity" by Diane Butler. The observations by Cole will frustrate you in their truth and possibly provide clarity to ideas you may already have about the church. And Butler's book will invigorate your spirit in knowing that it has not, is not and will not always be the way that it is today. Alternate reading the chapters. I coincidentally got these books at the same time and alternated between the two chapter by chapter. It was a roller coaster.
While this review has a lot of complaints about Christianity, it is only because I love it and want it to be the fullest it can be.
I'm new to this game and would love your input and insights. Visit me at [...]. Leave me complaints, concerns, encouragement, ideas. Whatever you want.

Evangelism is a labor of love, but there are those who would exploit that love. "A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church" tells the story of Warren Cole Smith, a former evangelist who has some harsh words with the way much of evangelism is going these days. In particular, Smith is highly critical of what he perceives as Evangelism's movement away from the core message of Jesus Christ. The result is a no-holds-barred insider's perspective. "A Lover's Quarrel with the Evangelical Church" is a very much recommended read.

To which standards should churches and other Christian organizations be held accountable, and by whom? What are the roles of such groups, and the individuals of whom they are constituted? Do American churches and parachurch organizations further the Kingdom of God? More importantly, does your local church serve God in the manner of those in the early body of Christ? Most importantly, are you serving God in the ways in which you are gifted?

These and many other questions are engaged lovingly & sternly by Warren Cole Smith in his successful effort to challenge Evangelicals and all Christians to critically examine their organizations, their ministries, and their lives. This is not a feel-good book, but a swift kick in the pants of the all too comfortable. Dare to submit prayerfully to the process.