If we were in Germany in the early 1930's, would we have stood up to Hitler better than the churches of that time? Are we showing the same determination as men like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce? Or are we focusing on parts of our Biblical call and having good excuses for ignoring the riskier parts?
Letter to the American Church is a call for pastors, churches, and Christians in the USA to stand up for truth and against evil. Most of the book looks back at the German Church and how they failed to stop Hitler's rise to power by either trying to appease the evil system or just keeping silent, as well as examining the American Church of today on how the same arguments for the German church's inaction against that evil are alive and well in dealing with the evils we face.
Metaxas lists four ways our misunderstandings have put us in the present predicament:
1. A Misunderstanding on what faith is (leading to what Bonhoeffer calls "cheap grace."
2. What Metaxas refers to as the "idol of evangelism."
3. The "commandment" we're supposed to keep even though God and the Bible never gave it: "Be Ye Not Political".
4. Basing "being a good Christian" by the evils we personally avoid, not by the goods we could and should but often don't do.
Being in a church where the pastor reminds us of the need to evangelize, the phrase "Idol of Evangelism" caught my interest. Reading it, I realize my church is not in that error. On one hand the "Idol of Evangelism" has us focusing so much on winning the lost that when they're won we don't get them where they can grow in Christ. But the greater danger is avoiding offending the sinner, so we don't call sin sin and allow those opposed to our faith changing definitions of words without challenging their deception.
There are books that I'm so excited about, I'm encouraging everybody to read it. There are other books I want to get my friends to read so we can discuss it, noting the strong and not-so-strong arguments presented by the author, and evaluate how the book should impact our lives. Do you want to guess which one this book is?
I glanced at some of the negative reviews. One is that we shouldn't be trying to force non-Christians to live like Christians. Maybe they missed the part in the book where Metaxas mentions that some of this evil is opposed not just by Christians but other religions and sometimes even the non-religious. In addition, there is pressure from anti-religious activists for Christians to accept and even be celebrating of evil behavior. Plus, would these people want us Christians to be as silent on things like racism and human trafficking as they desire us to be on abortion and sexuality?
The other negative comment is what makes the American Church so important? Good point. I think often the American Church makes an idol of patriotism and sees us (consciously or, more likely, unconsciously) as better than Christians in the rest of the world, who lack the resources we have (including literacy) and who are enduring persecution from religious and anti-religious governments/individuals. But whose responsibility is it to stand up for the truth in the USA, to preserve our freedoms that allow us to strengthen Christians not just here but overseas? How many think it's the American Church's job to be God's representatives in America?
Yes, this book can stir up some controversy. Is that the reason I highly recommend this book? Or is it because it is a book that's trying to wake us up before it's too late? (Actually, if it is the latter, it will also be controversial.)
I would love to get a book club together, and read this, Rod Dreher's The Benedict Option, John MacArthur's Christ's Call To Reform the Church, and Anthony Forsythe's Caesar and the Church, and form a battle plan for Christians through that. Of course, my first choice is for it to be a local church book club as opposed to a Zoom meeting of friends all over the country/world. But the latter would be great as well.
I do find it interesting comparing this with Dreher's Live Not By Lies. Metaxas compares our current situation with the rise of Hitler, and Dreher likens it to the Communist takeover of various European countries. Either way, we're in trouble.
I really recommend this book, and I'd love to hear comments on this blog. Thanks.
One last comment. You notice that most non-fiction books have the title, a colon, and a subtitle? Did you notice there was no subtitle to this one?
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