The book is John S. Dickerson’s “The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors that will Crash the American Church.” Dickerson writes this book in two basic sections. The first is primarily observatory, and his ability to take a lot of data and make sense of it is extraordinary. His point is made extremely well: the evangelical church in America as we know it is going to collapse. We aren’t as big as we think we are, and we are currently destined to go the way of Blockbuster and Newsweek. His observations are so well documented, someone would have to willfully ignore the data to come to any other conclusions than Dickerson’s.
We evangelical Christians think we’re big when we are not. We believe we have great influence when it is mostly an illusion.
I can tell you that the first part of the book can be dangerously discouraging. If I had read this book as recently as 5 years ago, I probably would have reacted and tuned out. But my heart echoes the thesis of the first part of the book. I certainly can’t say it better myself, and if I had the finances, I would buy 100 copies of this book and send them to pastor friends and key Christian leaders just for the value of the first part.
After the horrific truth of part one, I doubted that Dickerson could write anything conciliatory that corresponded in magnitude. How in the world am I going to leave this book encouraged? Most books I have read that deal with a problem have failed to give adequate solutions to the problem. I end up regretting I read the book in the first place.
That is not the case with this book. Dickerson draws upon Scriptural teaching to bolster his 4-part solution. He gives real, Scriptural answers to the issues raised in part one. Einstein once said, “If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.” His comments underscore the necessity of first understanding the root problem before attempting a solution. To try to solve a problem without first knowing what the problem truly is leads to relieving symptoms alone. Dickerson, in my opinion, completely understands the problem. Because of this, he is able to offer solutions that actually matter.
I’m trying to avoid spoiling your reading of the book or inserting too much of my own thoughts in this review. But since this review may prompt some to purchase the book and glean from it, I feel justified in adding the following thoughts.
Dickerson has only one basic presupposition with which I disagree. He is a firm evangelical in nature. I am a fundamentalist by conviction. Chapter 9 contains the bulk of anything with which I would disagree. It is a chapter on unity in the body of Christ. As with nearly all evangelical writing, important issues of biblical interpretation and application are swept into the wastebasket of being considered irrelevant. For example, it is difficult for a dispensationalist and a covenantalist to work together toward any kind of real unity. One of many reasons for this is that the view of eschatological events is different, and necessitates different manners of living in this present world. Two cannot walk together unless agreed.
Dickerson strongly believes that part of the unity solution lies in avoiding the soft theology of the evangelical left, as well as the “hyperseparatism” of the fundamentalist right. I agree with him that there is such a thing as “hyperseparatism” but I strongly doubt we would define it the same way.
My final additional thought I would add is that some fundamentalist churches have a head start in preparing for this evangelical recession. We are already accustomed to being ridiculed, ignored, and otherwise mocked. Sometimes it comes from our evangelical brothers. (I am not accusing Dickerson of such.) We have already begun experiencing the hatred of the world for our “lunatic” stance on issues such as child rearing, schooling methodology, and more. We already have many pastors who are bi-vocational (one of Dickerson’s creative analogies is comparing this to a “hybrid car” that runs on less gasoline) and many of our churches and ministries have been running on little money. Personally, I think evangelicalism at large could learn a few things from fundamentalists who have been continuing effective discipleship ministry in much the way he suggests.
Many fundamentalist pulpits have been declaring that it is long overdue to again fish for men instead of merely swapping aquariums.
However, zooming out and away from chapter 9, which is really the only chapter in which I find any significant disagreement, please understand that this book is a must-read. Shake off the background reverence the author has for the evangelical “glory days” and see the big picture the author is painting!
Dickerson is issuing a warning to believers of all stripes. He and I are not in the same camp, but I hear his warning loud and clear. I plan on heeding it. I desire that my brothers leading churches across America would heed it before it is too late to benefit from the warning.
Soon comes a time when persecution and hardship will demand that our Christianity be based on genuine relationships with Christ that are vibrant and real. I would gladly share a jail cell with Dickerson or those like him should it come to that. Perhaps by preparing, we can succeed in being “wise as serpents.”
John S. Dickerson “The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors that Will Crash the American Church” published 2013 by Baker Books. It is available in Kindle format. It is worth noting that Dickerson and I graduated from the same Christian school in Midland, MI. He was a few years behind me but I consider him a friend.