While David Wells’s careful reflection on the state of evangelicalism is firmly rooted in an American context, his analysis is so powerful and far-reaching that the Church throughout the Western world can scarcely afford to ignore it.
In a rather pedestrian prologue, Wells traces the process of social change, e.g. increasing urbanization, breakdown of community, etc. (which he calls ‘modernization’), and the values arising from such change (‘modernity’), which together have led to the development of the global culture we now experience. He coins the phrase ‘Our Time’ for the world we now live in, and argues that two features make it unique—there is no longer any religious or moral imperative undergirding communal life, nor are there any restraints on the influence of this emergent universal culture, which continues to impose itself through global communication and trade. This environment, for Wells, poses a serious threat to the health of the Church.
This contention is developed in the main body of the book, which begins by examining how evangelicalism has already been adversely affected by buying into the agenda of modernity. Wells’s argument at every stage is carefully marshalled and repays rigorous study, but the essence of his thesis could be represented in four stages.
In the first place, the result of a loss of confidence in doctrine is that evangelicalism has allowed confession, reflection and wisdom (the third is the practical outworking of the other two) to be separated—no longer is an ‘evangelical’ defined in theological terms. This shift away from theology has had profound consequences in the inherently individualistic American context, resulting in a ‘self-piety’ that is more interested in subjective experience (whether psychological, therapeutic or economic) than in objective truth. Such a rejection of theology has been consolidated in the conformist atmosphere of contemporary America, according to Wells. Public opinion is the ultimate authority. Values are derived and authenticated in the mass media, where the search for self-fulfilment is constantly vindicated and encouraged. As a result, leaders become little more than ‘pollsters’. However, this is not the only factor in the demise of effective, godly leadership. This takes us full circle to the marginalization of doctrine. When Church leaders no longer define their role in terms of communicating divine truth, and they are confronted with an increasingly vociferous congregation of ‘consumers’ demanding their say as they seek self-fulfilment, they have left themselves with little option but to become ‘professionals’—managers or counsellors or therapists. And so the demise rolls on.
In the final part of this book, David Wells turns from a critique of the past to an agenda for the future. His all-too-brief comments flag some of the main issues in the companion volume (God in the Wasteland)—namely the need to interact critically with modernity, the necessity of placing theology at the heart of our proclamation and the recognition that the interaction of the NT writers with their pluralistic milieu provides promising strategies for life in ‘Our Time’.
This is a compelling book which must be taken seriously. Wells’s studied approach has many ramifications for evangelicalism far beyond its original American audience. The sneaking suspicion that, at times, he is painting the picture a little blacker than it actually is does little to undermine the value and force of his argument as a whole.
