"When Did We Start Forgetting God? "(Mark Galli)

TITLE: When Did We Start Forgetting God?: The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future
AUTHOR: Mark Galli
PUBLISHER: Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2020, (256 pages).

Evangelicalism is in a crisis. The original movement that has united believers in all things Bible, all things Cross-centered; all things conversionism to Christ; all things Christian activism is now deeply divided. Many believe that the chief reason is politics and the way evangelicals align their identities according to which political power they support. Thomas Kidd of Baylor University has singled this factor out, saying that historically this has never been the case. It is no longer about biblical doctrine but about political allegiances. Journalist and cultural critic, Mark Galli takes this a little further toward spirituality. He notes that evangelicalism has lost its soul because it has forgotten God. In order to find out how to restore hope for the future, we need to go back to the root of the problem to ask the question: "When Did We Start Forgetting God?" Thus, the title of the book is the author's quest to understand the background behind the escalating divide of the different camps, and the deteriorating spiritual climate of the movement. This has led to many evangelicals who think they are devoted Christians when they are actually "practical atheists!" In fact, Christians can easily continue to live with the label outside but on the inside, they are far from the spiritual being they were perceived to be. The heart of the question is this: Are we more in love with God, or are we more in love with ourselves? The lack of congruence between these two is the source of our crisis. This single factor has precipitated other crises such as family, social justice, evangelism, racism, theology, and many more. If only we can get back to restoring our desire for God, things will get better. Much better for the Christian witness.

In Part One, Galli takes pains to explain the origin of these problems by tracing back to Scripture. King David is a man devoted to God. In the Psalms, we see how he laments, rejoices, and relates to God in the most intimate ways. Do we thirst and hunger for God like David? Then we have the Church Fathers such as Bernard of Clairvaux, who expresses his love for God in profoundly captivating ways in his writings on "Loving God." Following these broad strokes, the author looks at the way American awakening ignited the spiritual passion of people, that everything stem from the desire for God and to make God known. Then there is the Pentecostal movement that marks another chapter of the history of spiritual revival in the Church. Nowadays, there is that focus on spirituality and transformation, to the point that transformation per se becomes the overriding interest instead of God! He writes: 

"It’s my impression that much of the talk about transformation in evangelicalism is more interested in transformation than in God, or interested in God mostly because of how he can change people’s lives, families, and communities."

It is so easy to be distracted by the things of the world. If the heart is no longer focused on God, one becomes easy pickings for falling into these potholes of distraction. Galli shares the example of a man intent on wanting to pray but ends up forgetting to pray as he was distracted by many things he wanted to do throughout the day. 

If Part One tackles the problem at a personal level, Part Two raises the bar to look at the corporate level: The Church. Some Christian leaders have also substituted the vertical for the horizontal, preferring to make this world a better place instead of reminding people that heaven is a much better place to hope for. Whether it is the social gospel or the missional movement, the disconcerting thing is that people tend to forget God as they focus on trying to save the world, when the world has already been offered the Hand of Salvation in Christ! Moreover, Galli notes that the modern church's perspectives of the world has become more unbiblical than before. One of the reasons is the church behaving as if the world was created for her, when the fact is that the Church is meant to serve the world and to make Christ known to the world. The focus must not be "making this world a better place" but to "live together in love in Christ" for the glory of God. Failure to do so would be signs of forgetting God. So Galli leads us through the need to focus on worship; to let the celebration of the sacraments be a reminder of our love for God and God's love for us; the return to the Bible; and to re-ignite small groups' passion for God. 

Part Three comprises ten chapters of how to do just that, to deepen our desire for God. Recognizing what needs to be changed is key to getting back to God.  I loved the way he leads us through the prayer of Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, which really hits the core of our distractions: Desire and fear of the secondary things in life.  He gives us biblical examples of people seeking God. He also reminds us about the threats of the spiritual forces of darkness, something that CS Lewis's Screwtape Letters constantly warns us. Galli then goes for the spiritual jugular, to move our focus back to the Torah, to the very commandment that we are supposed to follow in the first place: No other gods before the LORD. Keeping the Sabbath keeps us from being constantly engaged in the things of this world. Cultivate contemplative prayer. Let our desire for God be larger than fear of suffering. Let the Spirit of God show us how we have allowed sin to destroy our relationships. 

Three Thoughts

Firstly, this book is a necessary call for evangelicals to go back to the basics of loving God. This is the greatest commandment and all things must flow from this. The moment we lose this focus, we have essentially forgotten God. I believe this is a timely message for all Christian leaders to listen to. Far too often, people have great ideas and eloquent communiques that talk about love. Unfortunately, many of these 'love-talk' have become hauntingly similar to the way the rest of the world practice it. Many talk more than actually putting it to action. What does it mean to love God? What is our central purpose as a believer in Christ? What is our calling as a people of God? The answers to these questions will give us a fairly accurate snapshot of our present state of spirituality. 

Secondly, the book is relatively stronger on observing cultural trends. As for the historical and theological basis, it tends to be too brief. Perhaps, the author is more interested in reaching out to the general audience rather than seminarians or theologians. That is fair enough as he is writing to evangelicals in general. Written by one who has led a prominent Christian magazine of observing trends, this is not surprising. In fact, portions of this book has appeared in "Christianity Today" as well. The title is a powerful lead to the main reason for the problem of evangelicalism. By recognizing the potholes that have derailed our focus, hopefully, this observation will stop the Church from deteriorating much further. At the least, stop the rot! If the message in this book can enable the Church to pause its fall, that would be most helpful. 

Finally, is the problem of evangelicalism as mentioned by Galli really that simple? Is forgetting God the root of our present confusion? I shudder when I think of it. This reminds me of the letter to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2, the Church that had forgotten her first love. We need reminders all the time about the need to go back to the fundamentals of our faith. This is a universal problem that is a familiar pattern from ancient times to now. Given the history of how many have fallen by the wayside, we have the opportunity to make things right, not only for this generation but for many more to come. Some of the world's biggest problems have the simplest of solutions. Perhaps, the problem of forgetting God and its corresponding call to return to loving God may seem too simple to be true. We may debate on the semantics or the different expressions of doing God's work. One thing remains clear: Regardless of what is happening now, the two greatest commandments must still be heard, obeyed, and put into practice.

Mark Galli recently retired from senior managing editor of Christianity Today magazine. He was previously an editor with Christian History and Leadership magazines. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary (MDiv) and was a pastor for 10 years.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.