George Barna, Revolution: Finding Vibrant Faith Beyond the Walls of the Sanctuary (Carol Stream: Tyndale,
2005), 144 pages.
Review by Pastor Nathan, June 2006
I noticed a brief book review of this book in Christianity Today a few months ago that caught my eye (“No
Church? No Problem,” January 2006). Later, a friend who read the book told me it was something that
needed to be reckoned with, so I thought I’d pick it up for myself. I have used a few second-hand Barna
statistics in sermons before, but up until Revolution I had resisted reading any of his books due to a
sneaking suspicion that it would be light on theology and heavy on church marketing techniques and
thought.
Well, my preconceptions were proven right. I appreciate Barna’s work as a pollster (although this book has
surprisingly scant numerical data). It is helpful (to some extent) to see trends, measure opinions, and
discern practices within the church. But it’s dangerous when a social scientist steps into the realm of
theology. In this book Barna presents only one new observation based upon his research and the rest is an
endorsement of his finding and a feeble attempt at locating a biblical basis for what he terms the
‘Revolution’. Barna has been reporting for some time that “churchgoers are more likely to see themselves
as Americans, consumers, professionals, parents, and unique individuals than zealous disciples of Jesus
Christ” (88). That’s a huge problem, no doubt! And sadly, it’s nothing new – it’s a phenomenon that has
pained and burdened many (including me) for quite awhile. But what Barna now sees is that large numbers
of people are becoming zealous disciples of Jesus apart from the local church. According to Barna, there’s
a widespread, growing hunger for something more out of Christianity. Institutional churches aren’t meeting
that need. And so people genuinely seeking a life of radical commitment to Christ are leaving the church to
find it elsewhere. That’s the so-called ‘Revolution’ and Barna tells us how he feels about it – “Let me be
completely up front about this: My goal is to help you be a Revolutionary” (29).
Again, I agree with Barna’s assessment of the American church today. I also see what he recognizes, that
is an unprecedented number of people claiming to be Christians, even taking radical steps to live out their
Christianity, who are disappointed, disillusioned, disengaged, or flat-out disassociated with a local church of
any kind. Of course, I don’t agree with Barna’s conclusions, but I’ll get to that in a bit. Barna begins his
book with the story of two friends on the golf course on a Sunday morning – one of them a ‘Revolutionary’
who developed “his own regimen of spiritual practices and activities in order to retain a vibrant spiritual life”
(2) after giving up on the local church. Therefore, I will begin with some real life anecdotes of my own that
corroborate the phenomenon that Barna describes:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
A church planter contacts an evangelical relief agency working with refugees in the
neighborhood where he’s planting a church to see how they could partner. The relief
workers are suspicious and skeptical of him since he’s a pastor and prefer to do their
‘Christian’ social work alone and apart from churches.
A large percentage of undergraduate and graduate students studying the Bible and
ministry at a world renowned evangelical institution don’t consistently go to church
anywhere on Sundays. Likewise Christian students on secular campuses are devoted to
their para-church collegiate group, but aren’t plugged in to a local church body.
After moving to a new city, looking for a church, getting involved in one for awhile, then
growing frustrated and bored with it a young woman stops going to church altogether and
starts merely hanging out with other like-minded Christians for Bible study and discipleship
instead.
One person finds keys to spiritual growth, mentorship, inspirational messages, and
fellowship unlike what he’s ever experienced in a church within a multi-level marketing
company supposedly based upon Christian principles and filled with many Christians. He
(5)
hops around from church to church to find one that won’t interfere with his
business/church surrogate.
A large family objects that none of the churches in their town are spiritually alive and so
they have ‘homechurch’ (something akin to ‘homeschool’) every Sunday and throughout
the week.
It’s everywhere. And it’s growing. In part, it is the natural outcome of twentieth century evangelical
entrepreneurialism that gave us independent missions agencies like Frontiers; collegiate ministries like
Campus Crusade; independent Bible colleges like Moody; and a whole host of other ecclesiastically
unassociated organizations like Bible Study Fellowships, Youth for Christ, Athletes in Action, Youth With A
Mission, Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, and many, many more. The ‘low ecclesiology’ of
evangelicalism that birthed the para-church movement is turning into the ‘no ecclesiology’ of the so-called
‘Revolution’. According to Barna, “millions of [‘Revolutionaries’] who are growing as Christians and
passionate about their faith have come to recognize that the local church is not – and need not be – the
epicenter of their spiritual adventure” (58); “Being part of a local church may facilitate [loving God with all
your heart, mind, strength, and soul]. Or it might not” (37). In other words, according to Barna, the local
church is unnecessary, and in many instances even a detriment to following Christ.
I beg to differ. The spiritual state of churches today may indeed be tragic. They may indeed be failing to
adequately make disciples of Jesus Christ. They may indeed be more interested in man-made traditions
and institutional survival rather than helping people meet and better know God. But there is no warrant for
declaring the institutional church unnecessary. Jesus’ words to Peter – “on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Mt. 16:18) – began to be fulfilled in the book of Acts with the
establishment of the church in Jerusalem and its spread to other parts of the empire, which the NT epistles
give evidence to. That church – imperfect, flawed, and plagued with periods of apostasy – has not failed to
prevail and spread for two millennia. It has taken different forms in different times and cultures (i.e. informal
house churches, ornate cathedrals complete with set liturgies and elaborate hierarchical structures,
underground churches, megachurches, independent Bible Churches), but the divinely ordained institution of
the church has remained as the rightful heir and protector of biblical Christianity. Faithful Christians will
remain committed to the church despite its shortfalls and seek its reformation and revival, not abandon it.
As I see it, there are 5 major reasons why the local church is not unnecessary, but indispensable.
(1)
Christianity is communal. Barna cites “spiritual friendships” as one of the seven
passions of a ‘Revolutionary’, but yet still operates under a radically individualistic
framework. He says, “The choice to become a Revolutionary… is a covenant you make
with God alone. The commands and admonitions provided by Jesus to all who would
listen were designed to facilitate self-governance that makes each disciple a revolution in
progress” (70, italics mine). Later he says, “Each Revolutionary consents to be personally
responsible for his or her spiritual state – whether that’s growth or stagnation” (104, italics
mine). Finally, he describes the ‘Revolutionary’ as “weaving together a set of favored
alternatives into a unique tapestry that constitutes the personal ‘church’ of the individual”
(66). Personal church of the individual?!?! Pronouncing the church as unnecessary, even
if you glibly claim to replace it with more authentic ‘spiritual friendships’, is a prime
example of maverick Christianity and the epitome of American individualism run amok.
You have decided that you alone are the arbiter of truth, despite the witness of tradition
and other brothers and sisters in Christ. And community apart from formal commitment
rings hollow. What is there to keep you together with people who step on your toes or are
different from you if you are not both committed to each other in some formal way?
Similarly, private spirituality is crucial, but not at the expense of communal spirituality. We
need to pray alone, but we also need to pray together. We need to worship alone, but
there is something powerful and profound to worshipping with others, particularly others
that you know and are committed to you. This is something that can’t happen at a Chris
Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redman, or Tim Hughes concert that’s put on “for audiences
who had no prior connection to each other” (65-66). Christianity is communal in a way
that can only happen in some manifestation of a local church where people are officially
committed to each other and, in some sense, responsible for each other’s spiritual state.
We need each other.
(2)
Christian community requires leadership and submission. Another aspect of today’s
radical individualism is our stubborn lack of willingness to submit to authority. Ultimately
the Bible is our authority. But the Bible also makes clear that in the communities that were
established as the gospel spread, spiritual leadership was vested in a group called the
elders/overseers/pastors (e.g. Acts 14:23). Pastoral authority is a must in the spiritual life.
Sure it’s been abused and sure some pastors are wolves in sheep’s clothing, but the
biblical precedent of elders is undeniable. People need to be taught. Elders are men who
are specially gifted (and many times specially trained) to teach. People need guidance,
care, and protection. That’s why God ordained that there be elder leadership in churches.
Sheep without a shepherd is a pitiable affair. We need to be shepherded, and merely
listening to sermons on the internet doesn’t count.
(3)
Christian community requires accountability. Being in community and under authority
implies accountability. When you formally bind yourself to others you open your life up to
them and give them permission to help you in your spiritual walk. If you get out of line,
you need people who can point that out to you – oftentimes gently, but sometimes with
tough love. The kind of situation that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 5 could not happen if
the Corinthians were not a local church. Church discipline is biblical and church discipline
necessarily implies church membership, therefore church is biblical. Those untied to a
particular group of other believers through a formal membership commitment and
subsequently free from any kind of shepherding authority will ultimately suffer spiritually.
We need accountability and communal discipline which is impossible if you’re a
‘Revolutionary’. Community, authority, and accountability are very hard to swallow in our
culture today, but it is exactly what the Bible prescribes as necessary for authentic
Christian living.
(4)
Christians need to participate in the sacraments. The Bible lays out two enduring
ordinances that are essential for spiritual growth – baptism and the Lord’s Table/Eucharist.
Traditionally baptism has been tied with church membership and understood as a public
proclamation, but there’s nothing in the Bible that precludes this from being a private (with
at least one other person, of course) event outside the walls of a church. Communion, on
the other hand, is in its very nature a communal act. It is something you do together to
remember the Lord’s sacrifice and experience his grace. It’s more than just having a meal
together. It’s a symbolic ritual and it usually doesn’t happen at a Christian businessmen’s
luncheon or in an InterVarsity meeting. The Eucharist is also something very physical. It
can’t happen in a cyberspace chat room. The ordinances are required Christian practices
and they take place within the church.
If you have a committed Christian community that is submitted to the authority of elders, participates in the
ordinances together, and is willing to practice discipline, then you have a church – no matter whether or not
there is a building, organ, children’s program, bulletin, pulpit or not. If you have those things you are a
church. If you have most of them, but don’t have some of them, why not incorporate the elements you lack
and be a fully biblical church? If there are no churches with vitality in you neighborhood, get together some
friends and plant one. If you find your church to be stagnant and missing the point, pray for it, talk to the
pastors, and throw yourself into serving it. Whatever you do, please don’t pretend to have found spiritual
vitality by being liberated from the local church. Being a part of a church certainly doesn’t guarantee spiritual
life, but disregarding the church is a sure-fire way to bring about spiritual death.
I find Barna’s endorsement of the aberrant practice of forsaking the local church to be appalling. Ultimately,
I can’t get around the biblical teaching that the church, complete with members and pastors and discipline
and sacraments, is the mystical Body of Christ! This is the fifth reason why the local church is
indispensable. The church is not something “we made… up” (38)! It is sacrosanct because it is in some
mysterious way the Body of Christ. To be connected to a group of other believers each exercising his or her
own spiritual gifts interdependently is to be intimately connected to Christ. Immanuel Baptist Church is the
very body of Christ in a way that “the personal ‘church’ of the individual” is not. When Jesus appeared to
Saul on the Damascus road he equated Saul’s persecution of the church with persecuting himself. I fear
that despite Barna’s good intentions, he is persecuting Jesus himself by attacking his body, the church.
Nevertheless, I have no fear that the church will endure even through this ‘Revolution’.