Book Review: God in the Wasteland

In a world that is constantly asking, “what can you do for me?” the church must find a way to counter the culture and direct people back to the God of absolute truth.  Far too often, the church is bowing down to the demands of the culture and looking for ways to “market Christianity” in such a way that people will want to buy what they are selling without much regard to the long-term effects of watering down the gospel.

God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams was written by David Wells in 1994 as a follow-up to his popular No Place for Truth: or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology.  Wells is a professor of historical and systematic theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary outside of Boston, Massachusetts.  Wells calls out the Western church for how far they have fallen into the trap of postmodernism and utilizes empirical data from surveys of seminarians to prove that it is possible to return to the roots of evangelicalism.

In his book, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, David Wells takes us on a journey that starts with the decline of the church into postmodernism, a look at what our society thinks it is looking for, and ends with an encouraging look at the next generation of church leaders.  Wells says that the church is crippled because it has abandoned the ideas of holiness and the sovereignty of God.  God has become an afterthought, “weightless,” as Wells puts it.   He says that God is no longer the authority in the character and focus of the church and it’s ministries.  Wells says that change is possible and necessary.  He says that “We will know that the evangelical world is being reformed when it not merely escapes modernity but pointedly casts it out of its life, once again making room for the presence of God in his truth and grace.”

Our society has transitioned from modernity to postmodernism in a most drastic fashion.  We have allowed absolute truth to be replaced by fleeting moments of self-satisfaction and flashy marketing campaigns.  Wells references Norman Cantor in pointing out three major developments that have influenced this sense that God isn’t necessary anymore.  Cantor points to biotechnology, advances in computer science, and the instantaneous availability of communication.   All three of these have participated in the movement of the center of western culture away from God and onto people and things.

After Wells clearly communicates the effect postmodernism has had on our culture, he transitions into a discussion about what people think they are looking for in life.  Our generation has decided that it is okay to be engaged with God on Sundays and other appropriately religious occasions, but that it is not necessary to check in with God more often than that.  Wells points out many examples that show how our society wants what it wants when it wants it.  That has not only affected technology and media, but also our churches.  He goes so far as to say, “Malls are monuments to consumption – but so are megachurches.”    Our churches have fallen into a trap of trying to find what people are looking for and tailor their message and ministries to only those things.

Wells also points out the difference between the inside and outside God.  Christians today are isolating certain areas of their lives and trying to pick and choose where God will be involved.    He says that “We have turned to a God that we can use rather than to a God we must obey; we have turned to a God who will fulfill our needs rather than to a God before whom we must surrender our rights to ourselves.”
The book closes with the most encouragement it can muster after showing how far the church has slipped into postmodernism.  Wells shares the results of a survey that interviewed current seminarians to see how important theology is to them, how they feel about the vision and character of the church, and how theology affects their day-to-day lives.   The results were very encouraging because most of them showed a great respect for theology in all facets of their lives as well as urgency for the church to reclaim its vision and character from the dictates of society.  Wells ends by pointing out that the only way for the church to return to place where God’s truth is taught unashamedly is for Christian leaders to be willing to stand up for the sovereignty of God and the truth of His Word.

God in the Wasteland reminded me of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  I felt much like Ebenezer Scrooge when the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley who had died seven years earlier visited him.  Scrooge had the opportunity to see the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future.
Wells provides the reader with a similar opportunity in his book.  He clearly lined out the pitfalls of postmodernism on our society, and as a result, on the Western church.  He points out how quickly we have walked away from the truths of God’s Word and into the clever marketing ploys of postmodernism.  Wells warns us that continuing in this direction will eventually lead to the crumbling of anything resembling absolute truth.

This book should be an alarm to all Christians about the current crisis facing evangelicalism.  Wells even points out that our seminarians are arriving ready to lead churches having no distinct theology of their own.  Many of them are coming from difficult upbringings and are using the church as an opportunity to escape.  How can these pastors shepherd their flock when they don’t even have a clear understanding of God’s Word for themselves?

One of the clear examples of this paradigm shift is seen simply in the types of “Bible studies” that are offered in churches and parachurch organizations these days.  Very rarely do we see advertisements for an exegetical study of the book of Lamentations, but rather a call for singles to come gather around Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz in a comfortable coffeehouse setting.  Is Miller’s book bad?  Not if it is used to get the conversation started.  However, the problem lies in the fact that many Christians are allowing superstar Christian authors and speakers to shape their worldview rather than digging into the Bible, which was directly inspired by the God that created the universe.

The only way for our churches to recover and reclaim the truths of God is for Christians to stand up once and for all and say that enough is enough.  We are starting to see this take place in our society in some interesting places.  Church planting has become very popular in the past several years.  Men are planting churches for a variety of reasons.  Hopefully their number one goal is to reach those that are far from God.  However, we know that many are planting churches out of a frustration with their current church or the universal church in general.  For a while, these church plants were mostly known to outsiders as being places to wear jeans and worship along with a band.  The messages were intentionally communicated as sound bites and flashy videos.  However, in recent years, we are starting to see a trend in the number of traditional Bible-believing churches that are being planted by pastors who want to get back to preaching the Word of God rather than just focusing on “God at the movies” or “God in your iPod”.  Is there a place for topical messages that will reach unbelievers?  Sure there is!

Willow Creek Church in Illinois is a perfect example of this paradox.  In 1975, Bill Hybels started a church that would be a welcome place for those who wanted to find out more about Christ.  Willow Creek coined the term “seeker church”.  Now, almost thirty years later, they have published some interesting information.  They don’t know how to get to the next level.  They have focused so much of their effort and energy on attracting lost people and have had great success in leading them to Christ.  However, many of the folks who have come to Willow Creek and found Christ have walked away later because of a lack of discipleship.  They have compartmentalized their “Christian life” and their “real life” and they have never been taught to assimilate the two into a pattern of seeking God’s truth in everyday situations.
Wells closes out the book by pointing out that it will not be easy to reclaim the church from the grasp of postmodernism and the “feel good values” the church has been peddling for years.  He urges those in leadership to take on the task and refuse to compromise any longer about the holiness and sovereignty of God and His truths.

In the closing chapter of the book, Wells restates his purpose for writing the book.  “I have written this book because, like the students who participated in our survey, I believe the vision of the evangelical church is now clouded, its internal life greatly weakened, its future very uncertain, and I want something better for it.”   The entire book proved his point and leaves no question that the church is in serious trouble if it continues the way it has been going.  He uses both theory and empirical data to prove his points.  Wells use of Scripture shows the timelessness of the Word of God and the urgent need for us to return to those words.  God’s plan for the church was for it to be a center for truth and an opportunity for believers to be trained to live out the gospel in their everyday lives.

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