* A bold vision for the future of North American evangelicalism! Urging the Western church to escape the captivity of individualism, consumerism, and racism, Rah provides a keen analysis of the limitations of American evangelicalism and offers alternative models for congregational renewal, including those drawn from African American, Native American, immigrant, and second-generation Christian communities. 180 pages, softcover from InterVarsity.

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Customer Reviews for The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Review 1 for The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Clarion Call to End Racism

Date:June 24, 2012

Abram KJ

Top 1000 Contributor

Quality:

4 out of 5

Value:

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

4 out of 5

Soong-Chan Rah writes, "As many lament the decline of Christianity in the United States in the early stages of the twenty-first century, very few have recognized that American Christianity may actually be growing, but in unexpected and surprising ways."

In 'The Next Evangelicalism, Rah posits that mainstream evangelicalism in the United States has been too monocultural in its worldview--"white" and "Western," he says. It has been "taken captive" by individualism, consumerism/materialism, and racism. This captivity is pervasive, he writes, as seen in the megachurch movement, the emerging church movement (which Rah rightly argues pays too much attention to just white voices), and through cultural imperialism. Looking at Native American, African American, immigrant, and multicultural communities, Rah offers hopeful alternatives for evangelicalism's future.

Every evangelical Christian should read this book. Rah has the courage to say hard things the church needs to hear. His excellent treatment of racism, especially, should be preached from the pulpits and studied in small groups.

However, there are at least two key points where I take issue with Rah.

First, a distraction is Rah's equating "white" with "Western" as he discusses the church's captivity. But these two are not always synonymous words, and sometimes when the author uses "white" he really means (or should mean) "Western" instead. Rah mentions T.D. Jakes as a megachurch pastor who is emblematic of the church's captivity to ("white") numerical pragmatism. But Jakes is "Western" and not "white." And there are non-white sectors of the Western church deserving of Rah's critique (for example, Creflo Dollar and other "health and wealth gospel" African American pastors should be included in Rah's critique of Western consumerism and materialism). Rah's arguments would have more force (and been more accurate) if he simply had referred to "Western cultural captivity."

Second, I struggled to accept some final remarks: "The shift in American evangelicalism is well under way. The white churches are in significant decline." I will grant the first assertion. But as to the second, Rah does not define further what he means by "decline" and provides barely any evidence of it that I could see. In fact, if he means numerical decline, he is using a standard previously rejected in his book. (Church health ought to be measured not by buildings built or number of attendees alone, he notes, but by taking the spiritual pulse of the congregation.) Is a Church feeding the poor? Welcoming the stranger? Caring for the sick? If so, Rah would say, it is a healthy church. By this standard, the predominantly "white" church at which I recently served as youth minister, for example, is very healthy. Members of that church, and of many others I know that are like it, might read lines like this and ask, "What decline?"

Even so, I don't want to overly fault Rah for those objections. As a reader I do not demand that Rah say everything perfectly before I accept the force and truth of his overarching claims. All in all, The Next Evangelicalism issues a clarion call to the church to end racism, embrace the growing diversity of the body of Christ, hear voices that have been marginalized, and more accurately reflect the church the Bible calls us to be.

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Review 2 for The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Date:August 25, 2010

James Ward

Musicians, be aware that this great book has nothing in it about multi- or cross-cultural music! I was incredulous as I realized again that a pastor was so oblivious to music's part in the diversity of the local body. A solid sociological overview, though.

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Review 3 for The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:August 14, 2010

Philemon Ngare

Have read the whole book in a few days. My perception about the Western Church has been challenged. Rah's vision for the Body of Christ in America is indeed a bold one. His prophetic voice against the sins of the Church in America is timely. Rah's American experience makes both his vision for the Church and his prophecy against sins of the Western Church more genuine and credible. It is high time the Western Church confessed her sins as discussed by Rah in his book. May I recommend Rah's text to all serious Christians in America!!!

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Review 4 for The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

Overall Rating:

1 out of 5

Date:February 5, 2010

Robert E McIntyre

This book is written by one angry man. He must feel slighted by not fitting into American society. He uses Scripture as a battering ram to attack the American section of Christianity.

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