BOOK REPORT: “Christians in the Age of Outrage” by Ed Stetzer

Cutting through the rancor with the outrageous love of God

As a movement leader on the front line of cultural engagement, Ed Stetzer has witnessed up-close how Christians have interacted with a changing American landscape. He’s a former pastor and the current dean of the school of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College, and also heads the Billy Graham Center. He is hence well-positioned to write his most recent book, “Christians in the Age of Outrage” (Tyndale 2018), in which he calls us out for bad behavior and challenges us to something better.

It’s no shocker that many Christians are a big part of the problem. Yes, we live in an angry world made angrier by political demagogues, social media echo chambers, and fear-mongering television journalists. But instead of resisting these trends with the alternative of genuine Christianity (and all its core values modeled by Christ himself), many followers of Jesus give in to their baser instincts and join the melee. Their/our hypocrisy only gives fuel to the fire as an increasingly secular world finds common cause in demonizing and sidelining the Church of Christ—the once dominant religious and cultural majority now having been reduced to a shrill white minority clamoring to have our country back again.

Not all of us are part of the brawl, of course. One of the statistical realities Stetzer demonstrates is how many of the “bad actors” giving Christians a bad name may identify as “born-again evangelicals,” but are the least likely to go to church or be involved in a Christian community. Many “cultural Christians” are still identifying themselves as evangelicals out of habit, not religious conviction backed up by deed. Once again, the reputation of the Church is defined by the words and actions of its worst members. (If they are even “members,” which I will let the Lord of goats and sheep determine at a future time.)

In this sense, Stetzer’s subtitle expresses his deepest wish, and the reason he wrote the book: “How to bring our best when the world is at its worst.” The times require that we engage the world with everything Jesus came to model. Unfortunately, the author notes that in an increasingly fractured, non-Christian, and antagonistic world, the only choice easier than engaging badly is to dis-engage entirely. Who wants to “get into it” with other angry people? I feel this temptation myself and find myself giving in, almost on a daily basis. I try to spend less time on social media so I don’t get sucked into the pile-ups. I avoid certain topics in everyday conversation because I don’t want to make things tense or unnecessarily complicated with others. Churches increasingly try to “stay focused on the gospel” instead of getting into tricky conversations about difficult political topics that require actual conversational abilities we collectively seem to have lost. And to be sure, this trend toward dis-engagement is being actively promoted by some very prominent authors and Christian leaders (see “The Benedict Option”), and I must confess that I prefer the option. As a closeted introvert who has trouble staying focused in a distracted world, I wouldn’t mind living in a cloister with my guitar, a few books, and a blankie.

The author’s strong counsel is that for most of us—and certainly me as a Christian pastor—this is the wrong choice. We must engage the world with the best we are called to be. This requires Christians to follow Jesus in all the ways Christians have been being formed by the Spirit over the centuries: prayer, Scripture, community. It requires responsible on-line behavior that makes the most of new technologies but that does not take the place of in-person neighborly engagement and community service. And it will require courage as we call out injustices in charitable but gutsy ways.

Stetzer’s book is insightful and important, but it is not awesome. I think he struggles to know who his audience is: Christians in general or pastors in particular? Like most books, it seems like the people who most need to read the book won’t. And like any pastor (myself included), he can be long-winded and some of his illustrations aren’t quite on-point. He’s a movement leader more than he is a writer. This is perhaps an unfair criticism for someone who has clearly found his ministry sweet spot, but I wish Christian writers cared more about style instead of pumping out material.

But these are minor critiques—not worth an angry post or anything. My biggest takeaway from “Christians in the Age of Outrage” is that earnest Christ-followers should never expect or want to out-loud our angriest members, let alone the world at its angry worst. But through the simple and timeless virtues of Christ—charity, self-control, neighbor-love—we just may be able to cut through the outrage with the outrageous love of God.

-MRH (1/3/2020)