REVIEW: THE YOUNGER EVANGELICALS

The Younger Evangelicals
by Robert E. Webber
(Baker Books, 2002), 283 pages.

In 1974 Richard Quebedeaux wrote The Young Evangelicals: Revolution in Orthodoxy ­-- a book which attempted to get a handle on the neo-evangelical movement of 25 years ago. Robert Webber has now released a sequel which describes what is happening with the emerging generation --­ The Younger Evangelicals.

These are the evangelicals from the first generation to grow up in a world which overtly embraced the outlook and values of postmodernism. “They are evangelical in their faith and practice but very different than traditional or pragmatic evangelicals of the twentieth century... They want a faith that is biblically informed and historically tested as well. But, because they are products of a new culture, the younger evangelicals explain and present the faith differently. The clash between twentieth- and twenty-first-century evangelicals is not over truth but over the cultural garb in which truth is clothed.” (pp. 16-17)

Webber contends that American evangelicalism has gone through three eras in the past 50 years. The “traditional evangelicals” were the dominant force between 1950 and 1975 (the Billy Graham types). The last 25 years of the twenty-first-century was defined by the “pragmatic evangelicals” (the Bill Hybel types), and now the “younger evangelicals” (the Brian McLaren types).

According to Webber, among other things these evangelicals have recovered a biblical understanding of human nature, aren’t driven by American pragmatism, stand for the absolutes of the Christian faith in a new way, recognize that the road to the future runs through the past, are committed to the plight of the poor, are missional in their orientation, are willing to live by the rules, are technologically savvy, are highly visual in their orientation, value mystery, long for community, are committed to intergenerational ministry, prefer to start new churches than work through existing congregations, prefer smaller churches, and are ecumenical on a grassroots level.

They are much more likely to utilize liturgical elements than their predecessors. And they reject slick tightly orchestrated programs that are more show than “real”. The younger evangelicals are “longing for an encounter with God’s presence.” (p. 191)

The book contains a brief introduction to postmodern thought as a background for understanding this generation. Also, as a bonus, there is a fine little summary of Lesslie Newbigin’s missional theology ­ which many see as a backbone to the movement.

This is typical Webber --­ straddling the line between academic and popular. It reflects his own “convergence” orientation and in some ways is his attempt to steer the movement that direction. Younger Evangelicals is one of his better books and should be read in companion with Ancient-Future Faith. The new book is not at all critical in its orientation and you get the sense Webber is definitely excited about what is happening in the church.

Of course, trying to describe an emerging movement is like trying to draw a detailed picture of a bullet train as it passes. It will be interesting to review his assessment when The Even Younger Evangelicals is released in 2025. At that point I think we’ll note that he didn’t see how much this is a trans-atlantic movement and that the North Americans are strongly influenced by a similar generational movement in Europe --­ particularly the UK.

The Younger Evangelicals is definitely worth moving toward the top of your reading list.

A few quotes:

+­> “The younger evangelical is returning to basics, to broad strokes and an eclectic Christianity held together by traditions that have lasted for centuries. The emphasis is more on ‘what does it mean to be Christian?’ and less on the particulars that once defined what it meant to be a strict fundamentalist or traditionalist type of evangelical. This new shift toward basics affirmed by the whole church prepares the church for its twenty-first-century battle with postmodern relativism and for its comparison with world religions, especially the faith of Islam.” (p. 59)

+> “It is interesting that for the most part younger evangelicals are committed to start-up churches. Many existing churches, most perhaps, still function in the modern established pattern and are fearful to take the kind of risks it takes to become a post-Constantinian church. This may explain why so many of the younger evangelicals are church planters. They feel the investment of time it takes to change an existing institutional church is hardly worth it. Like the fundamentalists of the early part of the twentieth century, they have turned toward new soil, especially in the inner cities and among the poor. Here, among people who have no tradition to uphold and no denominational battles to fight, the younger evangelicals find open minds and hearts to the fresh winds of the gospel.

“In sum the younger evangelicals differ with the traditionalists and the pragmatists. They reject the traditionalist notion of the ‘purity of the church’ or the ‘Great Commission ecclesiology’ as too reductionistic. And they have turned away from the megachurch movement to find a visible smaller fellowship of believers drawn from all traditions that affirms the whole church and seeks to embody Christ’s presence in a particular neighborhood, often in the city.” (p. 122)

+> "A major problem of the market-driven church is that it is so immersed with the culture that it has become enmeshed with it. The younger evangelicals, on the other hand, are recovering the church as counterculture. The church, this view argues, should not seek to integrate itself with culture or to baptize culture. Instead, the church should see itself as a mission to culture. The church as the instrument of God is called to carry out God's mission in culture, calling people to come under the reign of God through Jesus Christ." (p. 132)

+> “The current change in worship taste and style is indeed a reflection of our shift into a postmodern world. The culture of post-2000 is very different than that of the sixties and seventies. It is a culture tired of noise, turned off by phoniness, sick of glitz, and wary of the superficial. It is a culture searching for an authentic encounter with God, longing for depth and substance, craving quiet and spiritual contemplation and moved by visual, tactile forms of communication.” (pp. 189-190)