The Church of Jesus Christ is in trouble. Evidence of decay can be found by those who bother to look. It is true that we must heartily appreciate the numerous evidences of Christian vitality. But much of this vitality has not penetrated the traditional structures of congregational or parish life.
We are living in a post-Christian age in the West. The situation in Europe is appalling. In traditionally Protestant lands church attendance does not exceed five per cent of the population. In Sweden a recent survey reveals that 83 per cent of its people do not believe in a life after death.
In the United States church attendance reportedly hovers around forty per cent, but beneath the surface decline is detectable. Several denominations have been undergoing division because of alterations in their respective doctrinal and ecclesiastical stances. The Episcopal Church is lately in the news as the result of parishes withdrawing. The (Southern) Presbyterian Church has seen the Presbyterian Church in America emerge largely from its ranks. Northern Presbyterians and Baptists and the Disciples of Christ divided earlier. The recent disruption of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is a marked exception to the trend. It represents one of the few cases in which the advocates of change departed from the older institutions rather than the contenders for traditional views.
Other denominations that have not divided have seen the emergence of strong pressure groups protesting what they believe to be significant departures from their founding principles. The Southern Baptist Convention has witnessed the rise of the Baptist Faith and Mission Fellowship within its ranks to protest increasing toleration of beliefs outside the historic latitude permitted in its constituency. New graduate seminaries in Memphis (Mid-America) and in Jacksonville (Luther Rice) by and for Southern Baptists, which are independent of the denominational control that characterizes the older seminaries, are a significant indication of declining trust. Counterparts among the United Presbyterians are Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns and the Presbyterian Lay Committee, publishers of a large circulation magazine.
Such divisions, and such protest groups that are often the forerunners of divisions, would not occur if Protestant denominations were still contending fervently for that faith that the Reformers sought to promote. Division in the sixteenth century resulted in a new burst of evangelical proclamation and enthusiasm. Division in our century is too often a testimony to the dimming of a once bright light.
The decline of missionary outreach in the face of continuing needs by so many of the older denominations is another indication of decay. The United Presbyterians have reduced their overseas task force by approximately two thirds from its peak. The United Methodists have reduced theirs by approximately one half. Both churches have been steadily losing members at home over the last decade. While many groups that once were staunch heralds of the Gospel are forfeiting their leadership, the number of missionaries for non-Christian eastern religions in the Western world is rising. Likewise Christian deviations such as Jehovah’s Witness, Mormonism, or the Unification Church seem to have little trouble in making headway with the zealous proclamation of their erroneous messages.
Times were also bleak for the Christian Church as it entered the sixteenth century after Christ. It could have seemed hopeless that it would ever again be an effective and fruitful agency for the ongoing mission committed to it by its Lord. Over the centuries there had been efforts at renewal, but by 1517, as events were later to prove, reformation—and the accompanying heart-wrenching separations and costly struggles—was the course to be taken.
Those who were then holding power in the historic institutions could not be persuaded to reinstate the biblical proclamation at the center of their churchmanship. Now in our time those holding power in the large churches of Europe and America descended from the Reformers have to face a similar question. Will the power of the Gospel once again surge through as in former days? Or is a new reformation aborning?
A New Post For David E. Kucharsky
Senior Editor David Eugene Kucharsky is leaving our staff to become editor of Christian Herald. It is with regret that he is leaving and best wishes for his future that we make this announcement.
Kucharsky has served the readers of CHRISTIANITY TODAY far longer than any other staff member. He first appeared on our masthead as news editor with the January 6, 1958, issue when CHRISTIANITY TODAY was just over a year old. He served in that capacity until the issue of April 14, 1967, when he was promoted to associate editor. Subsequently his title was changed to managing editor and then to senior editor with essentially the same duties. He has been an effective right-hand man of the editor, with responsibilities for day-by-day oversight of the magazine. He has written many editorials, some of which have been quoted widely in the secular press. He has contributed special reports to the News section even when he was no longer its editor and has been the principal screener of articles submitted to us. But his role as a steadying, calming influence amid all the hurly-burly of a magazine’s routine has been just as important. Editor Harold Lindsell says of him:
“Gene is a splendid Christian gentleman whose integrity is unquestioned, whose personal life is immaculate, and who has been a comrade, friend, and confidant for many years. His new post will enable him to use his gifts advantageously. He brings with him a wealth of experience, a wide circle of friends and acquaintances upon whom he can call for assistance, and a spirit of good will and of Christian compassion and concern that will endear him to readers and co-laborers alike.”
Christian Herald is an interdenominational monthly based in a suburb north of New York City. It has a circulation of 270,000 and a distinguished ninety-nine year history of service to a general reading audience. Although we regret losing him, we know that he is going to a post where he can serve even more people through quality Christian journalism.
‘The Jesus Mania’
Some people are annoyed by all the fuss attending the evangelical resurgence. The Saturday Review cover story for September 17 painted a less than laudatory picture of what it calls “The Jesus Mania—Bigotry in the Name of the Lord.” Author Dwayne Walls pans “fundamentalist, evangelical Christians” as “anti-intellectual.” He groups charismatics, Messianic Jews, and admirers of pastor-television personalities such as Robert Schuller and Rex Humbard as potentially “intolerant, presumptuous, and pushy.”
“The Jesus movement’s excesses,” says Walls, “rur directly against the American precepts of respect for one’s fellowman and tolerance … of a multinational, multifaith society.” Yet to strive for converts is by no means equivalent to denying freedom for other religions to do the same. It is one of the distinctives of America that we have such a freedom.
Although identified as the son of a Baptist preacher, Walls shows little discernment between the Gospel as it is faithfully proclaimed and practiced and the inconsistencies of those who claim to believe it. His background might suggest a familiarity with Christianity. Yet he laments its turning “away from the theology of good works and toward a theology of salvation by faith alone.” At least Walls has learned something about the true Gospel from what he calls the “Jesus mania.” Even more significant is that his pejorative description is a fairly accurate presentation of our calling: “The entire movement, it seems, has one common denominator: an unyielding determination to exalt Jesus Christ and make every living soul his follower.” If we must be criticized, at least it’s for what we are trying to do.
Nevertheless, many of the excesses Walls laments are indeed valid. There are zealots, many of whom are orthodox Christians, who “take the conversion of their fellowman as the supreme act of faith.” We need to remember that true conversion lies with God. Christians are to bear witness to the light, but badgering, browbeating, and arm-twisting offends the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit. If our lives and the manner of our testimonies contradict God’s love as seen through Christ, our words may not be heard.
A Christian Chronicle Of the Capital
How do all those Christian politicians in the United States get along when their views toward social issues differ so widely?
Wallace Henley’s most recent book, Rebirth in Washington: The Christian Impact in the Nation’s Capital (Good News Publishers), tackles that question along with a number of others people have about spiritual life in the nation’s capital. Henley brings to his analysis his insights as a preacher and newsman as well as his experience as a White House aide under President Nixon. The result is a readable work that deserves the attention of all evangelicals who are concerned about the lack of or extent of the influence of their faith upon national life. Henley has served as a pastor in various Southern Baptist churches and before going to Washington he was religion editor of the Birmingham News.
There is a certain spiritual vitality in Washington no matter who is President. In the midst of much-publicized political turmoil, dedicated Christians are quietly at work, not changing social structures as much as rescuing gifted individuals from the grip of evil by pointing them to Jesus Christ. Only in heaven will we know all the victories that are being won, but Henley’s account will encourage many people who despair about our country’s future.
That is not to say that Henley overlooks the seamy side of the city. He shows that he is only too aware of the way selfish, power-hungry individuals maneuver and manipulate people. He also understands what the pressures of political life can lead to. He notes, for example, that “if Americans really understood the scope of the alcohol problem in Washington, they would be terrified.”
This book is a sequel to his earlier work, The White House Mystique (Revell, 1976; Charles Colson wrote the foreword). Earlier he wrote Enter at Your Own Risk (Revell, 1974). All three books contain narrative and autobiographical elements that bring the material to life and that help establish Henley as an important reporter on Christian influence in contemporary American politics.
On Billy Graham And the WECEF
Billy Graham is a member of the Board of Directors of CHRISTIANITY TODAY. He has made headlines recently not only because of his trip to Hungary but also because of a story that appeared in the Charlotte, N.C. Observer, which was widely quoted around America. The story implied that he had a hidden fund of twenty-three million dollars. That is untrue. The fund was not hidden and there was plenty of evidence to the contrary. Associated Press columnist George Cornell wrote a column to that effect and other people in the media, including Barbara Walters, came to Graham’s aid.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the World Evangelism and Christian Education Fund (WECEF) are legally separate organizations. Formation of the latter was announced to the press in December of 1971. The WECEF started because Graham wanted to raise money for a missionary center to continue the work of world evangelization, to open a lay persons’ Bible training center, and to financially assist Christian organizations working in such areas as education, relief, and communications. This magazine is one of the organizations to receive financial help. Beginning this year audited reports of the BGEA will also be made public.
Many wealthy Christians want to help Christian causes, but they don’t want to start foundations. The WECEF answers this need. People can designate that donations be used for certain purposes, and the WECEF will see that it’s done.
Good will come from all of this. The Christian public is well aware of the extent of Graham’s ministry and his desire that the Gospel be preached to all the world. I hope the foundation will quickly reach a hundred or two hundred million dollars—a small amount in view of the world’s spiritual needs. And I intend to help.
The Editor
