The Vanishing Evangelical: Saving the Church from Its Own Success by Restoring What Really Matters

by Calvin Miller

Evangelicalism faces an uncertain future. In this book, written just before his death, Calvin Miller takes a critical and prophetic look at the movement he loved, believing we can only shape the future if we understand the present. American evangelicalism, he warns, has largely adapted to the culture and as a result, is waning in its vitality and influence.

Rather than counting on some grand revival, Miller writes that revitalizing the heart of evangelical Christianity will instead happen one person at a time. The Vanishing Evangelical looks at the broad cultural influences that are shaping the whole movement, and Miller's sage counsel challenges the reader to confront these forces personally and take steps toward a personal, vital spirituality.

Genres: Christian

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2013

About the author

Calvin Miller has written over 40 books of popular theology and inspiration. A former pastor, he is professor of preaching and pastoral ministry at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He and his wife, Joyce, have two grown children.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calvin Miller first came to my attention as a student when The Singer/The Song/The Finale were published and captured our imaginations as a wonderful retelling of the story of the New Testament. Miller was not only a prolific author (over 40 books) but a pastor who took a church plant in Omaha from 10 to 2500 in 25 years. In Andy Unedited-Remembering Calvin Miller InterVarsity Press editor Andy LePeau described Miller in this way:

What I loved about Calvin singer and about these times together was his joyful love of words. Of course, he was a voluble character with a ready smile. He always had something to say about what he was up to, his family, what he'd been reading or writing, or where he'd traveled.

This book was Miller's last, completed shortly before his death in 2012. In some ways, I wonder if there was time to edit this before his death. The love of words, the volubility, and the sharing of his thoughts, reading and writing run through this book. It is both a somewhat rambling and yet trenchant final testament to the "evangelical church". One senses Miller writing quickly, passionately, perhaps sensing that his own time is short. That's only speculation on my part but the book has that feel.

Miller's basic theme is that evangelicalism is in what he sees as an irreversible decline in North America. Throughout the book, he states that there will be no pendulum swing back. Why such a pessimistic assessment?

He contends that we have exchanged truth for relevance in our proclamation of the gospel and made significant compromises with the culture. He sees us infatuated with growth and technology when real transformation occurs person by person in intimate encounters. He believes preaching has divorced mind and heart. Denominations have lost any confessional distinctiveness and are simply communities of common interest and demographics that are rapidly hemorrhaging members.

He has little hope for evangelical institutions. His advice and concluding encouragements are to personal spiritual renewal and a recovery of personal one to one gospel ministry. He does see vitality in the church in other parts of the world but says little about the significance of this for the North American church.

I was torn in many ways in reading this book. Having been impressed elsewhere with Miller's use of language, I was surprised by the infelicities of language and grammar. While sharing many of the concerns Miller articulates, I felt he made sweeping generalizations that often lacked good supporting argument or acknowledged counter-trends. Reading this through the eyes of the younger believers I work with who challenge me with the vibrancy of their faith, I fear they would see this as the venting of an old curmudgeon, out of touch with the ways God is at work in their generation.

What I think this book actually chronicles are the ways that the boomer generation lost its way from the days of the Jesus movement and the "year of the evangelical" (1976) to the present. The value for younger readers is to avoid repeating or amplifying these errors. For all who read this book, I think it should be read as a passionate plea and a compelling "last testament" to return to Christ as our first love and a life of devotion, holiness and gospel faithfulness.

This review is based on an e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Carter Hemphill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers that the author comes across as quite grumpy about the state of the church in America, yet if you get past those first impressions the author provides a scathing and at times accurate picture of the shallowness of the American church today. I agreed with his indictment of the megachurches and their weak focus on missions. While some chapters are forgettable, there are some good nuggets of perspective in the book.

[Blake Western · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book details what the author understands to be the demise of evangelicalism as a movement in the USA. There are statements that will hit hard but are undeniably true. However, the book runs the risk of all generalizations. It is definitely pessimistic in outlook and the author spends most of the book on the criticisms and little on "solutions." The book is well worth reading and considering thoughtfully.

[Jeff Bjorgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The Vanishing Evangelical" Calvin Miller is grumpy. And when he's grumpy he's at his most articulate. Published after his death, the book takes a turn from some of his late writings that are full of hope and humour ("Letters to a Young Pastor" and "Life is Mostly Edges" comes to mind). Indeed, he's not convinced that evangelicalism will survive. Scathing in his critique of how the church has adopted a consuming approach to worship, a secular approach to management and conversion, and a technological approach to mystery and knowledge, Miller pleads for the reader to get back to an engaged faith. Some of the ways forward, for Miller, are to recapture a vision for Christian virtues as well as re-engage the spiritual disciplines. Although I would personally have a more hopeful view of evangelicalism as a whole, Miller's critique is food for thought, and although painfully blunt and at times out right cynical, I can't help but think his analysis is right on so many levels.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the last book Miller wrote before he died. It is a perceptive book. As a retired Christian bookseller who has been watching the evangelical church since the 70s, I think Miller has got it right. The evangelical church in America is in demise. He has a great analysis as to how it has gotten to this place. And he did not hold much hope for its restoration. We need to concentrate, he wrote, on our individual spirituality. We preserve the whole by concentrating on the parts.
This is not a message evangelicals want to hear. But Miller sensed that time is short. We cannot ignore the church's present condition. Individuals must restore their spiritual vitality now, and he gives several suggestions on how that can be done. See my full review at http://bit.ly/1aVYVBF.

[Wayne Presnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cranky... but very good. I agree with most of his conclusions. I respect the man who made them.