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Church of Cowards: A Wake-Up Call to Complacent Christians
What Would You Surrender for God?
Christians in the Middle East, in much of Asia, and in Africa are still being martyred for the faith, but how many American Christians are willing to lay down their smartphones, let alone their lives, for the faith?
Being a Christian in America doesn’t require much these days. Suburban megachurches are more like entertainment venues than places to worship God. The lives that American “Christians” lead aren’t much different from those of their atheist neighbors, and their knowledge of theology isn’t much better either.
Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire exposes the pitiful state of Christianity in America today, lays out the stakes for us, our families, and our eternal salvation, and invites us to a faith that’s a lot less easy and comfortable—but that’s more real and actually worth something.
The spiritual junk food we’re stuffing ourselves with is never going to satisfy. As St. Augustine said over a millennium ago, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Only God Himself can make our lives anything but ultimately meaningless and empty. And we will never get anywhere near Him if we refuse to take up our cross and follow Jesus.
This rousing call to the real adventure of a living faith is a wake-up call to complacent Christians and a rallying cry for anyone dissatisfied with a lukewarm faith.
Christians in the Middle East, in much of Asia, and in Africa are still being martyred for the faith, but how many American Christians are willing to lay down their smartphones, let alone their lives, for the faith?
Being a Christian in America doesn’t require much these days. Suburban megachurches are more like entertainment venues than places to worship God. The lives that American “Christians” lead aren’t much different from those of their atheist neighbors, and their knowledge of theology isn’t much better either.
Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire exposes the pitiful state of Christianity in America today, lays out the stakes for us, our families, and our eternal salvation, and invites us to a faith that’s a lot less easy and comfortable—but that’s more real and actually worth something.
The spiritual junk food we’re stuffing ourselves with is never going to satisfy. As St. Augustine said over a millennium ago, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Only God Himself can make our lives anything but ultimately meaningless and empty. And we will never get anywhere near Him if we refuse to take up our cross and follow Jesus.
This rousing call to the real adventure of a living faith is a wake-up call to complacent Christians and a rallying cry for anyone dissatisfied with a lukewarm faith.
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2020
387 people are currently reading
3133 people want to read
About the author
Matt Walsh
4 books466 followersMatt Walsh is a popular writer, speaker, and one of the Right's most influential voices. He is the host of The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh Show, where he boldly tackles the tough subjects and speaks out on faith and culture in a way that connects with his generation and beyond. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and young children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 284 reviews
June 2, 2020
My expectations of this book were somewhat low because all I knew of Matt Walsh was that he is a controversial conservative provocateur. It turns out he is much more theologically aware than I imagined, and in this book he presents a stiff and sobering challenge to people who profess to be believers but whose basic convictions and lifestyles are not worthy of being called Christian.
Yes, Walsh is definitely opinionated and unyielding, but the reader should not miss that he often includes himself among those who fall woefully short and are in need of mercy. This softens the blow a bit when he goes on the warpath against professed Christians who minimize the importance of good works, who see Jesus as little more than a casual buddy, who deny that pain and suffering should be expected in the believer’s life, who dismiss Satan as fictional, who shift their moral stance based on public opinion, who exalt tolerance and a false compassion, who allow Netflix and the Internet to dominate their mind’s attention, and who neglect the importance of the organized local church. All very relevant and legitimate challenges that the church needs to hear.
Walsh is a pointed and compelling writer also:
“A Christian who rarely prays at all, and never on his knees, and goes to church mostly to socialize, and never displays anything like reverence in church or outside of it, is acting like a person would act if he didn’t actually believe in his God at all. And if the Christian doesn’t believe it, thinks the atheist, why should he?” (p.50).
“To adopt any part of the world’s view on the question of homosexual marriage or homosexual acts, you simply have to deny, implicitly or explicitly, the truth and authority of Christianity. A person cannot go to the moon without leaving earth . . . In the same way, a person cannot adopt the morality of modern society without leaving the Christian faith behind.” (p.99).
“We cannot hope to be a light to the world if we get lost in the world’s darkness. We cannot transform what has already transformed us. This means we must establish boundaries between ourselves and the world. We must be set apart. We modern Christians may claim that we are ‘in the world, not of it,’ but the truth is that most of us are both in and of it.” (p.137).
My biggest complaint, and the reason I only gave this book 3 stars, is that Walsh seems a little confused about the essence of the gospel. He does refer to Christ’s atonement from time to time, but will also say things like, “He (Christ) did everything for us that he possibly could,” but in addition to that, “we must love” (p.42), as if Christ is incapable of fully saving us unless we put forth the effort to love. Or, when he compares getting into heaven to climbing a mountain, adding that it doesn’t matter how far we’ve climbed, but only that we start the journey and do the best we can (p.182). This is not the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus climbed the mountain for us, and now we can completely rest in his redemptive work on our behalf.
But as is the case with all healthy reading, we must always think critically, take what is good and spit out the bones. And there is much good in this book for Christians to consider.
Yes, Walsh is definitely opinionated and unyielding, but the reader should not miss that he often includes himself among those who fall woefully short and are in need of mercy. This softens the blow a bit when he goes on the warpath against professed Christians who minimize the importance of good works, who see Jesus as little more than a casual buddy, who deny that pain and suffering should be expected in the believer’s life, who dismiss Satan as fictional, who shift their moral stance based on public opinion, who exalt tolerance and a false compassion, who allow Netflix and the Internet to dominate their mind’s attention, and who neglect the importance of the organized local church. All very relevant and legitimate challenges that the church needs to hear.
Walsh is a pointed and compelling writer also:
“A Christian who rarely prays at all, and never on his knees, and goes to church mostly to socialize, and never displays anything like reverence in church or outside of it, is acting like a person would act if he didn’t actually believe in his God at all. And if the Christian doesn’t believe it, thinks the atheist, why should he?” (p.50).
“To adopt any part of the world’s view on the question of homosexual marriage or homosexual acts, you simply have to deny, implicitly or explicitly, the truth and authority of Christianity. A person cannot go to the moon without leaving earth . . . In the same way, a person cannot adopt the morality of modern society without leaving the Christian faith behind.” (p.99).
“We cannot hope to be a light to the world if we get lost in the world’s darkness. We cannot transform what has already transformed us. This means we must establish boundaries between ourselves and the world. We must be set apart. We modern Christians may claim that we are ‘in the world, not of it,’ but the truth is that most of us are both in and of it.” (p.137).
My biggest complaint, and the reason I only gave this book 3 stars, is that Walsh seems a little confused about the essence of the gospel. He does refer to Christ’s atonement from time to time, but will also say things like, “He (Christ) did everything for us that he possibly could,” but in addition to that, “we must love” (p.42), as if Christ is incapable of fully saving us unless we put forth the effort to love. Or, when he compares getting into heaven to climbing a mountain, adding that it doesn’t matter how far we’ve climbed, but only that we start the journey and do the best we can (p.182). This is not the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus climbed the mountain for us, and now we can completely rest in his redemptive work on our behalf.
But as is the case with all healthy reading, we must always think critically, take what is good and spit out the bones. And there is much good in this book for Christians to consider.
April 10, 2022
I agree with about 60% of this book. The 40% that I disagreed with really bothered me.
Matt Walsh would probably tell me that that 40% bothered me because I am not truly a believer; I am blinded by sin and cannot see that his words are all true. He has a very all or nothing view of Christianity. He refers to Christian leaders he disagrees with as apostates and heathens; he only once implies that the church should go back to killing these apostates though. I'm getting ahead of myself.
The book opens on it's lowest note. Right off the bat Walsh indulges in a bizarre fantasy in which a group of (Muslims I think?) people come to America to persecute Christians. They are really hellbent on persecuting Christians but bizarrely walk around making sure these Christians are theologically sound. They are really shocked by the Christians because they support abortion and indulging "men dressed as women" in their "illusion". They apparently are shocked by this, but don't feel it's worth persecuting. They call the Christians too "Effeminate." Walsh refers to people he disagrees with as effeminate a fair amount, he likes to call "liberal pastors" limp wristed as well. In the end one of the Christians professes the apostles creed (plus some extra so we know he's a good conservative). The Christians then crucify him. The people who came to persecute Christians leave disappointed. Oddly enough Walsh portrays the potential persecutors as agreeing with him on everything, but also wanting to kill him for it. It's really odd.
I feel like I can just finish here because that bizarre paragraph shows a lot of the problems here. Walsh is incapable of taking anything those who disagree with him say seriously and views it all as capitulating to culture. He has a very dualistic view of the world, and any wrong belief puts you in the realm of the devil.
It was at this point that I looked up who he was and realized that he was that blogger I'd occasionally see in my newsfeed 5 or 6 years ago. For some reason my brain is incapable of remembering his name. I keep having to double check it even now. This is a comment about me, not him.
There's a lot of things I agree with. I agree the church often loses its way and its focus. I agree Sunday service should be about Christ and I agree that Christianity is a religion not a relationship. That's all good. I even found myself laughing with him occasionally. There were whole chapters where I thought that I had misjudged him by that intro paragraph. I was occasionally bothered by his habit of defending his argument by spitting out the references for a bunch of bible verses out of context. It's just a bad and slightly dishonest way to defend a position, and relies on people not looking them up. That said, I think calling it dishonest is wrong; I wholeheartedly believe that Walsh believes he is right about everything he ever says, or at least that's how he presents himself.
Then I got to the later chapters where he goes off the rails again. Walsh spends quite a lot of time talking about how much he doesn't like transgender people. I honestly am not sure how it's even relevant. He mostly talks a lot about how if he uses the "wrong" pronoun for someone then he is lying about them. It's an odd argument, but more importantly it felt very irrelevant to the overall topic of the book.
Walsh also hates the public school system; he says that it exists primarily to indoctrinate children into our culture. He's not entirely wrong, but the only real example of this he gives is another rant about transgender people and how the school system apparently spends a lot of time on that topic. As a teacher, I haven't noticed this but maybe like a frog in water I'm just too immersed and can no longer recognize that that's all I'm teaching (that was a joke; I shouldn't clarify that, but I felt a need to).
The main concern I had though came from an overwhelming feeling throughout the book which I would best describe as worm theology. Worm Theology comes from a line in a hymn by Isaac Watts; "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I." This was prevalent throughout the whole book, but especially the later part of it. Walsh hates the word self esteem. He considers high self esteem to be a mental illness and low self esteem to be correct. He says we should feel shame and dislike ourselves because that is our correct place. We should have no shame in God, but we should have shame in ourselves. I can't agree with this, although I guess it's appropriate for me the Lutheran to be incensed at a Catholic (I think?) overemphasizing shame and seemingly commanding me to live in crippling self hatred. I already suffer from too much self hatred, I don't need Matt telling me that those few times I feel good are lies from the Devil. My depression is not God's will for me; I will not accept Matt telling me that the times I am not depressed are the problem.
The problem here is law without the Gospel. Matt spends around a page or two talking about the hope we gain in Christ. After a couple hundred pages of burdening crippling law that is just not enough. The law points to our need for Christ, Christ forgives us and releases us from that burden, to then call ourselves a worm is to tell Christ that his sacrifice was not enough, that his love and forgiveness has no power.
At some point I switched from using his last name to his first. I don't know why.
Am I criticizing a Catholic (??) for not being Lutheran enough? Yes.
Does that make me the same as Matt? No, because I believe that he's still a Christian even though I think he's wrong about a lot of things.
PS. He's a Catholic, right?
Matt Walsh would probably tell me that that 40% bothered me because I am not truly a believer; I am blinded by sin and cannot see that his words are all true. He has a very all or nothing view of Christianity. He refers to Christian leaders he disagrees with as apostates and heathens; he only once implies that the church should go back to killing these apostates though. I'm getting ahead of myself.
The book opens on it's lowest note. Right off the bat Walsh indulges in a bizarre fantasy in which a group of (Muslims I think?) people come to America to persecute Christians. They are really hellbent on persecuting Christians but bizarrely walk around making sure these Christians are theologically sound. They are really shocked by the Christians because they support abortion and indulging "men dressed as women" in their "illusion". They apparently are shocked by this, but don't feel it's worth persecuting. They call the Christians too "Effeminate." Walsh refers to people he disagrees with as effeminate a fair amount, he likes to call "liberal pastors" limp wristed as well. In the end one of the Christians professes the apostles creed (plus some extra so we know he's a good conservative). The Christians then crucify him. The people who came to persecute Christians leave disappointed. Oddly enough Walsh portrays the potential persecutors as agreeing with him on everything, but also wanting to kill him for it. It's really odd.
I feel like I can just finish here because that bizarre paragraph shows a lot of the problems here. Walsh is incapable of taking anything those who disagree with him say seriously and views it all as capitulating to culture. He has a very dualistic view of the world, and any wrong belief puts you in the realm of the devil.
It was at this point that I looked up who he was and realized that he was that blogger I'd occasionally see in my newsfeed 5 or 6 years ago. For some reason my brain is incapable of remembering his name. I keep having to double check it even now. This is a comment about me, not him.
There's a lot of things I agree with. I agree the church often loses its way and its focus. I agree Sunday service should be about Christ and I agree that Christianity is a religion not a relationship. That's all good. I even found myself laughing with him occasionally. There were whole chapters where I thought that I had misjudged him by that intro paragraph. I was occasionally bothered by his habit of defending his argument by spitting out the references for a bunch of bible verses out of context. It's just a bad and slightly dishonest way to defend a position, and relies on people not looking them up. That said, I think calling it dishonest is wrong; I wholeheartedly believe that Walsh believes he is right about everything he ever says, or at least that's how he presents himself.
Then I got to the later chapters where he goes off the rails again. Walsh spends quite a lot of time talking about how much he doesn't like transgender people. I honestly am not sure how it's even relevant. He mostly talks a lot about how if he uses the "wrong" pronoun for someone then he is lying about them. It's an odd argument, but more importantly it felt very irrelevant to the overall topic of the book.
Walsh also hates the public school system; he says that it exists primarily to indoctrinate children into our culture. He's not entirely wrong, but the only real example of this he gives is another rant about transgender people and how the school system apparently spends a lot of time on that topic. As a teacher, I haven't noticed this but maybe like a frog in water I'm just too immersed and can no longer recognize that that's all I'm teaching (that was a joke; I shouldn't clarify that, but I felt a need to).
The main concern I had though came from an overwhelming feeling throughout the book which I would best describe as worm theology. Worm Theology comes from a line in a hymn by Isaac Watts; "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I." This was prevalent throughout the whole book, but especially the later part of it. Walsh hates the word self esteem. He considers high self esteem to be a mental illness and low self esteem to be correct. He says we should feel shame and dislike ourselves because that is our correct place. We should have no shame in God, but we should have shame in ourselves. I can't agree with this, although I guess it's appropriate for me the Lutheran to be incensed at a Catholic (I think?) overemphasizing shame and seemingly commanding me to live in crippling self hatred. I already suffer from too much self hatred, I don't need Matt telling me that those few times I feel good are lies from the Devil. My depression is not God's will for me; I will not accept Matt telling me that the times I am not depressed are the problem.
The problem here is law without the Gospel. Matt spends around a page or two talking about the hope we gain in Christ. After a couple hundred pages of burdening crippling law that is just not enough. The law points to our need for Christ, Christ forgives us and releases us from that burden, to then call ourselves a worm is to tell Christ that his sacrifice was not enough, that his love and forgiveness has no power.
At some point I switched from using his last name to his first. I don't know why.
Am I criticizing a Catholic (??) for not being Lutheran enough? Yes.
Does that make me the same as Matt? No, because I believe that he's still a Christian even though I think he's wrong about a lot of things.
PS. He's a Catholic, right?
April 7, 2023
This book hurt. Bad. It confronted a lot of the "good enough " ideas that I have about faith. Very convicting and life changing. I wish I had the courage that Matt has to speak the truth even though it is painful to hear.
November 3, 2022
Gripping from the very first chapter!
I admire Walsh for his desire and fearlessness in speaking truth in a world that's going off the rails. In this book, he challenges Christians to truly evaluate if they're living their faith or merely living for themselves while proclaiming to believe in God. The more I've learned about progressive "Christianity", the more I'm concerned for the future of those who are so willing to discount the Word of God in favor of a god of their own design. This was well done and Biblically sound, tackling true obedience and shying away from legalism.
I admire Walsh for his desire and fearlessness in speaking truth in a world that's going off the rails. In this book, he challenges Christians to truly evaluate if they're living their faith or merely living for themselves while proclaiming to believe in God. The more I've learned about progressive "Christianity", the more I'm concerned for the future of those who are so willing to discount the Word of God in favor of a god of their own design. This was well done and Biblically sound, tackling true obedience and shying away from legalism.
March 11, 2021
This was an insightful and convicting book. I didn’t always agree on certain points of his theology (he’s Roman Catholic and I’m Lutheran), but his cause and conclusion are on point. Definitely a good read for anyone who wants to know how the church in America got to where it is, and a must read for American Christians. It will give you the slap upside the head that we all need.
Our self-righteousness is in need of a wake-up call, and that is what this book is for. It is an insightful "wake-up call to complacent Christians," convicting us to acknowledge and wrestle with what we actually believe and what we are called to believe.
http://madelynrosecraig.com/2020/11/0...
Our self-righteousness is in need of a wake-up call, and that is what this book is for. It is an insightful "wake-up call to complacent Christians," convicting us to acknowledge and wrestle with what we actually believe and what we are called to believe.
http://madelynrosecraig.com/2020/11/0...
June 19, 2020
As a Christian who has become increasingly saddened and disillusioned by the current state of our church, I was intrigued by the title of this book when I saw it on a shelf at Barnes & Noble. Have we really become a “Church of Cowards?” I asked myself. Matt Walsh lays out a powerful and insightful argument for the failures and fall of the church as we have morphed into the culture surrounding us. No topic is off limits when he throws it against the backdrop of scripture.
He covers topics such as:
-Gender identity issues and the push to force acceptance and silence dissenting views
- Our current education system and why so many are turning to homeschooling their children.
-The importance of quiet time with no screens to create a spiritual buffer zone. He contends internet usage is now a part of our brain and how dangerous it is to let machines do our thinking for us.
-The lack of bibles, crosses, quiet time, prayer, and reverence in many modern churches and how they dare not let one second of quiet reflection time during their loud and busy services.
-The necessity of church and religion for man as ordained by God, although clearly often failing in manner due to being run by sinful men.
-The prosperity gospel and anti-Christian modern doctrine of self-esteem taking over in our pulpits.
-The inability to separate mercy from repentance.
-Our aversion to shame but not sin that causes the shame.
- The multiplication of desires in our culture and the church focus on the here and now instead of eternity.
These topics are all fair game to explore, discuss, and disect with the scalpel of scripture. The church is in desperate need of a surgeon to rid us of the disease of self.
Matt Walsh puts it like this....”We try to entice the world into the church by fashioning the church to look and sound exactly like the world. In the end, we are welcoming the world back into itself. We are welcoming it to remain exactly where it is, doing exactly what it was already doing. We are not inviting the homeless into our home so that he can get warm. We are rather tearing down our own walls and inviting the homeless man to freeze alongside us. He is just as cold as he was before, and nobody is better off.”
A must read for every Christian. Read with an open mind and heart. Dare to examine yourself, your culture, and yes even your church.
He covers topics such as:
-Gender identity issues and the push to force acceptance and silence dissenting views
- Our current education system and why so many are turning to homeschooling their children.
-The importance of quiet time with no screens to create a spiritual buffer zone. He contends internet usage is now a part of our brain and how dangerous it is to let machines do our thinking for us.
-The lack of bibles, crosses, quiet time, prayer, and reverence in many modern churches and how they dare not let one second of quiet reflection time during their loud and busy services.
-The necessity of church and religion for man as ordained by God, although clearly often failing in manner due to being run by sinful men.
-The prosperity gospel and anti-Christian modern doctrine of self-esteem taking over in our pulpits.
-The inability to separate mercy from repentance.
-Our aversion to shame but not sin that causes the shame.
- The multiplication of desires in our culture and the church focus on the here and now instead of eternity.
These topics are all fair game to explore, discuss, and disect with the scalpel of scripture. The church is in desperate need of a surgeon to rid us of the disease of self.
Matt Walsh puts it like this....”We try to entice the world into the church by fashioning the church to look and sound exactly like the world. In the end, we are welcoming the world back into itself. We are welcoming it to remain exactly where it is, doing exactly what it was already doing. We are not inviting the homeless into our home so that he can get warm. We are rather tearing down our own walls and inviting the homeless man to freeze alongside us. He is just as cold as he was before, and nobody is better off.”
A must read for every Christian. Read with an open mind and heart. Dare to examine yourself, your culture, and yes even your church.
February 26, 2020
Great wake-up call to all Christians!!
A very, very good, concise triage on the sad reality of the Christian faith in America today. We as a church aren't theologically or spiritually sound. We've drifted away from fighting the good fight;of being on fire for Christ. Matt Walsh does a great job calling this out,discussing how we should be of we call ourselves Christians and at least a partial solution to the problem. Sobering but also enlightening and uplifting to all earnestly seek Chris, desire Christ, and a way to lead back into the true and only way. Can't recommend this more, especially for Christians who need this sobering truth revealed to them.
A very, very good, concise triage on the sad reality of the Christian faith in America today. We as a church aren't theologically or spiritually sound. We've drifted away from fighting the good fight;of being on fire for Christ. Matt Walsh does a great job calling this out,discussing how we should be of we call ourselves Christians and at least a partial solution to the problem. Sobering but also enlightening and uplifting to all earnestly seek Chris, desire Christ, and a way to lead back into the true and only way. Can't recommend this more, especially for Christians who need this sobering truth revealed to them.
December 12, 2020
Two stars is generous. This was very hard to get through. The author seems to think the more words to say the same thing the better. Then there are the super extreme statements like “the simple fact is that when a kid is sent to public school, he’s expected to navigate and survive and thrive in a hostile, confusing, amoral environment.” Has he ever been in a school to make this judgment? Maybe worse, he sets up a straw man argument to defeat any arguments against his - if you don’t agree with him, it’s because you are one of the cowards he is addressing. There can be no rational discourse.
April 12, 2022
Harsh book is saying it mildly.
Although I do agree with about half or possibly a bit more than half with his observations, I don't with several of his arguments. He argues the religious disconnect superbly. It is not only Christianity for which most moderns have made a joke. Yet within reaction and course to cure within many judgments, he takes all cites from authority. When you argue almost universally from authority, there is always at least 75% of all thinking crowd that you lose.
And this case of the media, elites, cultures, societal norms, etc. etc. (you name them) being so perverted, selfish, core ignorant to others, let alone the pure evil actions and meanness generally abounding as if it were acceptable? He hits the nail on the head there.
I especially agree with his lack of consequences features and his organizational Christianity being perverted by the "tolerance" dictate. Jesus was forgiving. He was not tolerate of sin.
His Egyptian martyrs information really gave you a lot to think about. When so many people think even going to a Church once a week, or once a month is too much to ask.
Although I do agree with about half or possibly a bit more than half with his observations, I don't with several of his arguments. He argues the religious disconnect superbly. It is not only Christianity for which most moderns have made a joke. Yet within reaction and course to cure within many judgments, he takes all cites from authority. When you argue almost universally from authority, there is always at least 75% of all thinking crowd that you lose.
And this case of the media, elites, cultures, societal norms, etc. etc. (you name them) being so perverted, selfish, core ignorant to others, let alone the pure evil actions and meanness generally abounding as if it were acceptable? He hits the nail on the head there.
I especially agree with his lack of consequences features and his organizational Christianity being perverted by the "tolerance" dictate. Jesus was forgiving. He was not tolerate of sin.
His Egyptian martyrs information really gave you a lot to think about. When so many people think even going to a Church once a week, or once a month is too much to ask.
September 7, 2020
This atheist listens to Matt every week day. The book had some good points but some of the lessons were lost on me as I am a non believer. Even though, I think it was a decent argument. Check it out.
June 25, 2023
10/10 would recommend
Compelling and Vitilizing.
This book brings to light the harsh reality of what today's Christian has become.
Walsh hits on a lot of important subjects in a clear and concise manner. (It's not a long book-a little over 7 hours long for the audiobook and only half that time if you're like me and listen at 2x speed)
He backs his insights on not only his own experience, but history and more importantly Scripture.
I think this is something I'll be reading again to give myself a sort of mental (and spiritual) reset on where my piorities as a Christian need to be.
Content:
There's a section listing crimes against children done by members of the catholic clergy. A little too detailed for me to stomach, but there is some necessity in acknowledging the depravity that so permeates this world.
Compelling and Vitilizing.
This book brings to light the harsh reality of what today's Christian has become.
Walsh hits on a lot of important subjects in a clear and concise manner. (It's not a long book-a little over 7 hours long for the audiobook and only half that time if you're like me and listen at 2x speed)
He backs his insights on not only his own experience, but history and more importantly Scripture.
I think this is something I'll be reading again to give myself a sort of mental (and spiritual) reset on where my piorities as a Christian need to be.
Content:
There's a section listing crimes against children done by members of the catholic clergy. A little too detailed for me to stomach, but there is some necessity in acknowledging the depravity that so permeates this world.
July 17, 2020
This is one of the hardest reviews I've ever had to write.
On one hand, he is spot on. His book is convicting, eye-opening, and painfully honest. It hurts to read of my own flaws and failures in his pages and to see where I have been found lacking.
I've had many of these conversations with my wife. About how the people in our church completely lack any reverence for what we are doing, and about how the church has become a social club. I've canceled subscriptions and put down books based on the ideologies presented. I've "unfriended" people on social media, stopped listening to comics, speakers, and walked out of museums. Matt Walsh is right. I agree with him completely.
The question that Mr. Walsh never answers is: what am I supposed to do about it?
It is almost like listening to a leftist speak, Walsh tears everything down. Secular media, Christian media, going to church, not going to church, public school, private school, so forth and so on . . . but he never replaces it with anything. In the last two chapters he finally tells people to repent and seek God, but what does that look like?
He tears down Christian media for not being very good; but then tears into secular media because it is pure evil. He tears apart church settings and pastors who have compromised their faith, but then rips into people for not going to church. He destroys the public school setting, but then dismisses homeschooling and private schools. Nothing is ever good enough. Not in the theological sense, where of course nothing is good enough to compare to God, but in the practical sense of, then what am I supposed to do??? I have 80 years in this realm to spend my talents, to do the work, to make disciples, but . . . what does any of that look like?
Matt Walsh offers zero solutions to any of these issues, and seeks only to destroy. I almost put the book down around 130 pages because he didn't offer any solutions. A Christian cannot simply sit in their house, read their Bible, and flagellate themselves because the world is not good enough for God.
If that isn't enough, he then decides to give vocabulary lessons and explain how Christianity is indeed a religion.
Again, I AGREE with everything he says, but he has to offer some practical solutions. Homeschooling is a very viable option, board games instead of TV, house churches instead of traditional churches, something, anything, to give people an option. A call to repent is very badly needed, I agree, but where do they go from there? None of these are new problems, these aren't problems with American society, but problems with human nature. That is why Paul had to write about them in the first century. If you don't offer alternatives, then people will naturally go to whatever is easiest. If I can't win with Christian media, and I can't win with secular media, then what is the point of deciding between the two? I'll just go with whatever gives me the biggest thrill right now.
This book was so frustrating, from a man I would completely agree with and probably enjoy seeing speak. I like his show on the Daily Wire, I like his ideas. He is funny, topical, and seems like a really cool guy. Give me a solution, Mr. Walsh.
On one hand, he is spot on. His book is convicting, eye-opening, and painfully honest. It hurts to read of my own flaws and failures in his pages and to see where I have been found lacking.
I've had many of these conversations with my wife. About how the people in our church completely lack any reverence for what we are doing, and about how the church has become a social club. I've canceled subscriptions and put down books based on the ideologies presented. I've "unfriended" people on social media, stopped listening to comics, speakers, and walked out of museums. Matt Walsh is right. I agree with him completely.
The question that Mr. Walsh never answers is: what am I supposed to do about it?
It is almost like listening to a leftist speak, Walsh tears everything down. Secular media, Christian media, going to church, not going to church, public school, private school, so forth and so on . . . but he never replaces it with anything. In the last two chapters he finally tells people to repent and seek God, but what does that look like?
He tears down Christian media for not being very good; but then tears into secular media because it is pure evil. He tears apart church settings and pastors who have compromised their faith, but then rips into people for not going to church. He destroys the public school setting, but then dismisses homeschooling and private schools. Nothing is ever good enough. Not in the theological sense, where of course nothing is good enough to compare to God, but in the practical sense of, then what am I supposed to do??? I have 80 years in this realm to spend my talents, to do the work, to make disciples, but . . . what does any of that look like?
Matt Walsh offers zero solutions to any of these issues, and seeks only to destroy. I almost put the book down around 130 pages because he didn't offer any solutions. A Christian cannot simply sit in their house, read their Bible, and flagellate themselves because the world is not good enough for God.
If that isn't enough, he then decides to give vocabulary lessons and explain how Christianity is indeed a religion.
Again, I AGREE with everything he says, but he has to offer some practical solutions. Homeschooling is a very viable option, board games instead of TV, house churches instead of traditional churches, something, anything, to give people an option. A call to repent is very badly needed, I agree, but where do they go from there? None of these are new problems, these aren't problems with American society, but problems with human nature. That is why Paul had to write about them in the first century. If you don't offer alternatives, then people will naturally go to whatever is easiest. If I can't win with Christian media, and I can't win with secular media, then what is the point of deciding between the two? I'll just go with whatever gives me the biggest thrill right now.
This book was so frustrating, from a man I would completely agree with and probably enjoy seeing speak. I like his show on the Daily Wire, I like his ideas. He is funny, topical, and seems like a really cool guy. Give me a solution, Mr. Walsh.
March 25, 2023
It’s really just a giant sigh.
December 8, 2024
I wasn’t expecting a Catholic author to take aim at Protestantism and accurately hit the target, but Walsh did here. Of course, we Protestants (certainly those of us in the reformed camp) have been saying these sorts of things already for the past 50 years. To that extent, Walsh is late to the party. There’s also a truth about the pot calling the kettle black here when the Catholic Church is in dire straits and has gone so far liberal that it is unrecognizable. At least in Protestantism there are still sections that have not bowed the knee to the cultural zeitgeist of our age.
January 30, 2022
I knew this was going to be a challenging read (with a heavy dash of conviction sprinkled in there 😐), but I really didn't expect it to be this easy to read. (I also didn't expect to love it, but I kind of did??) I read it in about two sittings, and I enjoyed it so much, I wish it would have taken longer so I could have had more time to think about all the different points that were made. I also kind of want to buy my own copy and reread this immediately with a pencil and marker to take notes and highlight it to death. There were sooo many good truths to contemplate, and yeah... I read it too fast. 😝 Definitely caught some C.S. Lewis influence in there too, which was wonderful.
(I will say, some of it was "preaching to the choir," but it was all principles that I believe in, so yes!!)
I will give a disclaimer for the paragraph or two that really went into how depraved humanity is. Nothing detailed, but still disturbing if you're sensitive.
Anyway, didn't mean to get all gushy, but I think I just really needed this right now.
(I will say, some of it was "preaching to the choir," but it was all principles that I believe in, so yes!!)
I will give a disclaimer for the paragraph or two that really went into how depraved humanity is. Nothing detailed, but still disturbing if you're sensitive.
Anyway, didn't mean to get all gushy, but I think I just really needed this right now.
July 10, 2020
American Christianity seems to only desire "positive and encouraging" things, and shy away from anything "real and convicting." We've maybe remembered the grace of God, but have left the TRUTH of God outside many of our churches. But hey we have a winsome and nice church culture with an AMAZING kids program!
This book is both real and convicting, but if you learn from its content it's actually encouraging. A badly needed wake up call to a broader church dreaming of being relevant (or hip) rather than biblical, set apart, true to revelation, and armed with the most counter-cultural message which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only hope for the individual soul and really an antidotal remedy for a culture heading towards doom.
From the pulpits to the pews theological ignorance, sometimes arrogance, and sadly purposeful distortions has created not just a worldly indistinguishable church.......but a very tepid and cowardly one.
This book is both real and convicting, but if you learn from its content it's actually encouraging. A badly needed wake up call to a broader church dreaming of being relevant (or hip) rather than biblical, set apart, true to revelation, and armed with the most counter-cultural message which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only hope for the individual soul and really an antidotal remedy for a culture heading towards doom.
From the pulpits to the pews theological ignorance, sometimes arrogance, and sadly purposeful distortions has created not just a worldly indistinguishable church.......but a very tepid and cowardly one.
March 15, 2021
Surprisingly good. 😛 Obviously some snark is involved, but I think Walsh is growing up and it's lovely to see. This stepped on my toes quite a few times and I'm thankful for the contemplation and conviction it evoked.
April 26, 2021
My Protestant self thought this Catholic man’s book to be remarkably prescient.
May 5, 2022
☆ 5/5
“I know that I have given up on God a million times in my life, but He has never once given up on me.”
“I know that I have given up on God a million times in my life, but He has never once given up on me.”
January 21, 2024
Very odd beginning. Closed it rapidly. No thanks.
December 17, 2025
A bazooka shot at American Christianity, hitting everyone.
Walsh paints with a brush as broad as a broom. He talks about the "American Church" as if it's a monolithic entity. This makes it easier for him to attack the whole thing rather than deal with the dramatic diversity found in American churches. American Christianity can't be summed up by Rob Bell and Joel Osteen. Discussing the American Church without any sort of breakdown of the faithfulness of different denominations is irresponsible and lazy.
While I agree with most of Walsh's critiques, his broad-brush painting continues in how he diagnoses problems. For example, he thinks that its a problem to say that you have a relationship with God. He's correct that it's a problem that many view the relationship overly casually, but he's wrong that having the relationship is a bad thing. Walsh points out the American notion of "belief" isn't enough to be a Christian, but he never tries to define "belief" biblically which would address the problem he identifies. The baby is plummetting with the bathwater.
I'm conflicted writing this review since I agree with much of what he writes. CCM is overly positive; it's wrong to talk to Jesus as if he's merely a peer; it's wrong to caricature Atheist arguments; the prosperity gospel is evil; Christians often pick superfluous battles; LGBTQ ideology has infiltrated many churches; media is indoctrinating our children; Universalism is anti-Biblical, etc. I even agree that many Christians in America have grown complacent and need to wake up. Walsh thrives on punching what he views as bad, but fails to offer substantive solutions. I think that Walsh is mostly pointed in the right direction, but this book is so overly broad and lacking in solutions that this book is unlikely to be significantly helpful to many people.
Walsh paints with a brush as broad as a broom. He talks about the "American Church" as if it's a monolithic entity. This makes it easier for him to attack the whole thing rather than deal with the dramatic diversity found in American churches. American Christianity can't be summed up by Rob Bell and Joel Osteen. Discussing the American Church without any sort of breakdown of the faithfulness of different denominations is irresponsible and lazy.
While I agree with most of Walsh's critiques, his broad-brush painting continues in how he diagnoses problems. For example, he thinks that its a problem to say that you have a relationship with God. He's correct that it's a problem that many view the relationship overly casually, but he's wrong that having the relationship is a bad thing. Walsh points out the American notion of "belief" isn't enough to be a Christian, but he never tries to define "belief" biblically which would address the problem he identifies. The baby is plummetting with the bathwater.
I'm conflicted writing this review since I agree with much of what he writes. CCM is overly positive; it's wrong to talk to Jesus as if he's merely a peer; it's wrong to caricature Atheist arguments; the prosperity gospel is evil; Christians often pick superfluous battles; LGBTQ ideology has infiltrated many churches; media is indoctrinating our children; Universalism is anti-Biblical, etc. I even agree that many Christians in America have grown complacent and need to wake up. Walsh thrives on punching what he views as bad, but fails to offer substantive solutions. I think that Walsh is mostly pointed in the right direction, but this book is so overly broad and lacking in solutions that this book is unlikely to be significantly helpful to many people.
December 1, 2025
A very convicting and necessary book about the current state of churches in America.
October 16, 2020
“We cannot expect to find happiness in heaven if we detest going to church, praying, and reading the Bible. If we find religion to be a crashing bore, and are stimulated only by what is selfish and secular, how do you think we will fair in a place where the only things we really love are obliterated? And the one thing we always avoid must now be the center of our existence forever?”
“The souls in hell are only in hell because they are in no condition for heaven. It’s not just a bunch of serial killers and rapists, after all. There are also the regular people who love themselves more than God and prefer their own enjoyment to worshiping and serving Him.”
This was a slap in the face to secular Christianity. Walsh explains how churches that are just a branch of secularism are hurting the Christian Church. He explains how many Christian’s lives wouldn’t be a whole lot different than if they were atheist.
“Simply “believing” in God is a religion of passivity. It’s a religion that requires no effort, no sacrifice, and no involvement of any kind....We are called not to be believing Christians, but faithful Christians.”
Jesus says “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) Faith is a complete surrender of the self to God. “If we are to be living Christians...we are always traveling towards God or else away from Him.”
“The souls in hell are only in hell because they are in no condition for heaven. It’s not just a bunch of serial killers and rapists, after all. There are also the regular people who love themselves more than God and prefer their own enjoyment to worshiping and serving Him.”
This was a slap in the face to secular Christianity. Walsh explains how churches that are just a branch of secularism are hurting the Christian Church. He explains how many Christian’s lives wouldn’t be a whole lot different than if they were atheist.
“Simply “believing” in God is a religion of passivity. It’s a religion that requires no effort, no sacrifice, and no involvement of any kind....We are called not to be believing Christians, but faithful Christians.”
Jesus says “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) Faith is a complete surrender of the self to God. “If we are to be living Christians...we are always traveling towards God or else away from Him.”
November 13, 2022
Matt Walsh’s writing style is the same as his speaking style… just very sarcastic and biting. It’s just not the way to convince anyone of anything. Though I usually agree with his main points I feel like his tone detracts from his message. Can’t think of who I would recommend this book to, anyone who would want to read it and who wouldn’t be offended by it would already have drawn the same conclusions at Walsh.
September 19, 2021
Typical matt walsh fashion. Hilarious and horrifying at the same time. Really enjoyed!
January 26, 2022
Must read book for Christians.
April 30, 2024
Excellent! Made my resolve firm and helped me recognize all the ways I fall short in attempting to live out my faith. Deus Vult!
September 3, 2025
Matt Walsh certainly isn’t for everybody to start with. His podcast can seem harsh, but also has some interesting observations. Here though, Matt takes a look at the complacency of the Christian churches in America. I may not agree with everything he says here, but for the most part, this was a good read. Living out Christ’s love, while also helping to hold people accountable, is extremely difficult. Matt shows the dangers of not holding people accountable for their actions and Christians not being good examples to those outside of the faith. May we as followers of Jesus not just love with our words that point to Jesus, but also love with our actions, even the disciplinary ones, that point others to Jesus.
August 26, 2020
The beauty of books like this, and especially this book, is that if you can get past the fleshly revulsion of honesty, the embarrassing justifications for selfishness, and the challenge of judgement, you are left with an honest, stunningly compassionate Judge to contend with. Your prayers will be much more "real", as your selfish goal demands are literally scorched away by exposure, leaving the possibility of real change. Despite the apparent harshness of the message (which really is no different than reading most of Jeremiah), I believe a healthy broken and contrite heart will be the fruit.
Written like a modern day prophet, no one escapes Mr. Walsh's piercing, prescient expose of (what seems to be largely) American Christianity. If you want reasons to complain about our country or faith, you can easily quote Walsh out of context. Doing so would expose you as merely an Edomite mocking a fallen Jerusalem. But as Jeremiah reveals, if you think Jerusalem's judgement was bad... guess what happened to Edom...
Unlike Jeremiah, however, I do not remember a finishing this book with a sense of eternal possibilities or transcendent hope. As I do not normally expect that from literature, I was not left unsatisfied, but others may feel it weighs to heavily on the side of exposure. I only caution such thinking with the obvious: compassion has its limits too. If you demand it, perhaps you are avoiding a necessary change.
Written like a modern day prophet, no one escapes Mr. Walsh's piercing, prescient expose of (what seems to be largely) American Christianity. If you want reasons to complain about our country or faith, you can easily quote Walsh out of context. Doing so would expose you as merely an Edomite mocking a fallen Jerusalem. But as Jeremiah reveals, if you think Jerusalem's judgement was bad... guess what happened to Edom...
Unlike Jeremiah, however, I do not remember a finishing this book with a sense of eternal possibilities or transcendent hope. As I do not normally expect that from literature, I was not left unsatisfied, but others may feel it weighs to heavily on the side of exposure. I only caution such thinking with the obvious: compassion has its limits too. If you demand it, perhaps you are avoiding a necessary change.
July 27, 2021
Matt Walsh's rhetoric on social media can sometimes be a bit much to swallow, but that is not the case with this book, directed primarily at his fellow Catholics, but also to Christians more broadly. In this book, Walsh directly and succinctly addresses the problems that exist in the church and discusses possible ways to deal with them. Given who is likely to choose to read this book, he may be preaching to the choir a bit, but there are messages here that all Christians can stand to hear and reflect upon. We do live in a time where being Catholic can sometimes become too comfortable, and I think it's important to remind ourselves of our identity as children of God first and forever and residents of Earth only for a short time compared to eternity. Walsh includes himself in the category of Christians who need to work on this mentality, and there is much more of a sense of all of us being in this together than the us vs. them mentality he sometimes seems to espouse on Twitter. A surprisingly good and thoughtful read.
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