Disappearing Church: From Cultural Relevance to Gospel Resilience

Mark Sayers has written a book that should be on every pastors shelf, indeed on every Christ followers shelf as well. He has obviously spent many hours working with God on the reasons behind the decline in the Church as a whole. I love one of the lines in the book which says "In a world where friends are added with a button and the beautiful, blank faces of stock photography stare out at us, church and faith offer us true, face-to-face encounters." As Mark points out, it is only with these encounters that we can live out the words of Christ in Matthew 28:19-20. Gnosticism has indeed reared it's ugly head in the modern church in new, stealthy ways that make self seem more important than obedience to God's calling in our lives. As Mark says "the enemy is not outside the ramparts, it is inside the castle." It is time for the Church to sit up and take notice. "To learn to abide in Christ, we also must break from the lures that surround us, while still offering good news to the culture that seduces us." An excellent book.

If you were raised in the church any time after the 1950's then this is a must read. It doesn't matter if your experience was good or bad or if you're still in the church, it will be illuminating. If you want a historical, sociological, and theological understanding of how the church has gotten to where it is today then you have to read this book. My one critique was that it was more descriptive than prescriptive, meaning that it dealt more with the past than what to do today, but now that he has come out with the follow up "reappearing church" I can see why he decided to split the two subjects out.

Summary: It is a deep look at our culture and how Christianity fits into it. Sayers is gospel guy, calling the church back to its faithful orthodoxy, the Bible and courageous creative response in light of the new cultural landscape. The Good: Sayers uses illustrations very effectively. Thy have wide range from islands traditions changing how they reacted to the Tsunami (134ff), movies (Safe 53 and Her 89), to Al-Qaeda versus Islamic state comparisons(109ff). Sayers talks of Christianity's "soft power (p. 10)" and the page before quotes another claiming Christianity is full of "thousands of quiet kindnesses.” Chapter 2 draws out an interesting history of how the north American church (and apparently the author homeland of Australia as well) is obsessed with “relevance.” It was fairly insightful. Chapter 3 is very good. It starts out with the often-cited Chinese sociologist given credit to the rise of the west no to guns, political structure, or but in sum, “we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity (41).” The real gem in chapter 3 is the first, second and third culture explanation. First cultures “believe in many gods(43).” Second cultures “are rooted in the Judeo-Christin ethic (43).” Third cultures “define themselves against second cultures ($45).” This insight into modern religious culture is tremendously astute. A partial solution offered here in the narrative is given in the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “to become a creativity minority…is not easy, because it involves maintaining strong links with the outside world while staying true to your faith, seeking not merely to keep the sacred flame burning but also to transform the larger society of which you are a part (page 50).” Chapter 4 lost me for a little. The talk about Gnosticism didn’t match up with what my seminary and undergrad profs talk about Gnostic teaching. But Sayers is using this is a similar way to many others currently. Sayer’s new Gnosticism seems combo of Zen Buddhism/Mindfulness, New Age thought, Secular Humanism and self-help movement, and the Prosperity Gospel. It seems Sayer’s is labeling a combo of all the threats to Christianity currently in one title. But I now found out there is a fairly large focus to this new label. Here is a solid quote from Chapter 4. “Gnosticism is an attempt to retain the fruits of Christianity and the solace of faith while maximizing the individual’s authority. It is the post-Christian impulse par excellence (59).” Part 2 (chapters 5 +) follows this outline: New Cultural Landscape (A) + Faithful Orthodoxy (B) + Courageous Creative Response (C) = Revitalization of the church and culture (D) He does a fairly accurate job to present solutions that aren’t simplistic and actually seem like they could work in the real world. Chapter 9 has a stand out idea. “Institutions are our beliefs and ethics enfleshed. They bring ideas down from the ether and ensure that they are operating within actual life of a community (132).” Sayers solution to helping the church rise and through it the gospel is strengthening the institutions that purport ideas. For the gospel to flourish churches need to flourish. He quotes Andy Crouch, “Institutions are the way the teeming abundance of human creativity and culture are handed on to future generations (135).” Sayers ends the book with a call to abide in Christ. “To do this (abiding and making an impact) … we must again learn to abide in the Father (167).”

This book is a great, succinct, and accessible analysis of our cultural moment. Sayers identifies a lot of issues that might otherwise be difficult to name. This book points out the problems, but you'll be disappointed if you're looking for solutions. For those, you have to get his *Reappearing Church* but I didn't find it quite as insightful as this volume.

There is so much in every chapter that requires us to sit down with different sets of the contemporary church and have a genuine scripture values discussion concerning what we would see the church becoming. On a global perspective, this book I feel fails to accommodate the the movement over what is happening in the wider church that is two-third centric and ignores the reverse influence of this expression of Christianity... maybe I need to read the reappearing church to engage this conversation more.. so here we go,

Mark Sayers, with sharp perception and magical dexterity, disects our cultural place in time. He names the things about our moment that have, from history, put the church in the place we occupy today. A place influenced by hedonism, a mistaken missiology and a resurgent Gnosticism: the idolotry of self. He is not wallowing in cynicism but he brings it all back around to what he calls “gospel resilience” and the reestablishment of communities with strong ties. I have found myself unmistakably changed by this book. A single look outside the window at our world and it’s easy to feel that so much is bent out of shape and the resulting head fog leaves many Christians uncertain how to navigate our post-Christian culture. With clarity and insight Mark Sayers diffuses the fog and helps us to realize our calling and purpose as a Jesus following creative minority in the caustic, secular world.

A thorough and unique analysis of where the Western church lies on the cultural continuum. This is not a happy, encouraging book. It's tough medicine. I think it's worthwhile for anyone who cares about how to do church ministry that's vitally connected with our culture.

Relevant. Highly recommended.

I found the book not just touching on some reality but very revealing and left me reflecting on my own journey.

With an engaging and captivating writing style, Mark Sayers walks the reader through a clearly thought out presentation of why maintaining scriptural integrity in a culture of capitulation to social trends and deconstruction is so vital to the Church.

A must read book!

Sayers is a superb cultural critic, deftly diagnosing the numb nihilism of our age, and pointing us to the vivid beauty of the gospel.

This book is so good. It’s a bit of a challenging read as Sayers is brilliant and thinks at such a deep level but this book is important for church leaders to read and understand.