I
was delighted to receive my copy of 'Radical Church',
the second publication from John Caldwell of Dunblane Free Church.
While, Caldwell's first publication, 'Christ, the Cross and the
Concrete Jungle' movingly recounts his remarkable testimony and first
steps in faith, 'Radical Church' by contrast, is the analytical work
of a committed, experienced, mature evangelical leader.
The
sub-title,'A Call to Rediscover the Radical Roots of the Christian
Faith' sets out the author's intended direction of travel, and once
started, the book makes compelling reading.
In
his inimitable straight-talking style, Caldwell details the numerous
challenges facing evangelical Christians in 21st century
Scotland. These include the rise of militant secularism and humanism
and the attendant changes in public behaviour and the law. He rightly
asserts that many Christians now feel that they live in a hostile
environment.
In
explaining the rise the rise of anti-Christian sentiment, Caldwell
pulls no punches.....the root cause, he asserts is sin with huge
swathes of Scotland choosing to live in open and defiant rebellion
against God.
The
picture painted by Caldwell is bleak: “Religion has fast become an
increasingly censored area within public spheres......God-talk seems
to be the new social taboo..........Many (Christians) are afraid to
be open about what they believe, and fear talking about their faith
lest they commit social suicide......many believers are living dual
lives....In many ways we have become living characters in an
Orwellian dystopia”.
Now
involved in ministry, following a career as a teacher of Religious
Education, John Caldwell has been a witness of the church's
capitulation to the spirit of the age. He argues convincingly that
many evangelicals in Scotland and beyond have fatally compromised
themselves in order to accommodate the contemporary cultural
environment. This accommodation has seen the dilution and in some
cases abandonment of core Gospel principles centring on the cross,
sin and repentance and their replacement with the gospel of niceness,
good works and self-improvement.
Similarly,
many Christian ministries providing for the marginalised and homeless
have seen their core motivation of the cross dumped in favour of the
ethos, values and principles of the secular bodies who provide
funding. Sadly the church's acts of mercy have become divorced from
its core business: that of making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
'Radical
Church' is however, no gloom and doom manifesto. Caldwell argues that
there is real hope when the church returns to Biblical principles
based on 'Sola Scriptura' or scripture alone. The real
'Radical Church', it
is asserted, is comprised of authentic radical
Christians who: “depend on the truth themselves; declare the truth
and, are prepared to discuss and debate the truth with unbelievers”.
Caldwell
concludes his argument with some heart searching questions. “ As
the state increasingly seeks to define and politicise identity,
morality, and religious practice; the church and Christians will find
themselves in crisis. Who will we obey, the State or Jesus? When
God's law for sexual activity says one thing, and the law of the land
says another, who will the church listen to? When God's word says
preach the Gospel to all people and call each one to repentance, and
society interprets evangelism as a hate crime – who will the church
obey? These questions are no longer hypothetical scenarios; they are
already the issues that Christians are facing today.............As
the world grows darker, the faithful church will shine brighter. As
opposition to Christians grows more extreme, the faithful church will
rediscover what it is to be the radical church.”
'Radical
Church' is a hugely readable, and in many ways a prophetic work. John
Caldwell pulls no punches in analysing the challenges facing the
church in Scotland. The radical solutions he proposes are neither
bland nor compromising. This has to be a 'must read' for all
believers, pastors, elders, deacons, or ministry workers, indeed
anyone who wishes to see the name Christ exalted in our land once
more.
