Greetings and salutations. Welcome to Life and Books and Everything. I'm Kevin D. Young today I'm reading the latest article from world opinions.

Is the church failing at being the church?

We need to watch how we talk about ourselves.

Why do you evangelicals love to make up and say such bad things about yourselves?

That's a quote. That's how Ed Stetzer began his foreword to Bradley Wright's 2010 book,

Christians are hate-filled hypocrites and other lies you've been told. The questions, Stetser

explained, was posed to him while he was at the Washington Post building in D.C. to address a

room full of reporters. Instead of believing the worst about ourselves and being overly concerned

with how others perceive us, Stetser encouraged people to read Wright's book. Wright argued that,

despite many imperfections, evangelical Christianity in America, quote, was doing a pretty good

job of being the church. In his blurb, Scott McKnight, who in a much more dire mood recently called for

saving evangelicalism, urged everyone to buy the book, read it carefully, and give the book away

to others because he insisted, quote, there's lots of good news when it comes to the condition of the

church in the West. Evangelicals have a long history of self-flagellation.

On one level, this is commendable, I suppose.

As Christians, we should, of all people, be aware of our sins, repent of our sins,

and ask God to help us overcome our sins.

And yet, we must be careful, lest the virtue of personal humility

leads the church at large to believe

things that aren't true, develop responses that aren't necessary, and set out on paths that aren't

wise. Granted, Wright's book came out over a decade ago, before Obergefell, before Trump,

before Me Too, before COVID, maybe evangelicals are finally right to believe the worst about ourselves.

...