Sunday.....Christianity.....Another Anthropological Book On Lynchburg

I can imagine this scene in the spring of 2007 at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. A young transfer student from Brown University to Liberty University named Kevin is sitting in a pew next to a Yale University educated young lady named Gina. They exchange pleasantries before the sermon and comment on the friendliness of the congregation and blessings of attending Reverend Jerry Falwell's church all the while sizing each other up for future reference in a story they will write about their experiences in infiltrating the hub of Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. In a blog from April 19th of last year, I reviewed Kevin Rouse's book A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (isbn 978044617426). He registered as a student at Liberty University and became one of the guys as he jotted down notes as Margaret Mead might have done on Samoa. Gina Welsh, an ultra-liberal and atheist, had already graduated college and was doing her research within the famous congregation as someone simply seeking a church. Ms. Welch's book In The Land Of Believers, An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey Into the Heart of The Evangelical Church (isbn 9780805083378) should be read by pastors and any Christian that better wants to understand why secular folk look at Evangelicals as they do. Both sets of parents warned their child not to be taken in while in the midst of the religious right while Gina's parents referred to the church as a cult. Both authors liked and respected the Christians they came to know, they enjoyed their experience, came out with a favorable opinion of Jerry Falwell and both were in the midst of their research when he died. They participated in evangelistic ministries, Kevin on the beach and Gina on a short term mission trip to Alaska. They both sat in on many sermons, sang the hymns, took the classes and, alas, left as unbelieving as they came. Kevin's book concentrated on the Liberty students and Gina's book even more on church members and staff. Both of these secular observers described the sermons at Thomas Road Baptist Church as primarily politically motivated. Gina Welsh went into great detail on her confusion as to how the "sinners prayer, sign the card" (my words) method of saving souls did any real good. She saw what many of us cannot. We attended a church in Washington D. C. this past week and the service was wonderful. the sermon had strong application surrounding the glorious core message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It would have fit in well in many Christian churches around America only it lacked the altar call at the end, the opportunity for those who were convicted and given hope to act on that hope and become believers. It was this omission that secured real strength for those who would get up from their pews and enter, once again, the world they live in. I had been to Liberty University as our son was looking at law schools and the people, the students and the schools are truly wonderful but the impact Christians can make in this nation will not come from substituting from the pulpit, even the most admirable ideals for the gospel; and it will not come from evangelizing that records its progress on accumulation of signed response cards. We can learn from both of these books. The authors may have set out to describe Fundamentalists and Evangelicals to the secular community but if we read their work, they may see results that they surely did not intend.