I never imagined I\u2019d find so much common ground with a Southern Baptist\u2014okay, a former Southern Baptist – but when I read Russell Moore\u2019s book, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America, I not only found myself rabidly turning page after page but saying, out loud, \u201cYes!\u201d and \u201cPreach!\u201d and again, \u201cYES!\u201d If you know anything about Presbyterians it is that, if it’s not written down in our bulletin, you can bet your last communion wafer we’re not saying it out loud. We have earned our name, \u201cthe Frozen Chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Invitation<\/strong><\/p>\n But, this is exactly one of the many important points Moore makes in his book when he urges the reader to, \u201cEmbrace new communities and friendships\u201d[1]<\/a> as a way of joining in what God is already doing in and to the Church.[2]<\/a> He suggests that God is initiating something transformative within the Evangelical church and the broader Christian community, inviting us to participate in this new movement.[3]<\/a> Moore begins his introduction to his book with the statement, \u201cIf we wanted to find Jesus we would have to lose our religion\u201d[4]<\/a> framing this moment in history as a contemporary altar call. He then challenges readers to reflect on what they should seek and what they should abandon, suggesting that “losing our religion” may echo Jesus’s command to a first-century church in crisis\u2014a rekindling of their first love.[5]<\/a> Given the recent scandals that have plagued the Evangelical Church, Moore’s assertion that “what is not repaired is repeated” carries significant weight.[6]<\/a> He argues that we are at a critical juncture in history where God is inviting the Evangelical Church to undergo a rebirth, to gain new perspectives, and to be transformed into something fundamentally different.<\/p>\n New Communities New Friendships<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most noticeable aspects of this transformation is the formation of friendships that bridge different tribes and traditions. Moore writes, \u201cRevival in Scripture and in history, from Pentecost on, always upends the definition of the pronouns we and us.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n I experience this \u201cnew community and friendship\u201d in our cohort. I am a cradle Presbyterian. Born and raised in the PC(USA). \u00a0I appreciate much of my religious tradition and tribe. However, even with our \u201cpredestined status\u201d Presbyterians do not have the \u201conly way to God\u201d and I’ve found more common ground in matters of faith with my cohort peers than points of divergence. (In case you didn\u2019t catch my snark, I\u2019m kidding about the predestined status.)<\/p>\n Fear or Gospel?<\/strong><\/p>\n Moore points out that no matter what side of the political aisle you hear it from, fear is being used to motivate and move us away from our neighbors, instead of Gospel love moving toward one another.[8]<\/a> Social media algorithms merged with religious identity provide the perfect storm to trigger our reptilian brain.[9]<\/a> In his book, Why We\u2019re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding<\/em>, Bobby Duffy claims we often are wrong about things because of a \u201ccomplex system of forces, both in our heads and in the world, that reinforce each other.\u201d[10]<\/a> One of the \u201cforces\u201d in the world are the algorithms of our social media and news media feeds. What we see on social media usually reinforces our biases, as well as triggering fear and our reptilian brains. What kicks in then is our \u201cfast thinking\u201d response often causing us to behave poorly.[11]<\/a> Yet, we can be changed. The first step to being changed is to recognize what is triggering the fallen reptilian part of our brain and who benefits from that fear.[12]<\/a> If we can recognize that, we can ask what the Gospel would ask of us instead.<\/p>\n But we also have to know the Gospel. We have to be able to recognize the voice of Jesus among all of the other voices shouting at us. We must \u201cinhabit the Bible\u201d letting the story of God form us from the inside out.<\/p>\n Recently our PC(USA) congregation worked together with an Evangelical congregation in our community to host a \u201cGuns to Gardens\u201d event in which we invited people to surrender their unwanted guns. A trained volunteer would make several cuts into the gun rendering them no longer a weapon and then a blacksmith would melt them down and turn them into garden tools. This was a BIG DEAL. An Evangelical church and a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation working together to turn guns into garden tools in Central Oregon.<\/p>\n This partnership demonstrates how individuals and congregations can move beyond the fear-based rhetoric that Moore critiques. Instead of allowing secondary theological divisions or social media algorithms to drive us apart, our churches chose to focus on a shared goal rooted in Gospel values.<\/p>\n This initiative also showcased the potential for change that Moore emphasizes. Our churches recognized the divisive forces at play in our community and chose to respond with a unifying action. In doing so, we modeled how faith communities can resist the “reptilian brain” responses triggered by fear and instead act on the Gospel’s call to peacemaking and community-building, moving beyond our traditional tribes and embracing a new partnership.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n There is much in Moore\u2019s book to consider as we ask ourselves how God is calling us to live in this moment in history. His book brings hope that the Evangelical Church as well as the larger body of Christ, can be and is being transformed by the Spirit. The question is, will we follow where the Spirit blows being born anew?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Russell, D. Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America, Penguin Publishing Group, 2023, Kindle Edition, 227.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid, 24.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid, 3.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid, 24.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Ibid, 212.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Ibid, 231.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Ibid, 80-81.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Ibid, 78.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Bobby Duffy, Why We\u2019re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding<\/em>, Basic Books 2019, Kindle edition, p.11.<\/p>\n