Review of “Letter to the American Church”

I finished reading Eric Metaxas’ latest book, “Letter to the American Church”. It was, in general, a good and solid introduction on what happens when the Church corporately and pastors specifically disengage with civic governments. Since all governments are compromised at least in part by unregenerate people with darkened hearts, the participation of God’s ministers and people as the conscience of the state is critical. Metaxas uses as a springboard the biographies of Luther and Bonhoeffer to make the point that pastoral engagement is the key to righteous confrontation of civil authority. 

In the opening chapters he immediately contextualizes and explains the nuances between the secularized critique of “American exceptionalism” and “Christian Nationalism” which is often used as a straw man to dissuade Church participation in biblical citizenship. Because this book is titled as a “Letter to the American Church”, the reader must allow for a compacted and expedited explanation of many thoughts and concepts. After all, a letter cannot be a 600 page text book exploring the depths of every concept. This may be an initial frustration for those readers who might like more information or explanation on some ideas Metaxas presents, but the content fits the purpose of the book. This is a letter which exhorts the American Church to wake-up and get on the field of civic engagement in an appropriate biblical manner.

The book has numerous strong points which would be worthy of the purchase by a pastor or a gift to a pastor. Let me give three:

1. The historical connection of both the Reformation and the Nazi takeover of Germany to present day cultural dynamics in America.

Metaxas is indeed insightful to the overlap of these historical illustrations to our present cultural challenges. History can and perhaps is repeating itself in America if the Church and Pastors remain disconnected from the political sphere. There is little doubt that the illustrations of Luther and Bonhoeffer are irrefutable in their application.  The current cancel culture, which (currently) doesn’t arise to the atrocities of National Socialism in Germany, certainly has obvious comparisons. 

To those who might scream “foul” at the comparison of woke sensitivities with Nazi atrocities, I would simply point out that no one wakes up one morning and transforms in a day from a law-abiding, respectful citizen with radical liberal views into a despot who would exterminate a whole class of people. These dynamics have a trajectory and Metaxas maintains that the Church is called by God to “see into the future” and prophetically challenge those cultural trajectories. He does this excellently.

2. The statistical research concerning pastoral engagement in Nazi Germany.

I was very much intrigued by Metaxas’ research of the number of German pastors who sided with the Nazis, those who publicly stood against the Nazis, and those who believed they were maintaining their neutrality. The psychological power of this dynamic and the application to modern America alone may have been worth the purchase price. The short, but interesting connection to the concept of the “Spiral of Silence”, made famous by German sociologist, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, may be worth the price of the book in its relevance to the American Church.

This dynamic is one of the most powerful indictments in the book. The vast number of pastors thought they could be neutral in the face of cultural evil. When the Gospel was required to be applied in a public policy challenge, they compartmentalized the Gospel and reduced it to only the sphere of the human soul. This is what we now call pietism and it has indeed become a stronghold in the American Christian psyche. 

3. Introducing the need for a theological framework of the Church engaging civic government.

This was actually both a positive and a negative. Cheers to Metaxas for introducing the need for a theological framework for civic engagement, but it was, in my opinion, too superficial of an exploration especially when addressing the Church of the West. I will speak more to this momentarily.

There were several weaknesses which are worthy of pointing out, but not necessarily a deal-breaker when it comes to receiving the total message of the book. 

1. An insufficient definition of Church

This is a particular “horse” I have been riding for a number of years. Everyone who has a call or interest in the political arena knows intuitively that the Church has a place in this space. I have said for years that Pastors leading their churches with a comprehensive application of the Gospel are the linchpin to cultural renewal and reformation. The problem is that the discussion of the Church’s involvement almost always defaults into the phrase, “The Church needs to BE the Church”. The “be” part is almost always defined by personal vision or passion.

Metaxas is right that the Church needs to participate in the civic space, but how he gets there is strained and disconnected. To title the book as a letter to the American Church, one must sufficiently call the Church back to the biblical foundations of what a church actually is. History makes for great illustrations, but history is not our authority. There are as many historically wrong things the Church has done as there are right things. This chapter needed to be rooted more firmly in a biblical ecclesiology. The Church must indeed “BE” the Church, but civic action is not the sole definition of that exhortation. (And that from one who is fully invested in getting the Church civically engaged.)

2. Capitulation to 21st century “separation of church and state” understandings.

This is probably an overreaction on my part, but I refuse to yield to Jefferson’s phrase, “separation of church and state”. It’s well known that the phrase isn’t a constitutional reality and honestly it muddies the waters of understanding if it is used to explain the Church’s position in civic engagement. Metaxas chooses to use the phrase, I suspect, to flank critics who might dredge this canard up in their reviews. He slips the phrase in his “Letter” to possibly render impotent this critique. For me, it causes as many questions as it might provide solutions. This really is a weak and somewhat disappointing point.

3. Superficial treatment of the priority of the theological connection of engagement.

Metaxas rings the bell by introducing the theological underpinning of civic engagement, but never explores the application in greater detail with the American Church. For example, have pastors disengaged primarily because of pragmatic pressures or doctrinal ignorance? Has our acceptance of a poorly trained clergy (especially in sound doctrine) contributed or even solidified pastoral disengagement? What should Bible colleges, seminaries, and ministry training schools be doing to rectify a shallowness in the doctrinal capacity for aspiring pastors? Bonhoeffer created an underground seminary for just these purposes. This was an area that could have been filled with solutions to the problem of disengagement by the Church in the 21st century.

There is much to be explored with regards to this important idea. In fact, from my vantage point it may be THE issue with regards to church engagement.

Again, I give the book 4/5 stars as I do think it is a helpful handbook to solicit pastoral involvement.