"The Last Christian Generation"

written by Josh McDowell

Reviewed by Murray Brown

"I realise the title of this book may be shocking. But the decision to call this The Last Generation was not made lightly, nor was it done for sensationalism. I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people - you will become the last Christian generation."

So begins Josh McDowell in his latest book which calls for a rethink on the way we do youth ministry. The book is built upon certain statistical premises drawn from research into American teens made primarily by the Barna Group such as:

• 63% of teens don't believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God.
• 58% believe that all faiths teach equally valid truths.
• 51% don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
• 65% don't believe Satan is a real spiritual entity.
• 68% don't believe the Holy Spirit is a real spiritual entity.

How closely are these figures mirrored in a New Zealand and Australian setting? My hunch is that things here are much "worse". So does that mean that McDowell's thesis holds true here? That we too are part of the last Christian generation?

Despite his claims in the opening paragraph I struggle with the title of this book. Jesus himself claimed that the gates of Hades would not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18) and so to label this generation as the last Christian one is poor theology as best and a lack of faith in God's sovereignty at worst.

It's a shame because the book contains some excellent insights. In the opening chapters he talks about young people's distorted views of Christianity, Truth, reality and the true Church. There are many gems such as: "when we fail to keep Christ the central issue Christianity becomes simply one religious truth among other religious truths" and "something is not right because it works.. it works because it is right!" His analysis is clear and easy to read.

His underlying philosophy is that the Christian faith must be taught in a holistic way (the Hebrew model) as opposed to the intellectual way (the Hellenistic model). For this he is to be hugely commended. Such an approach sees the goal as helping young people establish a relationship with God and not just to telling them to obey His rules.

From there he becomes more specific by outlining a blueprint for "rebuilding the true foundation of the Christian faith" based on helping young people view God as the God of Redemption, Relationships and Restoration. In these chapters he outlines important theological emphases to be passed on to young people in our curriculum - emphases related to Bible study, prayer, worship and evangelism, among others.

No argument with any of this although some might see it as more theological than practical. Not that having a theological emphasis is wrong, but many readers will be familiar with the theology and looking for a more practical approach. He does outline a couple of approaches in dialogue form but unfortunately neither seem particularly real or helpful (explaining to young people through a simple role play the sacrifice Jesus made for them and then observing many of them wiping away the tears from their eyes and the end of it).

The book then progressed to outlining an approach to youth ministry dubbed "Process Driven" which is defined as mission focussed, modelling Chist-likeness and intergenerational. Here were some good guidelines but without a clear explanation as to why these constituted a "process driven approach", compared to ministries with slightly different emphases.

The final chapter left me disappointed and a little disturbed as it was a quite shameless promotion of Josh McDowell's True Foundations Ministry with numerous resources and training opportunities presented as the means by which we might become truly "process driven" and in thus save ourselves from becoming "the last Christian generation."

I was left with the feeling I'd been through that well worn selling technique of being convinced of a need through the quoting of statistics (and there is debate in the States about the reliability of Barna's statistics), then told what the problem is and how in general the church does not have the answers; and then finally bring told... here is the answer and here is how you can buy it. Does that sound too cynical? Maybe, and if it is than I apologise. It's just that my disappointment was magnified by there being so much here that was so good.

Do read this book. Read it with my reservations set aside and if your own reservations start to appear, see beyond them to some truly important principles and insights.

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The Last Generation was supplied by Manna Books. Make sure you visit them when you go to buy your own copy!