Eric Metaxis’ new book, Letter to the American Church. SALEM BOOKS / 2022
I had met Eric Metaxis at a Youth for Christ [Metro Maryland Area] banquet, so when I saw his book at the library I picked it up. It really impacted me and caused me to think about how committed the church is to challenging the wrongs we are seeing in society.
Elementary school children having drag queens read them stories about the virtues of homosexuality…minors being able to make decisions about changing their gender without parental consent…the advancement of laws giving women the right to terminate a pregnancy, even if it results in the death of a viable baby…. We are seeing movements in our society that not only cause our heads to spin, but, most importantly, violate God’s desires. And in the midst of this, what is the church doing to fight these? According to Eric Metaxis, not nearly enough.
In his latest book, Letter to the American Church, Metaxis attempts to awaken a sleeping church. He sees that the church has withdrawn from issues considered too political or worldly. He compares what is going on in the American church now with what occurred in the German church in the 1930s. As Hitler was rising along with his evil practices the church was silent. Dietrich Bonhoeffer raised concern and tried to awaken church leaders to the evils of Hitler. He believed people should not get pulled into popular thinking that is not consistent with God’s desires. He spread the message that people need to change with the circumstance, recognizing that evil today may not be the same as evil yesterday. He conveyed that people of faith had an obligation to be bold and get political if necessary. Bonhoeffer’s view was that silence in the face of evil is evil. However, most church leaders ignored him and didn’t challenge Hitler’s activities.
The author challenges us to consider if the church today is making the same mistake as the church did during Hitler’s reign. He believes the church has a responsibility to take a stand and speak out against the wrongs seen in society, using the spiritual weapons of prayer, self-sacrifice, and love. Faith needs to be accompanied by action, he emphasizes. This certainly gives us something to consider.
“Silence is not an option. God calls us to defend the unborn, to confront the lies of cultural Marxism, and to battle the globalist tyranny that crushes human freedom. Confident that this is His fight, the Church must overcome fear and enter the fray, armed with the spiritual weapons of prayer, self-sacrifice, and love.“