“If the good news is true, why is no one pleased to hear it?”
This quote from a Walker Percy novel sums up the mystery explored in Philip Yancey’s latest, Vanishing Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News? The mystery is not a new knot for Yancey. He attempted to untangle it in an earlier book entitled What’s So Amazing About Grace? But just as he often returns to the subject of pain and suffering (see Where is God When it Hurts?; Disappointment With God; Where is God When it Hurts? and The Question That Never Goes Away: Why?), so Yancey also revisits the question of grace and the riddle behind the church’s unwillingness or inability to share it. His tenacity is driven by four troubling convictions (these make up the four sections of the book):
- Christians and churches dispense bad news in a world thirsting for good news.
- Christians and churches depreciate the most effective ways of sharing that good news.
- Christians and churches downplay their own good news compared to the spiritual alternatives of the day.
- Christians and churches dream that political power offers the best route to delivering good news.
Part one is familiar territory for anyone who’s investigated the struggles of the church in the 21st century. Yancey cites studies and recounts anecdotes in order to build a case demonstrating that the church seems intent on being and sharing bad news. For example, one piece of recent research found that 52% of people around the world believe religion does more harm than good–Christianity included (24). “Nonbelievers,” Yancey writes, “tend to regard evangelicals as a legion of morals police determined to impose their notion of right behavior on others. To them, Christians are anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-women–probably anti-sex, for that matter–and most of them home-school their children to avoid defilement (17).” Some readers will skim these four chapters quickly since they cover ground which has been highlighted by numerous other authors in far greater detail (e.g., David Kinnaman’s two volumes You Lost Me and UnChristian). Readers, however, who are not familiar with the contemporary criticisms of the church will find Yancey’s treatment insightful and engaging.
Part two is the book’s greatest contribution to the discussion of how to share good news. Yancey presents three ways churches can measure out gospel to a culture which is hostile to Christianity. These are three forms of gospel-dispensing which churches often depreciate, yet they carry great potential to break through barriers which exist in hearts and homes:
- Pilgrims – These are Christians who relate to the unbelieving world from a posture of weakness. Rather than presenting themselves a superior class who have already arrived and who have it all together, they present themselves as fellow-travelers, pilgrims on the way. In this model, Christians invite others to accompany them on a journey which they themselves have not completed.
- Activists – These are Christians dedicated to living out the Christian faith in its most socially-conscious forms. By feeding the hungry, caring for orphans, visiting the imprisoned and standing for the oppressed, Christians transform the gospel into something that can be seen and touched, a “visible apologetic” (127). Activists turn the common head-heart-hand sequence of evangelism on its head. In a hostile setting, churches cannot pursue a progression of head (convince people of Christian beliefs) to heart (convince people of God’s love) to hand (convince them to put these beliefs into action). Instead, churches must reverse the flow. Activists engage in practical acts of mercy (extending a hand) which persuade people of God’s great love (heart) and finally attract others to the beliefs of Christianity (head) (114).
- Artists – These are Christians who use their talents in media such as writing or painting to bring the good news to life. Art in all its forms is able to speak powerfully about the human condition and about themes related to the gospel. Yancey argues that “the creative arts may be the most compelling path to faith. Communicating at a more subtle level, they cut through defenses and awaken thirst” (132).
Part three delves into the question of “What Good is Christianity?” especially when compared to contemporary alternatives. Yancey attempts to show the good ways in which Christianity answers the three most critical questions of faith:
- Is there anyone else? The God question. Yancey loses focus here. Instead of commenting on the Christian view of God in particular, he comments on the overarching narrative offered by the faith. Christianity claims that we came into existence not through random chance or impersonal forces but through a loving Creator. Yet this creation shows signs of being spoiled. Thus God’s creatures have been called to join the Creator in bringing “shalom” back into the world, a restoration which God will ultimately bring to completion.
- Why are we here? The human question. “The good news of the gospel,” Yancey notes, “means that every one of us can have a sense of destiny, a part to play in God’s great story. We are more than a collection of neurons, more than an organism directed by a script of selfish genes. A receptionist, a truck driver, a kindergarten teacher, a banker, a stay-at-home mom or dad can all realize that destiny: not by adopting cultural standards of wealth and fame but by loving God and neighbor” (214).
- How should we live? The social question. Once again, Yancey’s focus becomes less than laser-like. He essentially returns to issues raised earlier in his discussion of the “activist” model of Christianity, calling Christians to become living illustrations of good news in the world. Part three promises to help readers discern between the good news of Jesus and the good news offered by other faiths. In the end, however, Yancey offers little to compare/contrast religions.
Finally, part four examines the best posture for Christians and churches in a post-Christian culture. Yancey summarizes the wrong postures in this way: “First, we dare not withdraw and hunker down in a defensive posture, raising the drawbridge against ‘the barbarians’…Second, we dare not fulfill the fears of the secular world by resorting to power” (257-258). Using five classic stances outlined in Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr and five suggestions of his own, Yancey skillfully sketches a fruitful middle ground for Christians between the two extremes of political power-plays and run-for-the-hills. He closes by illustrating how the pilgrim, activist and artist can engage in a kind of “holy subversion” (255), fulfilling Christianity’s call to act as a counter-culture, but one generously and unashamedly dispensing the good news of grace.
Almost anything Yancey publishes is worth the read, and this volume is no exception. It is filled with Yancey’s unflinching candor, real-life stories, and rare gift for making the most difficult social, moral or theological matters simple (not simplistic). You’ll close the book with greater understanding of why the gospel matters more than ever and how you and your congregation can best share it. The result just may be a neighborhood, school or workplace of yours not only convinced of the truth of the good news, but truly pleased to hear that good news.
Philip Yancey
Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?
295 pages.
Zondervan, 2014
ISBN 978-0-310-33932-8
