TEN INDICTMENTS AGAINST THE MODERN
CHURCH
By Paul Washer
Reformation Heritage Books. 78 pages. £5.99
ISBN 978 1 601 786 272
Paul Washer is longing to see revival in the church and has identified ten areas where he thinks the modern church has to change in order to come into line with the Scriptures.
These range from topics as diverse as how we view the Scriptures, to how we present the gospel, to how we live distinctive lives, and how we order the church. These ten areas (or ‘indictments’ as Washer calls them) were originally a single sermon, and now are presented in ten punchy chapters with the hope that the ‘state of [God’s] church may be more glorious’ (page viii).
The short chapters are the greatest strength and weakness of the book. They make it easy to read, and the sermonic style brings a sense of urgency to the topics that are discussed. Each chapter contains memorable and encouraging stories to illustrate the points being made. These often come from Washer’s time as a missionary, and will leave the reader praising God for the power of his gospel, and longing to see that power at work in our churches.
At the same time, the short chapters leave little room to clarify the doc-trines, nuance the indictments, or offer specif-ic examples of the things being written about. Readers who aren’t already clear on the doc-trinal content may find themselves left with frustratingly unanswered questions. Additionally, not all of the chapters translate obviously from the North American church context into the UK context.
Overall, if you give this book to a person who can add the appropriate nuances, they will be left sharing Washer’s longing to see God’s church increasingly conformed to God’s word. And that would be a very good thing!
