George Barna, professional pulse-taker of all things societal and ecclesial, boldly claims in his new work, Revolution (2005) that there is

a single trend that is already redefining faith and the Church in our country. It is…an explosion of spiritual energy and activity we are calling the Revolution—an unprecedented reengineering of America’s faith dimension that is likely to be the most significant transition in the religious landscape that you will ever experience.(viii)

Revolution is a short and easy read. In fact, I found it too be too short. Barna wants to give a thumbnail sketch of what the Revolution and his understanding of its implications. But in the end, the book feels overly cursory, especially since “the Revolution is designed to advance the Church and to redefine the church.” (x) Barna describes the Revolution in these terms: “Millions of devout followers of Jesus Christ are repudiating tepid systems and practices of the Christian faith and introducing a wholesale shift in how faith is understood, integrated, and influencing the world.” (11) These followers eschew “religious games,” such as boring worship services or church programs that are ineffective. They seek to follow leaders who espouse God’s vision rather than their own, they are unimpressed with degrees and other accredidation. “They are seeking a faith experience that is more robust and awe inspiring, a spiritual journey that prioritizes transformation at every turn, something worth of the Creator whom their faith reflects.” (14)

Barna lists the seven passions of these Revolutionaries: Intimate worship; faith-based conversations; intentional spiritual growth; servanthood; resource investment; spiritual friendships; and family faith. (Because the book is so short, Barna gives no full explanations of these terms. One wonders how are these Christ-followers any different than other Christians throughout the ages? These passions seem to be rather consistent with most understandings of what it means to be a Christian.) These Revolutionaries may or may not be a part of traditional local congregations for they go where they find the life and excitement of God’s presence. These Revolutionaries seek to be the Church (i.e., the kingdom of God) as opposed go to a church, which is equated with buildings and specific local congregations.

Barna gives some of the results of his research, but one wishes he would show us his studies and surveys. It is particularly important when he makes bold claims such as “Only 9 percent of all born-again adults” and 51 percent of Protestant pastors have a biblical worldview. (32, 117) He goes on to define what his understanding of a biblical worldview means in rather quick terms, and I wonder if part of the problem is the terms people use. On the more positive side, I wish we had more access to the research, because Barna finds that the local congregation’s influence as primary means of spiritual experience and expression is decreasing, whereas alternative faith-based communities’ influence will rise significantly in the next twenty years. (49) We need to respond to this trend.

It is in the language that I find myself responding hesitantly to Barna. He, like many other Christians, speaks a lot of “advancing the kingdom,” which is not verbage I appreciate any longer, since it is not a term Jesus ever uses. Barna does say elsewhere that we are to “seek the kingdom,” as Jesus says. I wonder, how does one both seek and advance the kingdom? This may seem like nit-picking, but “advancing language” is intricately tied to a Christendom understanding of the Church. Barna discusses how the influence of the church has diminished in the US —others call this trend the end of Christendom—and it seems at times that Barna wants to work so that the Church is back at the center of society. I am more in line with those who celebrate the end of Christendom (e.g., The Gospel and Our Culture Network), and believe that the Christ-followers are most effective when operating from the fringes of society rather than at the central seat of power. At other points, Barna also seems to say that the Revolution is not meant to specifically reform the culture. Rather, through “being true representations of whom God made them to be,” the Revolutionaries change the culture as they live in the world. There is no specific agenda or program. (128)

Also, I am hesitant to endorse his understanding of local congregations. Barna argues that current systems of churches are not producing Revolutionaries, but that there are growing models that are changing the landscape: house churches and cyberchurches. (65) I would agree that we as the American church have become too enmeshed with consumerism, but I fail to see how community involvement based upon similar interests is truly any different than other social clubs. Should we not be communal in an individualistic world? (Barna’s evaluation of new models of churches is reminiscent of Pete Ward’s, Liquid Church.) Barna argues that the local congregation (church with a lower case “c”) is not a focus of biblical texts. In fact, our understanding of church is not a New Testament idea at all—it should be noted that he understands the Jerusalem church in Acts to be the normative congregation. Communities get short changed in this book. Communities of Revolutionaries are good, for Barna, but primarily for pragmatic purposes. That is, in communities, people are more effective and can support one another. There is little about God’s desire to call people into community. My understanding of communities is not merely pragmatic, but primarily theological. God is gathering a people—not individual persons—to follow Jesus. I would say that the Revolution is the continuing formation of Godly communities within the US. Barna’s exegesis also misses the point that nearly every book in the Bible is written to a specific community or group of people, especially the Epistles. I do not want to give up on the idea of the local congregation, an idea that has existed ever since the synagogue movement emerged in Ancient Judaism. The notion of the larger congregation goes back even further. Our congregations may not reflect the kingdom as well as they should, but let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

In all this was a book that I thought, I think Barna and I are in heated agreement—to borrow a phrase from a friend. That is, I found myself bristling at some of his claims, but also thought that if he and I were to sit down and discuss this book, that we would be more in agreement than disagreement. He uses many buzz words that carry powerfully emotional responses, but I wished for more discussion behind his claims. I think some who have wanted something different from church, but cannot articulate it and have not been in conversation with those pursuing new forms of communities would resonate with Revolution. (I found it to be similar to Brian McLaren’s, A New Kind of Christian, in that it acts as an introduction to those who sense something different is afoot in American Christianity, even though it may be a small movement now. Barna names McLaren’s book in the list of resources for Revolutionaries at the end of the book.) Barna certainly has his finger on something. There is a significant change (or changes) occurring in US Christianity and churches do not seem equipped to address it very well. Worse, the churches do not seem to be equipping their members for the change very well. If they were, I doubt we would see so many people seeking spiritual development outside of their local congregations. There does seem to be a growing desire for living lives of discipleship rather than simply praying a prayer in order to go to Heaven after death. I do not think that giving up on the local congregation is the best means forward, however. The idea of the congregation may need to morph and be able to express itself in novel ways. I wish that Barna would have given more concrete narratives and examples of what these Revolutionaries are doing now. This is supposed to be the first book in a five-part series, so hopefully the Revolution will be spelled out more clearly.

For another view, check out Tall Skinny Kiwi’s review.

Edit: I would really be interested in sitting down with Barna to pick his brain. In the list of resources for Revolutionaries, Barna lists both The Ooze and BreakPoint, which on first glance, I wouldn’t pair together.