What religion does your neighbor practice? Funny question if you remember that 30 years ago, evangelical and mainline Christianity was the major belief in this country. Most people in the U.S. lived in a culture that accepted belief in Christ as the one true way, even if they didn't practice it. Now we find Bible reading and prayer throttled in public schools, and major sports events and stores go at full speed on Sundays.
We also find Islam now claiming more than six million adherents in the U.S.; the Mormons number almost three million; and Jehovah's Witnesses are estimated at one million, not to mention several million in cults, Satanism, and the New Age movement. Radical religious changes have affected the fabric of our culture, and Christians are often caught not knowing what to think or how to respond.
In the face of this onslaught, Concordia Publishing House has updated and reissued the How to Respond series, originally published between 1977 and 1985. Each of the books in the series is written by a specialist in that field, and analyzes one of the major threats to Christian faith and practice in this country. (See the list of series titles below.) They not only describe the important points we need to know but also give guidance about how we can share the Gospel of Christ with a particular group.
Some of the content is not surprising. For example in the book on cults, we read, "Cults begin with authority figures from whom authoritarian teachings originate, usually in written form." Other statements strike home with their clarity and contrasts: "The cults suck people in with an involvement that maintains the closeness of their community. . . the church, however, pushes people out into the marketplace as an involving presence of God in the world."
How to Respond to the New Age Movement is the newest and, to this reviewer, the most helpful book in the series. New Agers are defined as "a network of otherwise dissimilar people intent on replacing the reality of a personal God with the idea that humanity is the center of all things." Didn't we see the beginning of that notion with the temptation in the third chapter of Genesis? Actually the only new thing about the New Age Movement is its name. The concepts and ideas have been around in one form or another since the beginning of time.
Each title in the series concludes with a practical chapter about "how to respond," some very clear dos and don'ts when talking with an adherent of one of these misguided religions. Several of the authors of this series have been missionaries to these groups either here in this country or in their native land. A word of caution: as you read the How to Respond series and prepare to witness to Christ, do not forget to pray, "Deliver us from evil." You may discover your neighbor is holding a seance!
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