Book Review #6

Fitch, David E, The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the church from Big Business, Para-church Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and other Modern Maladies, Baker Books, 2005.

Being raised in the evangelical church and living in the twenty first century. I have definitely run into many inconsistencies and shortcomings in the church. The doctrine is slightly too fundamental (leading to exclusion of other believers from the kingdom), people are not generally taught to participate in social change, individualism is over-embraced, and politics is wrongfully connected to many of the churches. In spite of the criticisms I have, and the critiques I am receptive to hearing, I do not care to listen to elitist, objective claims that, in effect, exclude evangelical churches from being categorized as “true” houses of God. David Fitch purports a thesis that seeks to show how evangelicalism has “given away” being the church of North America (13). Fitch shows this by commenting on their integration of the capitalist system, improper leadership structures, flawed worship and teaching, poor moral education and other things in accordance with society’s migration to post-modern understanding.

There are many areas of this book where the author and I are on the same page (such will be discussed later); however, I could not relate to his stern claims regarding worship and personal experience of the Holy Spirit. Fitch highlights this in the following passage:

“Contemporary evangelism worship works under the modernist assumption that personal self-expression, freedom in the spirit, and personal experience are the basis for authentic engagement with God…any illusion that we can trust our experience as innately given has been undermined by post-modernity…They can no longer count on self-expression alone to produce a truthful experience of God in worship” (103).

I do not understand how the author can objectively conclude that, just because we live in a post-modern world, our worship cannot be aimed at a non-corporate “intimacy with God” experience (104). I respect the questioning of emphasized individualism; however, I cannot relate to Fitch’s holding that it is no longer possible for individuals to, on their own, experience the Holy Spirit just because we are in a world that embraces post-modernity. I truly understand that our emotions do not automatically equal an encounter with God; however, I do not find it wise or biblical to say that such experiences will never happen under such circumstances.

Some of the points that Fitch makes, which apply to my case study as well as contribute to my understanding of God’s kingdom, are the concepts of evangelism exhibited through action and detrimental strategizing similar to the market-driven mentality. Fitch states that “Evangelists should avoid the temptation to make ‘servanthood’ the tool of effectiveness” (87). When we go down to Mexico, I must not have a servant’s heart and an interest in their culture merely for the strategic purpose of converting them. I have also learning that my words should not be my primary tool of evangelism.


“How do we make sense of the Christian claim that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ in a post-modern world where old ways to truth have broken down? The answer is we display what these words mean in the way we live and worship so that its reality, once displayed, cannot be denied, only rejected or entered into” (56).

Fitch does a good job of relating the post-modern culture’s effect on the operation of the evangelical church; but he presents his analysis too objectively. Ironic as it is, Fitch’s one-sided interpretation of the Holy Spirit leads him to be objective about a subjective platform, that is, non-scientific post modernity.