"Never have Christians pursued relevance more strenuously; never have Christians been more irrelevant."

Os Guinness is a good writer because he was first a good reader. His vast learning - especially from older sources - enables him perceive the presuppositions and values of our era which we tend to absorb unconsciously. His books, then, are less concerned with giving readers specific plans of action than they are with conveying a wider, more historical perspective on a certain issue.

In Prophetic Untimeliness, Guinness examines the issue of Christian relevance. He notes that the church, more than ever before, conforms itself to the expectations of our culture:

"Some have spent the last decades reinventing churches furiously according to the dictates of the baby boomers. Others are now pronouncing that passé and are tackling the task with the same enthusiasm to court the younger generations."

And we've become irrelevant.

Guinness believes the church has given up far too much in this pursuit, with more concessions to come.

"Signs are that, unless some drastic rethinking takes place soon, the corruptions in evangelicalism will worsen and show through in theology, not just in practice."

His conclusion: relevance is not a thing that the church can achieve by looking to culture; it is not even a thing that can be pursued as an end in itself. Being relevant is a side-effect of clinging to Scripture, which is inherently relevant because it contains exclusive, perfect truth that speaks to eternal human needs, as well as an unchanging, all-satisfying Creator-God. ( )