Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation by Jon Ward is a heart- felt indictment of certain aspects of conservative American churches during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Growing up in that period, Ward was raised by his family in a conservative evangelical church culture. During that period, many sincere Christians, like the Jesus Movement people of the time, believed God would lead America to a time of justice for “the poor, the weak, the unborn, the neglected, and the downtrodden.” Unfortunately, churches like the one Ward was raised in did not pay enough attention to the ever present temptation to power by a few leaders, as happens when any movement gains strength.

Submission to God, Ward states, is a noble intention. However, a traditional anti-intellectual stance meant that some Christians of this time rejected the place of the mind in their religion. “The call to surrender to God was used to strong arm me and my peers into accepting, without question, what we were told by adults.”

While fighting against abortion, some did not pay enough attention to “fighting for the welfare of the born, for those who made it out of the womb, and into a world of poverty, suffering, and systemic injustice.”

The sincere desire for authentic religious experience is a noble pursuit. However, Ward points out, in his own life, too much emphasis on an emotional experience can encourage a faith that becomes a “self-centered, consumeristic, emotion-focused pursuit.”

In his conclusion, Ward states: “seeking truth alone is not enough. Truth must be accompanied by love.”