I seat myself down at a table to work on this review for Ted Dekker’s THE SLUMBER OF CHRISTIANITY.  Unless I record immediately what thoughts of revelation appear, I lose them, as well as my own way, in trying to do for this remarkable treatise on the condition of contemporary Christianity what Dekker himself did for the Scriptures from which the Christian faith emerged.  Outside of rewriting the entire book, there is no possible way to capture it all.  So much is here to tell. 

Perhaps, if I begin with my initial reaction to the book; it offered the sublime promise for an eye-opening experience.  I say as much not simply due to the cover depicting an eye propped open by two fingers; I say it because of Dekker’s name, coupled with the provocative title he chose.

For those who remain unaware, Ted Dekker is not a preacher.  He did study Religion and Philosophy; but rather than take that education into a ministerial field, he ventured into business, and today is a popular novelist of fast-paced fiction stories centering on the continuing battle between good and evil.  As the child of missionaries, he witnessed firsthand a world not dependant on a church around every corner. 

The premise he offers in THE SLUMBER OF CHRISTIANITY is a simple one.  He believes Christianity has tumbled into an unaware sleep to the realities of the faith, subjugating the hope for heaven and the eternal life beyond to a desire for heaven on earth through the blessings of God for the here and now

One can liken this, which Dekker does, to the marathon runner who runs his race absent a vision of the finish line as his goal.  He seeks the accolades of the crowd.  He desires the refreshment of the water handed him along his course.  His race becomes meaningless because the hope that should propel him forward towards that goal fails to entice him when more pleasurable are the things to be grasped along the way.  

The pleasures of this world are not meant to fulfill us as the pleasure we should seek (the things we can touch, and feel, and see)--they are mere foretastes of what lies ahead--they merely exude the aroma intended to draw people to the bountiful feast prepared for their delight.  To stand outside the kitchen inhaling this enticement of the senses, being content with the titillating pleasure of that smell alone, is foolishness.  In Dekker’s view, such is what Christianity has become: religion content with the pleasures of earth rather than being propelled forward through this life and on into the next where the actual substance of those pleasures resides – not just the foretastes of aroma they give off.

What is needed is a reinvigoration of the simple hope of child on Christmas morn, the idealism of youth for the future land of promise where anything is possible, the faith of an early people who witnessed the merciless death of their leader followed by his miraculous resurrection three days later.  This is what awakens the slumbering faith of the people, the hope that is promised.  The hopelessness of the day-to-day is not all there is.  There is a finish line for everyone to cross.  All any of us need to do is believe this is so, despite the tangible proof our physical sight expects to see.

What runner would ever run a race if there were no finish line to pursue?

Dekker’s skills as a fiction writer are sublimely apparent, as he writes this work in a way that makes it a truly enjoyable read.  A lot of nonfiction, while full of valid information to benefit those who listen, comes across with a preachy, elevated aire that infers the idea of a conference with a speaker delivering a structured lecture from a stage.  Such creates a clear detachment from the people being addressed.

Dekker, in contrast, comes across as the next-door neighbor who comes to your house, talks from his heart - with an authority to his words - keeping you alert in rapt attention.  You not only believe the man knows the substance of what he speaks, you know he does.

Alongside his creative, personable manner, I also found myself overtly impressed with the logical precision Dekker uses to lay out his case.  He approaches his thesis – and it is like a college thesis depending on not just a grade, but a college degree – as one of the apostles writing their epistles to a new church of their age.  THE SLUMBER OF CHRISTIANITY is his epistle to the 21^st century church who claim Jesus’ name.  There is a Master returning from his sojourn.  Make sure your lamps are full of the oil of hope.  Be stirred into an awareness of the unseen prize awaiting all who finish the race, that the passion for heaven in those abiding on earth may supplant the passion for heaven to take its place on earth.

Remember.  How else does one make it through the rough times in this life?  It’s all about the hope.