I have to say, I am relieved to find someone else who is a Christian, but like me, doesn’t support Donald Trump and is more than a bit unhappy with the current issues of racism and covering-up of sexual abuse going on in the Church. That being said…

Losing Our Religion is a book that tells it like it is. The Church is rife with problems that stem from the fact that we view our faith as a religion rather than what it is – faith. At least that’s how I view it and how I perceived the book to be viewing it as well.

This book tackles the tough issues such as the Church becoming embroiled in politics. It talks about how in many cases, Christian thought leaders will support a candidate who at least claims to support the same causes they do, while completely ignoring the causes they don’t support. It also talks about the way in which Christian thought leaders and churches excuse or ignore un-Christian behaviors exhibited by these political candidates.

There are a ton of examples of how the church is more or less contradicting itself, but Russell Moore doesn’t just tell us the problems, he gives practicable solutions to the issues. He doesn’t just tell us “hey, there’s a problem here”, he actually provides solutions that we can work on.

I gave this book 4 stars because it tells it like it is, provides solutions, and makes you think about how you and your church leaders are viewing faith, patriotism, nationalism, and more. I highly recommend this to anyone who is frustrated at the current state of the Church.

In an era of rampant deconstruction, it was a relief to read that Russell Moore had successfully untangled his Baptist roots from his identity as a child of God. He affirms, as the title implies, “I was not losing my faith, but I was losing my religion.” Sadly, the word “religion” for Moore had become larded through and through with an abundance of politics and weighed down with cultural baggage that has nothing to do with the biblical mission of the Church.

I found all of this to be jarring, and, while I can’t say that I enjoyed reading the book, I can report that I profited from it. Evangelicals, those who “believe in the God who justifies the ungodly,” will find in Moore’s story a cautionary tale, for we are distractible creatures, praying for stones and serpents and then wondering why we’re bruised and bitten. However, in keeping with the gospel narrative, what began with loss and disruption traveled all the way to hope.

Even more valuable than Moore’s experience is his response to his experience. Worshiping alongside sinners (there’s no one else to fill the pews), requires a faithful winnowing of our outrage and a careful stewarding of our terminology.

Moore calls evangelicals to the priority of recovering the spiritual authority necessary to carry out the mission of the church. If we are going to stanch the hemorrhage of young adults from the church, we need to be very clear that we ourselves believe what we have taught them all their lives. Maybe if we also “lose our religion” we will become more effective at pointing to Christ and more committed to living the mystery that for 2,000 years has been pointing seekers to an empty tomb.

Many thanks to Sentinel (part of the Penguin Group) for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.

In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore does an outstanding job of assessing our society as a whole, as related to evangelicalism in America, and encouraging us to stay steadfast in our pursuit of integrity and transparency, as Christ Followers should walk. Jesus is constant. He guides us steadfastly and with the ultimate purpose of not only walking alongside Him as our Lord, but in sharing with others, the hope we have in Jesus. Moore presents a message of hope to the readers, one filled with the truth that in and through all things, the gospel will prevail. I applaud Moore for “not holding back” in his communication style, literally speaking truths about the current status of the American church today, and the hypocrisy that abounds. He states comments in a direct manner, with integrity, and shows the reader that even in what may seem like a hopeless situation in our churches today, with so much upheaval, deceit, and hypocrisy, Christ will lead us into the future. We only must cling to Him and stay committed to our walk with Him.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sentinel, an imprint of Random House, for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

When I was 12, my uncle recommended a massive book on "Understanding the Times." I had the hardcover in my room for years and never read it. When I got to college, it was required reading for another course I wasn't enrolled in. I've always been a little curious about what was in that volume.

I share that anecdote to say, Moore in this book reflects on the times we live in now, and there is a lot to digest. The church today is not the church of 1995. I think he has a lot of good insight. Where do we go from here? Moore doesn't outline a battle plan forward, but does offer some principles that I thought were pastoral and 'neutral' for the most part.

He does not hide his distaste for Donald Trump or the SBC's handling of sexual abuse - and this narrative he expounds on as the reader comes to understand what molded and shaped him into who he is today.

Whether or not you share his conclusions on those two hot topic items, I still think this is a book that is worth reading, and worth discussion afterwards. I read a lot of books throughout the year, but I don't always recommend the books I read. This one I do.

Thoughts:
- Coming into this as an external observer (the word 'evangelical' is much more value-neutral in my comfy little bubble in Sydney), this impassioned and sobering reflection on the state of American evangelical culture was helpful in unpacking just what on earth I've been seeing on the news and on social media for the past couple of years.
- Before reading this, I was only familiar with Russell Moore through his segment on Mike Cosper's/CT's podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Here he touches on his experiences in Southern Baptist circles and the fallout that ensured after his criticism of how some churches responded to the Trump campaign and all the associated cultural chaos. I think he did well in being gracious when recounting his experiences, and in calling for repentance and renewal.
- I found the discussion on 'deconstruction' super helpful. It's a big scary buzzword, but the question isn't about whether someone will deconstruct, but what they will deconstruct. When the scales fall from your eyes and you realise that your idols have failed you, will this lead to cynicism or renewal? The same goes for 'revival'. What are you trying to revive? Some national myth about an idealised cultural past, or a return to gospel-centeredness?
- Russell Moore doesn't shy away from addressing some truly awful stuff. But the book ends on a hopeful note. Although American cultural Christianity has developed a skewed understanding of religion, credibility, authority, identity, integrity, and stability, the stripping-away of illusion is an opportunity to pause and look to the One who heals, restores, and saves.
- Note: There were so many hard hitting lines I would have loved to quote here, but I read an uncorrected proof text from NetGalley (there were some minor grammar/punctuation errors). Rest assured that the book is extensively highlighted on my Kindle. Shout-out to my friends who graciously put up with my live reactions and many, many photos of interesting quotes.

This gave me so much to think about such perspective. I’m discussing this one soon with other people and can’t wait to hear what others got out of it. Well done!

"When the claims of an individual or a group cannot be questioned without the possibility of exile, and when the exile becomes the worst fate imaginable, we are in a place of confusion."

Russell Moore's latest work is an "altar call" for the Church—it's a call to dismantle the connection between God's Church and idolizing American patriotism. (He even spends a lengthy amount of time on the topic of Christian Nationalism.) As a former SBC member and head of the ERLC, Moore comes bearing many stories, experiences, and lessons learned about the inner-workings of the American Church. He shares them here, in a simple format: each chapter begins with stories and illustrations, and ends with a sort of "application" section about how to return to Christian orthodoxy and somehow dismantle the politicization of Christianity.

Losing Our Religion has some great sections on how to remain a faithful Church in an ever-polarized world. "It's exhausting," he writes, "to define ourselves not be who and what we love but by who and what we hate." In past decades—and especially since 2020—it feels like the test of one's Christianity often starts and ends with politics, with orthodoxy sprinkled in. This work is an attempt to get away from that.

While I enjoyed Moore's call for the Church to be more Christian and less overly-political, parts of the book felt like a sort of tell-all; Moore shares many personal stories and historical anecdotes that were wholly applicable to the chapters, but they take up a significant amount of space that he could have used better. (For example, in one of the final chapters, he goes on for a few pages about Willie Nelson and country music's history. This is a helpful illustration, but it felt too drawn out.) Nevertheless, the stories and perspective that he shares are poignant. At times, I felt like each chapter of the book could have been better as an article, as some of them didn't closely relate with each other. Though it seems he rambles on a bit, the work is still worth the read.

Moore, a lifelong Southern Baptist, bemoans the movement of evangelical Christians to christian nationalism. He notes that the challenge before the church is not “To Make America Great Again” but to “Make Evangelicalism Born Again.” The marriage of the church and politics has resulted in many followers, and most young followers, leaving organized religion. He noted that if “lapsed evangelical Protestant “ were a denomination, it would be by far the largest religious body in the South.
Dr Moore is a casualty of the movement away from Christ and toward authoritarianism. He left his position with the Southern Baptist Convention over its adherence to Trump and the MAGA movement. He now stands as one of the few prophets in the Evangelical Community who is crying out against the church’s wholesale adherence to a political party and the “culture war.”
Moore calls for true revival rather than a nostalgic celebration of a past that never existed. He notes that the means are more important than the ends and that only true morality can save evangelical Christianity from hypocrisy.

I’ve always enjoyed reading Moore’s work in Christianity Today and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a call for evangelicals to turn away from chasing political success and return to the fundamentals of the faith. Moore’s sharp intellect and love of Jesus shine through.

In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore gives encouragement to fellow Christians who are discouraged and disillusioned by the current state of evangelicalism in America. We are reminded that although religion, politics, and leadership fail us, Jesus never will. His gospel remains true even if the organizations or denominations that preach it seem to be falling apart.
To be honest, there were parts of this that made me wonder if it was just another book about taking political sides (I.e. remarks about COVID). It is good to know that going in, but I would encourage readers who may not agree with Moore on every political point to keep reading. His message for American Christians is one of hope and reason, precisely because the gospel is so much bigger than anything that can be described as American.
I especially liked the chapter on integrity. In it, he acknowledges the widespread hypocrisy of leadership within the evangelical church, which of course is disheartening. But rather than name calling and ending on a note of hopelessness, he reminds all followers of Christ of a better way, namely, that character trumps giftedness, and meekness trumps “telling it like it is” in the kingdom of God.
I have so appreciated Russell Moore’s voice and leadership during his time as president of the ERLC and in the years since. He is winsome, states his convictions and reasons for them clearly, and leads with integrity. This book is a great example of all of those and will be an encouragement to many.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sentinel, an imprint of Random House, for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book digs into Evangelical America and a lot of the culture and theology surrounding it. Moore spent years in the Southern Baptist Convention and left it recently after the sexual abuse scandal.

Moore discusses how dangerous it is when politics enter the church and how quickly that divides families and friends and also can taint the Christian name so quickly. 'It's exhausting to define ourselves not by who and what we love, but by who and what we hate.'

He also challenges the reader in that 'the first step to becoming a people of truth is to recognize what makes us afraid, and to ask why, and who benefits from that fear.' This point is further explained in that 'the evangelical culture of the past half century has focused comparatively little on judgement for the hearer, and much more on a different kind of fear - the imminent threat from one's neighbors or culture.'

Moore emphazies the importance of community as he says 'almost any discontinuation of people from organic community leads to extremism and anger - no matter the place on the ideological spectrum.'

Overall, I enjoyed this book because it identified and explained elements I have seen in Christian culture that have frustrated me. I did appreciate how Moore while calling out what he saw as problems in evangelical culture ultimately brought it back to Christ. He encourages us to 'keep reminding yourself of the signposts you have seen, of the witness you've heard, of what matters, of Who matters, above all else.'

I’ve appreciated the author’s ministry for many year through his work at the ERLC, his podcasts and books. I also identified with his dismay after Trump won the Republican primary in 2016. In the years since, I’ve grown weary of the relentless critiques of evangelical Christianity from within. In spite of the many faults of the Church, she’s still the light of the world! More Christians serve on the front lines of mercy ministry, adoption and foster care than their progressive secular counterparts.

The primary concern I had reading this work is I reject the assumption that Christians who care about state of the culture prioritize white nationalism (racism and nativism) as their top agenda. I think that’s a very tiny minority (and repugnant), but this book mainly addresses that issue. Almost every believer I know is extremely concerned about abortion and marriage/gender issues (which get very little attention in this book by comparison). Even since just 2016, the decline into a post Christian society has accelerated to the degree that it is head spinning. Where is the encouragement here for believers who are dismayed? I recently read Abolition of Man, by CS Lewis. This little book of essays, written in 1943, identifies the key issue facing society, which applies to us today in an extremely intense way. Anthropology, what does it mean to be human. We’ve witness a collapse of the understanding of what it means to be human, and of a belief in natural law itself. Now anyone can construct their own meaning about human nature, and they can’t be argued against. Does Moore have words of wisdom for Christians facing this current climate? I hope he will share them. Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed the work of Carl Trueman and Rosaria Butterfield to help our family navigate this troubling time we’re living in.

Welcome Back, Dr. Moore! For roughly a decade now, the once-phenomenal Dr. Russell Moore has been either a shill for SBC Leadership in his role as head of its Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission or embroiled in controversy over his rabid anti-Trumpism. Here, while not *completely* stepping back from either position, Moore does an excellent job of calling American Churchianity - not just the SBC, but *all* of American Churchianity - back to a focus on Christ, Him Crucified, and Spreading the Gospel. Full of Southern aphorisms that even this native Son of the South rarely heard in the exurbs of Atlanta, despite being barely a decade younger than Moore, this text also shows just how knowledgeable and insightful Moore at his best can show himself to be. And yes, while allowing that he is still wrong on a few positions (which I'm sure he and others would disagree with me over), this really is a return to the best of Moore, the Moore that made me at first *excited* that he was taking over the ERLC.

Indeed, the only reasons for the two star deductions are simple: the dearth of a bibliography - less than 10%! - when 20-30% is more normal, and even at least 20% is more normal *within this specific genre*, and the frequent use of "prooftexting", the practice of citing Bible verses outside of their context as "proof" of some point or another, which is a rampant problem in this genre in particular.

Still, if you're a Christian in America today... you need to read this book. If you're just interested in studying the decline of Christianity in America today and what could be done about it... you need to read this book. And if you're actively anti anything remotely Christian... maybe skip this one. ;) Still, that means that several million Americans... need to read this book. Very much recommended.