Ron Sider has written The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience which identifies some disturbing trends in American evangelicalism: mainly, that the lifestyles of American Christians, evangelicals in particular, are far from showing a “people set apart” from the world. In fact, in some cases, it is quite the opposite.

Just starting, but I have always respected Sider, who seems to take seriously the various ethical implications and, thus, expectations of the Christian community.

Some highlights from Chapter 1 and 2

Scandalous behavior is rapidly destroying American Christianity. By their daily activity, most “Christians” regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment.

The findings in numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. “Gallup and Barna,” laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, “hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general.”1 Divorce is more common among “born-again” Christians than in the general American population. Only 6 percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely people to object to neighbors of another race. Josh McDowell has pointed out that the sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than that of their nonevangelical peers.