The Slumber of Christianity by Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker wants Christians everywhere to wake up.

Usually known as a fiction writer, Dekker stepped out of that genre to write The Slumber of Christianity: Awakening a Passion for Heaven on Earth, and he’s hoping that it will serve as an alarm clock for the Church.

Dekker contends that without a passion for heaven, we not only live in fear of death, but live unsatisfied lives while on this earth. It’s only in realizing that the pleasures of this life are but a foretaste of the pleasures of heaven can we be satisfied with what earth has to offer.

Dekker believes that Christians spend too much of their time trying to find happiness and fulfillment on earth when that fulfillment will not really happen until they reach heaven. He wants the Church to develop a passion for heaven by meditating often on the glories of heaven and the love of God.

I believe his point is well taken that our communion services should more reflect the heavenly wedding banquet than a solemn passing of crumbs of bread and a sip of grape juice, but what Dekker only mentions briefly is that God has a mission for the Church while on earth. Yes, there is great value in finding a passion for spending eternity with Jesus, but if we spend all our time in that state of longing, we will miss what God has for us to do in the meantime. The Slumber of Christianity is a good book to jumpstart a passion for heaven if you don’t have one, but be aware as you read it that God has a plan for your life right here and now.

I think there is another, maybe greater, slumber going on in the Christian world--the deep sleep of those completely unaware of the spiritual battle going on all around them. While I agree with Dekker’s alarm, I think his book is a bit out of balance. Yes, we need that passion for the future Light, but we also need to get in the game, pick up a sword and fight the dark.