• Provides an understanding of why Christians are embarrassed about telling others about Christ

• Offers advice on how to overcome embarrassment

• Speaks from the inside a believer who participates in the media elite, one of the toughest places to take a stand for Christ

The Embarrassed Believer
By Hugh Hewitt
Word Publishing
1998
206 pages

There has been a drastic shift in the way Christians interact with the world, claims Hugh Hewitt in his book The Embarrassed Believer. The world has changed to the point that outspoken Christians are made to feel like buffoons or intellectual weaklings. Its the kind of environment that has contributed to an increase in the number of embarrassed believers in todays churches.

Embarrassed believers are true believers, genuinely saved and active in their churches, but failing to actively tell the world around them about Christbelievers who have grown accustomed to living with the fear that prevents them from speaking when opportunities arise.

To better explain the current predicament, Hewitt first presents the reasons that led to Christianitys cultural demise, then discusses what it will take to get through those barriers and verbally share Christ. Some of his advice includes:

Involve the current culture in your messageif making references to current events or media can help bridge the gap, then make them.

Resist the temptation to react in anger to those who want to engage in arguments or theological/philosophical debates.

Invite people into a community of love and acceptancethe church should be a place of refuge for anyone, not just a huddle for Christians who want to avoid contact with the world.

Learn about what you believe and the history of what you believe, and pass it on to new Christiansor else New Age silliness will take over.

Hewitt, a PBS host and former Reagan administration member, pulls no punches but includes himself in any and all criticism of contemporary Christian silence. He admits that his own shift toward Christian zeal is a recent one, and that he still has a long way to go in overcoming his own embarrassmenteven today.

Perhaps the most important point Hewitt makes is this: change in America will not come from the top down, not through legislation of a national morality. Instead, it will come from the hard work and outspoken boldness of believers who overcome the barrier of embarrassment and help change the country and culture one person at a time.

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