Letters to a Devastated Christian

by Gene Edwards

In exploring the aspects of Christian groups that emphasize submission and authority, the author offers hope to followers left with bitterness and resentment.

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Christian Living, Spirituality

45 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Gene Edwards is one of America's most beloved Christian authors. He has published over 25 best-selling books, and his signature work, "The Divine Romance," has been called a masterpiece of Christian literature. He has written biblical fiction covering nearly the entire Bible, with titles that include the following: "The Beginning," "The Escape," "The Birth," "The Divine Romance," "The Triumph," "Revolution," "The Silas Diary," "The Titus Diary," "The Timothy Diary," "The Priscilla Diary," "The Gaius Diary," and "The Return."

Gene grew up in the East Texas oil fields and entered college at the age of 15. He graduated from East Texas State University at 18 with a bachelor's degree in English history and received his M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gene is part of the house-church movement, and he travels extensively to aid Christians as they begin meeting in homes rather than in church buildings. He also conducts conferences on living the deeper Christian life.

Gene and his wife, Helen, reside in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two grown children.

Reviews

[Todd Coburn]

Wow. This is a fantastic book with solid Biblical truth for the Christian. It is most useful for folks who have been wounded in an authoritarian or overly controlling Christian organization.

The author deals with the ideas of Specialism (our Church is the only or best of all Christian churches), Unity (the body of Christ is called to unity therefore you should join our church and never leave), and Head Covering (each spiritual organization should be "covered" by the authority of select leadership or eldership, so you must submit to the leadership in "our" church.)

All of these ideas have some spiritual basis, but have been grossly distorted in practice repeatedly throughout history to suit the purposes of mankind rather than of God. Gene takes this distortion by the horns and exposes it for what it is.

The book also touches on the practice of living in community, of sharing things in common, and of organizations that carefully monitor the lives of their practitioners.

It also addresses the wounds many folks have received at the hands of Christian organizations, leaders, or volunteer workers, and provides solid insight, advice, and redirection to these folks for getting back on track with God and man.

Wow. I found Gene's treatment of these subjects to be in perfect alignment with Scripture, and sense that this short little book could be very helpful for Christians.

The book is written in a style that is similar to C.S. Lewis's "Screwtape Letters", and although the writing is not as elegant nor perfect as Gene's other books "A Tale of Three Kings" or "The Prisoner in the Third Cell", the truth in this little volume is so right-on and profound that it easily ranks five stars in my mind.

A great read. A solid perspective. A Biblical expounder. A must-read for the Christian.

Enjoy.

[Mark Sequeira]

This, along with the Tale of Three Kings are must reads for those battered or wounded by the church or authoritarian figures who have a position of trust. Hard to describe how two such small books could have such a powerful impact.
HIGHLY REVCOMMENDED.

[Светлана]

This book de-allegorizes Edwards' earlier thoughts depicted in his bestseller A Tale of Three Kings. Both books deal with life under unjust authority—an experience that almost everyone goes through at some point in time. The "devastated Christian" of the title is someone that has been "sold a bill of goods" by becoming committed to an unhealthy Christian movement, one where the leader demands more than he gives, and seeks to make overreaching decisions about believers' personal lives. Sadly, this is not uncommon, since no one has unlocked the key to instantaneous sanctification (though many have tried).
Many Christians go through this experience of disillusionment coming out of their youth. After spending a few years serving a thriving church movement, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we ripen enough to spot the weaknesses in our leaders. What do you do when you see weakness in your leaders? When should the weakness be a red flag that you are in a truly unhealthy church?
Edwards' counsel is to look for a few keys which I believe are quite telling:
- "Specialism": "We are the move of God in this generation."
- "Unity": If anyone doesn't meet with us, they are damaging Christian unity.
- "Covering": Decisions have to be approved by the elders. After all, every believer needs "covering."
In the course of the book, Edwards also tackles the idea of following a "New Testament pattern"—an idea fraught with danger when divorced from its cultural context and taken to extremes.
In the last chapter, Edwards gives concrete counsel to his "devastated Christian," most of which resonates with his advice in A Tale of Three Kings:
1. Broadcasting bitter experiences with everyone you meet is an unhealthy way of seeking release. It would be better to seek not to dishonor Christ by bashing those who have served him in an unhealthy way.
Edwards has right motives here in advising discretion; however, as other reviewers have pointed out, survivors of significant abuse need to find significant outlets to better understand their pain. He only lightly touches on this—
2. Christian counseling is healthy for those who have undergone significant or long-lasting psychological abuse.
3. Don't give up on structured Christianity. For all the weaknesses, there is a lot of good to be found.
4. Don't surround yourself with bitter people. Try to find some positivity.
5. Finally, "You are going to have to start believing. You are going to have to believe that there are movements born of God. You are going to have to trust Christians and [Christian] workers again." (p. 44)

[Brandon Current]

Read and keep as resource.
This book is a one trick pony. It is useful in the instance of people who have been hurt in an authoritarian movement and are at risk of bitter disillusionment with Christian community entirely. (or perhaps are currently in one and not recognizing the patterns of evil within them). However, the author seems to pass over the idea of exposing false and spiritually harmful movements that much of Scripture and especially 1-3 John would lead us to do. His ideas about Elders are reactionary rather than Biblical. So too are his ideas about single-leadership. Christ is Head of the church and it is not a defecto argument that the church will have a single human leader. On top of page 70 he says a movement's destiny is found in the heart of the leader. What about he Holy Spirit and Sovereignty? Why this idea that everything must be a "movement?" What about faithful stewardship of the faith once delivered and the breadth of faithful people throughout many different denominations and church structures. Too much emphasis on human organizations and not enough on the invisible church.

[Carol Ghattas]

I read several of Gene Edwards' books years ago, but never this one, though I've had it on my shelf. It's not a long book, and though now considered old, it remains relevant to our modern age. Many Christians suffer from disappointment and hurt at the hands of fellow believers or the church at large, and this book takes a kind and helpful approach to suffering souls.

There are many points of wisdom and godly advice, but I found myself convicted and dwelling on one of his guidelines near the end of the book: "First of all, if you have been talking about this experience to other Christians almost incessantly, then I would say to you it's time to stop."

This hit me square between the eyes, and I realized that there comes a time to put the past in the past. Again, this is just one of his words of exhortation and encouragement. I don't even consider myself a devastated Christian, but like many of us, I have had my areas of disappointment and been let down by godly men and women I admired in my youth. If you are in the same boat, I encourage you to pick up this book and then take everything Edwards says before the Lord.

[Dayton]

The content and subject was spot on... however in assessing the authoritarian religious groups and those who have been devastated by them, the author quite often is rather harsh with the fictional “Ken” who he is addressing these “letters” to. His conclusions and guidelines and remedies are good and solid... just harsh at times.
One more thing: I understood where the author was coming from because I had read his earlier book A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness. Definitely start with the earlier book and then read this one.

[Brenda Lei]

Edwards' final letter in this book seems especially helpful and practical for those who have been hurt by fellow Christians in one way or another. He discusses bitterness, awareness, and the renewal of hope. God has not abandoned the hurt Christian!

[Leroy Zumack]

I thought it was a good analysis for people coming out of authoritarian movements. The author does a good job of helping people through their pains and getting them to face the issues in their own lives

[Rick]

good

[Mike]

A vital subject well handled.
A small enough book for a wonded Christain to pick up

[Kenia Dutra]

Great read but definitely recommend reading a tale of three kings first.

[Cayden Rhinehart]

This was good, kinda hard to relate to but still good, and it challenged me which is always good

[Kenneth Garrett]

Unfortunately, this book is not a resource I would recommend for survivors of abusive churches. There is a great deal of victim-shaming in it, as the author does not believe that people are actually tricked and deceived into joining such churches, nor does he seem to appreciate the power and spiritual forces at work in the "ministries" of genuine false teachers/abusive-narcissistic pastors.
Instead, the author attempts to gently challenge his recipient in the book (in a series of letters) that it was the victim's fault that led him to the abusive church, and that he should be more prayerful, more repentant, more committed, etc., and that he should not talk about his abuse, or spend time with other survivors from the abusive church. Despite the good intention of the author, current research into the field of cult/abusive church recovery, and my own (personal) experience, argue strongly against his counsel and conclusions.

[Kyle]

Needed book for many.

[Margaret Irons]

There are good insights in Edwards' books, but the problem is that he himself is a culot leader.