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Paper Boys - Foreword

When I first read the draft of this book, I was reminded that the novelist William Golding had written an autobiographical novel entitled, The Paper Men. So was Viv Thomas being more modest as a writer in calling his book, Paper Boys? Having been so successful as a writer, Golding was making an indictment of the moderen publishing profession, in writing in the genre of a fabulist. So what about Paper Boys? It is also autobiographical in its reflections, but it takes on more than a profession, for it critiques contemporary Evangelicalism, a broader and more ambitious theme. Yet it succeeds by its modesty of attitude, helping the perplexed ordinary Christian in the pew, to raise one’s horizons to the challenges of postmodern changes, as they confront our religious attitudes. As an ex-senior executive of Operation Mobilisation Viv Thomas has seen the remarkable expansion of a Christian organisation gain a global impact as it recruited many thousands of idealistic young people, literally to ‘sail the seven seas’, and just remain a paper boy doing his rounds of Southport.’ Like the popular advert, it could be said of the Evangelical Movement ‘you’ve come a long way Baby! Yet like the culture o Paper Boys, interactive with their immediate environment, the author sees that three great cultural features of modern pop culture have also made superficial and even given character to the Evangelical Movement: that of individualism, rationalism, and instrumentalism. The indicitment of this previously impressive movement of Christian renewal, has tended to degenerate to a cheap delivery service, like that of paper boys, who really don’t have much involvement with their clientele, other that to pander to their journalistic curiosity. This is a heartfelt and telling critique of the present status of Evangelical culture. For it is now being challenged by its need to reflect more radically the triune God of grace, in more relational catagories. Viv Thomas expresses these challenges through his own experience of suffering and sacrifice, unexpressed, but nevertheless giving passion to his clear and challenging communication’