Evangelical Bathwater

I've started this blog because evangelicalism has dirty bathwater, but a good baby. Is everyone familiar with the phrase "throwing the baby out with the bathwater?" It describes overreaction, tossing the whole thing when only part of it is bad. And that's what a lot of people are doing with evangelicalism right now. Young people especially. I want to see the trend stop, but if you have to decide between keeping both or tossing both, it's a tough decision. I believe evangelical Christianity is still the right decision, even with our problems, but it ought to be easy, a no-brainer.

Some people have asked me why I'm starting this blog - what am I hoping to accomplish?  I'm hoping to have three effects: First, I want to get rid of some dirty bathwater. Just for examples, I'd like to see evangelicals be the best stewards of the planet on the planet, instead of people who insist we can't affect it, or it doesn't matter because Christ will be back soon anyway. I'd like people to think of us, ahead of any other group, when they think about compassion for the poor, even if it's not done exactly our way. And I'd like us to be the loudest and most effective heralds of God's love for mankind since Christ himself was on earth. (People don't need to be told about their sin. They know they're sinful, even if they might disagree with us on some of the details. They need to be told that there's a solution to their sin, in Christ alone.) Among other things. I can't do that by myself, but I can be a voice for change.

Second, I want people to know that you can be an evangelical Christian without denying or ignoring science, supporting pre-emptive war, or opposing separation of church and state. I'm not saying here those things are wrong, just that they're tangential to evangelical beliefs. Many people interested in Christ, as well as current evangelicals see those things and want to turn away. My hope is even if we don't clean the bathwater, those people will know which things are genuinely attached to following Christ, and which things are merely trends among his fans.

Third, I want greater intellectual honesty and integrity in evangelicalism. In the past, science, philosophy, and academia were dominated by Christians because Christians loved truth, no matter the source. No one should promote truth and the desire to find it as much as evangelicals. Because truth only leads toward God, never away. The Bible teaches that God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18, Titus 1:2, and others). Jesus said he is the truth in John 14:6. All truth is his, and we should pursue truth as a means to better pursue & be like Christ. We, as a group, need to be more humble about what we know, say less about what we don't, and most of all, avoid the temptation to appear as though we have all the answers.