Let's talk a bit about what's good about evangelicalism. I'm an evangelical, and if you're reading this blog, you probably are too, or were once, and ought to be again, in my opinion. But there's lots of things evangelicals need to fix, which is the main subject of this blog. The things that don't need fixing are the subject of this post.
For starters, there's the two things that I would say are definitional features of evangelicalism. If you have both of these, you're evangelical, if you have one or less, you're not. Evangelicals believe in the gospel, (the good news of the Bible that, while man was far from God, Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross to pay for our sins) and we believe the gospel needs to be shared. Some people think that's the most annoying thing about us, but just keep in mind we believe that you're cut off from God without Christ, and we just want to share how we've been found. That commitment to sharing the gospel is good point #1. Evangelicals also believe that the Bible is the perfect word of God, without error as it was originally written (which, by the way, doesn't mean it can't be misinterpreted - it just means that's my fault, not God's). That high view of God's Word is good point #2. So those are the core features of evangelicalism, and they're both very good.
Another place evangelicals get it right, in my opinion, is what I refer to as the call to sold out living. Some churches ask that you show up for the service once a week and put some of your money in the offering plate - I don't think God is too enthused with an hour of our week and maybe a few percent of our income. God wants everything - not a dollar amount or a number of hours, he wants every moment, every segment, all of your life to be centered on him. That doesn't mean you do nothing but read your Bible and pray, but it means God has the top spot in your thinking, and your goal in life is to please him by loving and serving the people around you. A lot of evangelical churches fall short on communicating this, but I believe they do a better job of it, more often, than other churches do. The call to sold out living is good point #3.
I believe those are the best features of evangelicalism, but there's more. Evangelicals recognize the important role God has for the family, to train up godly children. Good point #4. Related to that, they're not afraid (well, less afraid, anyway) to express the Bible's clear teaching against divorce, to tell their teens and young adults that God expects them to abstain from sex outside of marriage, and to obsess and demagogue about how homosexuals are destroying the... ok, I'm still giving evangelicals 2/3 of a point here. Because those first two are important, and the Bible is clear that homosexual sex is a sin. But we get no credit for pointing that out because of the unloving way we do it, and the fact that we like pointing it out so much more than the sins we struggle with. So, good point #4 2/3.
Another thing worth appreciating about evangelicals is they take church discipline (Matthew 18:15-17) seriously, and try to follow that passage more often than other churches do. This is important, because sin, in the moment, is lots of fun, which is why God has given us the church to help us keep our heads on straight when we lose our way. When we're weak internally, we need external support, and that's what church discipline is about. We realize that how we live matters, and so we try to help each other live in a way that matters. Good point #5 2/3.
Two more, but I'm feeling wordy, so I'll be brief. Evangelicals tend to give larger percentages of our finances, which is particularly noteworthy because more mainline denomination members tend to belong to higher socioeconomic classes. Good point #6.66. Finally, evangelicals are usually pro-life - there are tremendous problems, distortions, and oversimplifications from both sides of that whole debate, but I believe the right-to-life side is the one to be on. Overall, I give us 7 & 2/3 good points. I'm sure there's more (let me know in the comments), but those are the main reasons I'm a committed evangelical, in spite of the stumbling blocks.
I guess one thing that I would like to see is less rigidity on knowledge statements. All human knowledge is flawed, and sooner or later all intelligent people realize this and can become disillusioned with the message. Sometimes even when we know something, our lack of knowledge about the factors around it make our knowledge dangerous to us.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, the homosexuality thing, I am willing to say that's a sin. The problem is that it is like two people up to their necks in water and one jabbing their finger at the other and saying, "Your eyebrows are wet! Bad! Wicked!" ;) Sin is very much an equal opportunity employer, and the some of the worst kinds are the most socially acceptable ones.
So I guess I would like to see more humility relative to knowledge statements. God's mind is good, but my mind isn't God's by a long shot. ;)
Congrats on starting the blog! :)
Thanks, Robert! I think there's so much defensiveness on one side and offensiveness on the other (or fear of offending) regarding homosexuality that it really becomes difficult to have any conversation.
DeleteThe best approach I've heard of toward that was something along the lines of, "Let's set homosexuality aside - don't think about that right this moment. Have you ever lied or stolen? I have.... BAM! Jesus." Ok, I simplified that process quite a bit. But I say get them to Jesus, first, and then other things can be addressed. Nearly everyone will admit that, miscellaneously, they've made a lot of mistakes and done a lot they've regretted. But when homosexuality is the starting point... it's simply not helpful in the conversation, at that point. Let's meet where we can agree - we're all sinners, God loves us both, and what are the implications of those two statements.
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ReplyDeleteThe end result of sin would be the same for everyone, without the grace & mercy of God.
ReplyDeleteRomans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A believer sinning is worse than the sin of the unbeliever.
2 Peter 2:20-21
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Sexual sin not only is a sin against God but ourselves.
1 Corinthians 6:18
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
Sin varies in severity as does the severity of the punishment.
John 19:11
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
1 John 5:16-17
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
Luke 12:47-48
47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.