Evangelical

From Bill Muehlenger’s “What is Evangelicalism”

adjective

1. of or according to the teaching of the gospel or the Christian religion. synonyms: scriptural, biblical; fundamentalist, "evangelical Christianity"
noun

1. a member of the evangelical tradition in the Christian Church.

That doesn’t sound too bad, does it – following the teaching of the gospel or the Christian religion? Especially when “Scriptural” means: of, from, or relating to the Bible, and “Biblical” means of, relating to, or contained in the Bible. We do run into current political correctness when we look at fundamentalist, though: Fundamentalists believe that the statements in the Bible are literally true.

Oh, my – that’s when we lose people’s attention. That’s when we’re compared to: 

Progressive Christianity is a form of Christianity which is characterized by a willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity, a strong emphasis on social justice and care for the poor and the oppressed, and environmental stewardship of the Earth.

May I please take the position that as an evangelical I, too, care strongly about justice, caring for the poor and oppressed and the environmental stewardship of our planet while caring more strongly about the eternal life of each individual’s soul? To state that evangelicals do none of these things is an insulting affront that I find both demeaning and offensive to my faith and my life.

Google “Evangelical Christianity” on the internet and you will not find a single paragraph similar to “Progressive Christianity,” but you will find such additions to the phrase as: cult, vs catholicism, social darwinism. An adversarial aspect – the result of believing the Bible to hold the good news for mankind, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our savior, and that the words in the Bible are true. Such words as:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11 KJV)

. . . and . . .

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10 KJV)

. . . and . . .

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17 KJV)

Should I then be mocked and derided because I believe a couple should have a marriage as Jesus describes in Matthew 19:4-9? Must I discount the words of an apostle who spread the good news to non-Jews in that first century – yet described those who would not inherit the Kingdom of God?

In many verses of the Bible we are told what God wants from mankind. One of my favorites is Micah 6:8, which invokes in my mind words from the Garden of Eden:

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

. . . though sinful actions had created a separation God has always had plans to heal . . .

and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8 KJV)

As an evangelical, I believe people still separate themselves from God by not accepting His forgiveness when they seek Him. And I find Bill Muehlenberg’s CultureWatch article interesting.