What does it mean to be an Evangelical? Many of us no longer identify as an evangelical.
The word now means something completely different from what I first thought it meant years ago: Bible believing, Gospel-centered, Jesus-following Christian.
Not any more. Here’s an excerpt:
In days gone by Evangelical differentiated Protestants from Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. During the revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and America, Evangelicalism became a movement.
The word Evangelicalism is derived from the Greek words euangelion, which means “good news,” and euangelizomai, which means “to proclaim as good news.” This good news is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3b-5). This good news, which is the Gospel of Christ, and the preaching of it are what Evangelicalism was based upon. (Source)
You may recall when Evangelicals were conservatives who identified with the right-wing of the Republican party as well as Religious or Christian Right groups. At one time most Evangelicals were a force in electing candidates with Judeo-Christian values. Much has changed in the Evangelical movement. That change came about when Purpose-driven pragmatism reared its ugly head in the visible Church. Just like the secular pragmatist, the Christian pragmatist “focuses on practical approaches and solutions.” Basically it’s a philosophy of “whatever works.” In other words, “The central idea of pragmatism is that truth is proved by whether or not the idea in question “works,” meaning it produces the expected or desired results.”
We see pragmatism played out in the political arena. While conservatives insist on applying the “values voter” litmus test to candidates, pragmatists insist on supporting candidates who would tenaciously push the conservative agenda through Congress. A candidate’s morals and character is not a concern. Moreover, the pragmatist is all about compromise.
A Witch’s Brew
Several years ago I penned a piece that addressed the downgrade in the visible Church. I used supermarket shopping to paint a word picture that many readers found helpful. I pointed out that there’s a “diabolically inspired supermarket of truth and error in the postmodern Church,” and took them for a stroll through a supermarket to shop for the ingredients in Syncretism Stew….
Read more here.
