What Is Evangelical Christianity?
10 Helpful Answers

I have been an Evangelical Christian almost all my life. Recently I had the opportunity to talk about Evangelical Christianity at the LDS Institute of Religion adjacent to Cal. State U. in Long Beach. To ponder, organize and present the convictions, plusses and minuses of the movement I’ve embraced was a very good exercise for me. Below is a summary of my 2-hour talk.

Message of the Month—Evangelical Christianity

1. “Evangelicalism” is all about “giving out the ‘Good Word'”.
   It is a declarative, conversionist, very mission-minded movement.

The word “Evangelical” comes from the idea of sharing an “Evangel” with the world.

“euangelion” (ευαγγελιον) – “The ‘Evangel’, the ‘Good News'”
“euangelizo” (ευαγγελιζω) – “To evangelize, announce the Good News”
“euangelistes” (ευαγγελιστης) – “Evangelist, preacher of the Good News”

Not all faiths are conversionist, but Evangelicalism certainly is. We urge people to embrace the “Good News” of Jesus. We take our marching orders from Jesus and the apostles:

“Go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel [euangelion], because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16)

The Book of Acts and the earliest history of Christianity show how evangelism by a small band of Jesus’ followers could extend a movement to where it became a significant presence in the Roman Empire in just about 35 years.

1. “Evangelicalism” is “Christ-centered” and “cross-centered”.

Jesus is the Son of God, the Word made flesh, the Christ sent by God. Jesus died on the cross as a satisfaction for sin—no Evangelical can budge on these. These are crucial and non-negotiable.

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

“I want to remind you of the gospel [euangelion] I preached to you… By this gospel you are saved… For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins…he was buried…he was raised on the third day…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

The message of the cross is central, not incidental and certainly not deniable or disposable. Through the cross Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the world. The benefits of his death are appropriated through faith in the message. (The meaning and value of the death of Jesus on the cross extends beyond “taking away the sins of the world” but this idea is central to the message.)

1. “Evangelicalism” holds the Scriptures (66 books of the Old and New Testaments) in the highest regard as “inspired of God”, the final authority in faith and obedience.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is “inspired” (“God-breathed”) and thus “profitable” for instruction, correction, and preparing people to serve God in the world.

The exact nature of “inspiration” (how it “worked”), how “inspiration” affects interpretation of biblical information (e.g., poetry as opposed to narrative, the role of culture), how the Bible interacts with secular disciplines—these are issues open for discussion. But for Evangelicals, the Bible as the Word of God is a “given.”

1. “Evangelicalism” is confessional.

Evangelicals, some to a greater degree and others to a lesser degree (but never to a “tiny” degree), all recognize the need to confess acceptance of certain doctrinal matters. Some may recite The Apostles Creed or The Nicene Creed in worship services. For others, doctrine is affirmed in a more informal manner. To deny a crucial doctrine puts one outside the pale of Evangelical Christianity. [See the Nicene Creed and the Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals at the end of this newsletter].

1. “Evangelicalism” has great variation in its movement (these terms may overlap).

• Baptists (typically independent-minded and against state involvement in religion, emphasizing the baptism of believers only)
• Holiness (Wesleyan, from the Methodist tradition)
• Pentecostals (a Holy Sprit-focused movement that started in 1906)
• Fundamentalists (typically separatist toward society and even other Evangelicals, but much of this movement has changed)
• Creedal Protestant denominations (such as evangelical Lutherans with a small “e”, like the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ or the Missouri Synod)
• Sacramentalists and non-Sacramentalists (some believe baptism and communion actually convey the grace they signify; others see symbolism)
• Conservative and Charismatic Roman Catholics
• Evangelical groups within mainline denominations
• Movements (the “Jesus Movement”, the “Charismatic Movement”, Revivalists, Restorationists, Separatists, Churches of the “End Times”)
• Evangelical “para-church” organizations (university campus ministries, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Prison Fellowship, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, Community Bible Study, a huge number of educational enterprises)

2. “Evangelicalism” has many leaders but no official spokesmen, many movements without any central authority.

Many mega-churches and independent ministries may make their leaders prominent, but this is not typical. No one can officially speak for the moment. There are some key voices (the late Charles Colson, Billy Graham, Rick Warren). There are some key theologians (such as Wayne Grudem, Michael Horton, Donald Bloesch).

But there is no central voice or authority or disciplining body. Accountability falls on local churches, denominations and even ad hoc arrangements. This is sometimes good, sometimes bad. But overall I prefer it this way.

1. “Evangelicalism” has had more than its share of crooks, con artists, charlatans and crackpots, along with aberrant teachings (such as the “prosperity gospel”).

2. “Evangelicalism” increasingly has a cooperative spirit, subject to its commitment to its creeds and values.

An apocalyptic “Why bother with this world?” attitude is less prominent today than in the past. Evangelicals have typically not been “joiners” in social causes, working with people of other faiths or secular people. But this has been changing. For me, the doctrine of “Common Grace” is a basis for such cooperation.

But Evangelicals will not cooperate if core convictions might be compromised. This is especially true when it comes to worship services that are not distinctively Christian. The Nicene Creed is my personal measuring stick for participation in worship services.

1. “Evangelicalism” has had a long and significant tradition of Social Reform though it has sometimes “gone into hiding”.

Evangelical social consciousness in the past included working to end slavery, the temperance (prohibition) movement, and women’s suffrage (right to vote). Many revivalists were strong in social transformation, for example, John and Charles Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Sunday.

Sadly, Evangelical withdrawal from cultural influence after the bruising “Fundamentalist-Modernist” battles of the early 20th Century led most to “sit out” the Civil Rights struggle, and this is a large blemish on our movement to this day.

Contemporary social issues in Evangelicalism include: Pro-life issues (this unites all Evangelicals), “God and Country”, family and marriage, religious liberty, persecution of religion around the world, political oppression, just peace in the Middle East including a free state of Israel, immigration reform, and human trafficking.

It would be naïve and inaccurate to say all Evangelicals feel passion on all these areas and they certainly don’t always agree. It is also wrong to label all Evangelicals as part of the “Religious Right” because their politics extends across the spectrum.

1. “Evangelicalism” sets its sights on “The Kingdom of God”.

The prayer of the church was taught to us by Jesus: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:10).

Most Evangelicals see both a present and future tense in God’s kingdom rule. To the extent God’s kingdom can be seen today (through the spread of the “Evangel”, living out the principles of Jesus and through Christian convictions and compassion), Christians are active in its advance.

But we must be under no illusion that the Kingdom of God will be built by Christians in this present age. Scripture is clear on that. Evangelicals believe that the Second Coming of Jesus will usher in the age of complete justice and peace.

Recommended Reading

• AN EVANGELICAL MANIFESTO
  

  A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment (2008)

• Evangelical Catholicism by George Weigle
• The Faith by Charles Colson

© 2014 Donald P. Shoemaker

Religious Liberty Vigilance

– Arizona’s Religious Exemption Bill

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” – 1st Amendment (Our “First Freedom” in the Bill of Rights)

“To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical – Thomas Jefferson (Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1786)

It was not one of America’s better days. Arizona Senate Bill 1062*. Arizona’s legislature passed it, people protested it, the governor vetoed it, the media exploited it. Even some of the bill’s supports thought it poorly written and overly broad. Americans watched it all unfold.

Apart from all the negative labeling**, there were the twisting and sensationalizing by the news media and the intemperate and inaccurate comments by people on both sides. Perhaps we can calm down and take a few moments to consider what SB 1062 really said and what to do next.

The bill would have permitted a person, corporation or other institution to “opt out” on a business transaction if he/she/it had a bona fide religious objection. Critics feared it could be broadly used to permit discrimination.

SB 1062 didn’t mention same-sex marriage, although supporters should honestly admit that was the “hot button” issue. It did bring to the surface a matter of deep concern amongst people of religious conviction—a concern welling up more and more: “What’s happening to religious liberty in America?” Many viewed this as the opportunity to reassert this liberty!

SB 1062 expressed the same criteria for the right to an exemption from a law that limited the free exercise of religion as was set forth in the federal “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA) in 1993. Under the RFRA, the government must not substantially burden the free exercise of religion unless it could establish: (1) it had a compelling state interest in doing so (a high standard), and (2) it was burdening free exercise in the least restrictive way.

SB 1062 required those seeking an exemption to demonstrate that their conviction was (1) based on a religious belief, (2) the belief was sincerely held and (3) the particular action would impose a substantial burden on their free exercise of religion.

Let’s recognize that religious liberty is under increasing challenge, right now by the “Obamacare” mandates. There are real reasons for concern. Our current president doesn’t seem to value religious liberty as did his immediate predecessors, Presidents Clinton and Bush. When you hear government officials speak of “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion”, that is not likely a slip of the tongue. It is a narrowed understanding of the freedom. True freedom of religion is not just the right to believe. It must include the right to live out the “ought’s” and the “ought not’s” of one’s faith.

A sizeable minority of Americans doesn’t even favor the First Amendment’s protection of liberties. How many Americans can even name these liberties?

I challenge Americans of good will to calm down and work together to craft a model law allowing religious liberty exemptions from laws that provoke a need for them.

*The text of Arizona SB 1062 can be read at:
www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/2r/bills/sb1062p.htm

**Labeling of opponents (an ad hominem argument) instead of constructively responding to them is a very unfair yet effective political tool. Often this labeling assigns motives to others. Who is an expert in judging the motives of others?

“An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument… The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).” (Source: The Nizkor Project)

Don’s Upcoming Ministries

Lead and speak at the Ash Wednesday Service

Grace Community Church of Seal Beach

7:00 p.m. March 5

The Season of Lent

A time many Christians devote to self-examination, confession of sin, sacrificial deeds, special occasions of worship and thanksgiving to God for forgiveness of sin and the power of the cross. All leading up to the Easter climax of the Empty Tomb.

“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” (1 Corinthians 11:28 NIV)

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

May your Lenten Season be rich in meaning!

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
the only Son of God, 
eternally begotten of the Father, 
God from God, Light from Light, 
true God from true God, 
begotten, not made, 
of one Being with the Father. 
Through him all things were made. 
For us and for our salvation 
he came down from heaven: 
by the power of the Holy Spirit 
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, 
and was made man. 
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; 
he suffered death and was buried. 
On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, 
who proceeds from the Father and the Son. 
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. 
He has spoken through the Prophets. 
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 
We look for the resurrection of the dead, 
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.