Written by: Stefania Tarasut on February 7, 2014

Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s

By: D. W. Bebbington

“We’ve always done it this way… why do you have to challenge it?” This has been the most popular question in my life. For the longest time I didn’t know how to answer, so I would smile and walk away. Reading though Evangelicalism in Modern Britain by D. W. Bebbington was refreshing. Seeing how the evangelical church has changed and transformed over the years is incredibly encouraging and gives me courage to answer the “We’ve always done it this way… why do you have to challenge it?” question with a bold “No! We haven’t always done it this way.”

I am someone who doesn’t really like change… I drink the same white chocolate mocha from Starbucks that I’ve drank for the past 15 years … I’m on my 10^th pair of TOMS shoes… I replace my old clothes with the exact same new ones… I don’t like change! However, when it comes to the things of God, change has to happen, otherwise we die… the church dies. I don’t know where people have gotten the idea that the church needs to stay the same. Yes! There are some things, some core principles that need to stay the same, but everything ales needs to change. The only one that doesn’t change is Jesus. He promises to be the only constant… the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Humanity on the other hand is invited to not only change but be transformed by a relationship with Jesus.

Edward Gibbon is quoted saying, “Religion has never existed in the pure form in which it descended from heaven. It has always been affected by its surroundings at the same time as influencing those surroundings.” (ix) Isn’t that beautiful? I agree that there are extremes, and lately the church has been more influenced by its surroundings than it has influenced them, but the point is that both are changed. If our faith is living, it must be changing.

The church is afraid of acknowledging its ever changing past because we’re afraid of losing credibility and influence. But it’s not change and transformation that causes us to lose credibility; it’s silence and denial. We need to live in the tension that comes with a human/God relationship. In this relationship humanity doesn’t always get it right… but it always has the opportunity to do it over.  God is not “less God” if we acknowledge the fact that we, in our humanity, don’t know everything and sometime we need a do over.

The other thing that struck me in reading Bebbington was the fact that every change was started by one person who influenced a group of people, who influenced the larger community, which turned into a movement that changed the face of evangelicalism. It’s amazing to me that one person can have so much power. I think as pastors we sometimes doubt our ability to influence. We often feel inadequate and get discouraged when we don’t see ourselves making a difference. Reading this book reminds me that we are part of a bigger picture. God uses faithful individuals to paint the different parts of the whole picture.

About the Author

Stefania Tarasut