Written by: gfesadmin on February 28, 2013

What does it really mean to be an Evangelical? Am I an Evangelical? If I am, do I want to be associated with other Evangelicals? This is an ongoing conversation I’ve had with myself over the past 10 years, and this week’s reading helped further my thought. 

In Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, D.W. Bebbington argues that Evangelicalism has ebbed and flowed, and morphed and shifted, but when looking back there are four qualities that mark evangelical religion.

The first quality is conversionism. It’s the belief that ‘lives need to be changed’ (pg 2). I agree whole-heartedly that we need to be changed and that left to our own devices we are a sinful people. We need to acknowledge our sin and turn towards Christ. But while I agree with that, I disagree with the scope of evangelical conversion. I believe that God’s work is cosmic and that the Gospel is bigger than my personal conversion (yes, it does include that!). The whole cosmos needs to be converted because sin has infected it. That means that taking care of the environment and feeding the poor and hungry are as much about the Gospel as making sure that I enter heaven upon my physical death. I don’t want to be a conversionist, that’s too small in scope. I want to be a Gospelist. Am I an Evangelical?

 The second quality is activism. It’s the desire to act out the Gospel and to call people to repentance. I intellectually agree with this, but the practice of it is where I struggle. I struggle mostly because of how this has been practiced in my context in the US South. The caricature is of tracks and aggressive and forced conversations using manipulative techniques and trite phrases. While I know that not all who proudly wear the evangelical label proselytize in such a way, there’s a stereotype for a reason and this type of activism/evangelism still happens, especially in my context.  I prefer long, slow and very intentional conversations and waiting on the Holy Spirit to move in someone’s life and not trying to artificially coax someone into making a decision. Am I an Evangelical?

Biblicism is the third quality. It means “holding the Bible in high regard” (pg 2). According to Bebbington, historically this has taken various shapes and forms. But in todays US Evangelical world, words like inerrant and infallible have become the defacto litmus and fellowship test with regards to the Bible. Personally, I believe that  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” as II Timothy 3:16 states. I don’t find the ‘infallible’ or ‘inerrant’ label particularly helpful or biblical. God speaks through the Bible, but that doesn’t mean that it should be read as history or science book and that God used verbal plenary as the way to communicate it. Am I an Evangelical?

Crucicentrism is the fourth quality. It stresses the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. There are a host of other doctrines (atonement theories, election etc.) that are linked to the cross. Historically it seems as if evangelicals have held a variety of believes on many of these doctrines. While I certainly enjoy a theological sandbox as much as the next person, I try not to get bogged down in many of these theologies debates. I prefer to have a generous orthodoxy with regards to the cross. I believe that God does something on the cross that I could not do for myself and that sacrifice, along with the resurrection, changes everything. Am I an Evangelical?

Am I an Evangelical?  Some days I think I am. I can mostly intellectually assent to Bebbington’s four historical qualities, and I do earnestly believe that we have to share and live our faith. On other days, I don’t want to be called or associated with being Evangelical because it conjures up cultural connotations (narrow-mindedness, unloving, dogmatic, etc.) and ends up hurting my ability to share the Gospel or evangelion. If I had my preference, I’d shed the evangelical language and create my own category called “Gospelist” that’s seeks to reshape and reimagine the ramifications of the Gospel and a commitment to share it. 

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