Evangelical activism and the neglect of meaningful relationships?
Evangelicalism has experienced many changes since its emergence in the 1730s, making it often hard to define.[1] D.W. Bebbington’s Evangelism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s outlines the basis of Evangelicalism and further analyzes and explains the movement’s changes. Bebbington writes concerning Evangelicalism’s quadrilateral of priorities, “There are four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.”[2] Although each characteristic of Evangelicalism warrants special attention, this post will focus primarily on activism, the expression of gospel effort. In his work, Bebbington highlights the many vigorous efforts of Evangelicals, “always on the stretch for God.” [3] He continues, “A working week of between 90 and 100 hours was expected.” [4] Fortunately, there is a concern for the holistic care of those in full-time ministry in the twenty-first century. However, as an individual born into a pastor’s home and now committed to full-time ministry, my focus is not only on work-life balance but also on heart-motivations that drive activism. For some time, I have felt an uneasiness regarding Evangelical activism that neglects meaningful relationships. The remainder of this post will touch on activism and relationships.
Activism is a tenet of Evangelicalism, as it is evidence of a conversion. Jonathan Edwards writes, “Persons, after their own conversion, have commonly expressed an exceeding great desire for the conversion of others.”[5] Furthermore, every Evangelical is familiar with Jm. 2:26, “Faith without works is dead.” Activism carries weight in the world of Evangelicalism. However, for some time, I have felt a growing concern regarding activism, which does not prioritize meaningful relationships. Bebbington mentions Hannah More’s words concerning the Evangelical attitude at the turn of the nineteenth century. She states, “‘Action is the life of virtue,’ she wrote, ‘and the world is the theatre of action.’” [6] Activism is a virtuous thing, but I fear there is a risk of sacrificing relationships to accomplish “good works.”
Growing up in a pastor’s home, I witnessed the efforts of my local church to spread the gospel. As a child, I remember joining my father on Saturdays to pass out tracts. I went to revival meetings. I helped organize and would attend outreach events. I supported and then committed myself to worldwide missions. However, as an adult, I began recognizing that activism was often at the expense of meaningful relationships. We were actively doing “good works,” but we did not know one another. We held people at a distance. We neglected to invite our lost neighbors, even our church family, into our lives. However, I am speaking solely of my experience, and I do not assume this is true of everyone. Barry Jones writes in his book Dwell: Life with God for the World, “If we truly want to live life with God for the world, we must rethink how we relate to the world, which means rethinking how we relate to the world closest to us—rethinking how we relate to our neighbors.”[7] I believe this means rethinking our methods of activism and how we prioritize relationships. Bebbington’s work, alongside Jason Clark’s Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnoses of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, has me considering the possible reasoning behind this reality. Clark examines the relationship between Evangelical activism and capitalism. Furthermore, he highlights the ‘entrepreneurial’ activist conversionist Evangelicals of late modernity.[8] Clark states, “William Kay evidences how the very streams of ‘entrepreneurial’ Evangelicalism that Warner so thoroughly surveys, including those of my own church denomination, are successful because of their embrace and use of the artefacts of popular culture and market forces.”[9] Again, Evangelical activism, with influences taken from capitalism, does a fantastic job at creating results but can, in turn, neglect deep, meaningful relationships where we can create spaces of trust and grow deeper together. We can quickly become more focused on results rather than relating to our neighbors.
This blog post focused primarily on Evangelical activism. It also looked at activism and relationships. Bebbington highlights in Evangelism in Modern Britain the great lengths Evangelicals went to spread the gospel. Their efforts are commendable and have built a strong foundation for twenty-first-century evangelicals. However, I have felt uneasiness regarding Evangelical activism that neglects meaningful relationships. I spoke of my experience growing up in a pastor’s family and the efforts made to make the gospel known. I believe activism is good, but there is a risk of sacrificing relationships to accomplish “good works.” We were actively doing “good works,” but we did not know one another. We held people at a distance. We neglected to invite our lost neighbors, even our church family, into our lives.
Furthermore, Clark examines the relationship between Evangelical activism and capitalism. Evangelicals have successfully used artefacts of popular culture and market forces. We do a fantastic job creating results but can quickly forget the importance of the relationship. I am apprehensive about using capitalistic strategies at the expense of meaningful relationships. Ultimately, evangelicals must consider their methods of activism and how they relate to people in an ever-changing world.
[1] David Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s, (New York, NY: Routledge, 2005), p. 1, Kindle Edition.
[2] Bebbington, 2-3.
[3] Bebbington, 11.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Bebbington, 10
[6] Bebbington, 12.
[7] Barry D. Jones, Dwell: Life with God for the World (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), p. 246, Kindle Edition.
[8] Jason Paul Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship,” Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary. 132, 2018), 58 https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes/, 51.
[9] Clark, 56.
About the Author
Elysse Burns
18 responses to “Evangelical activism and the neglect of meaningful relationships?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Elysse,
Nice post, you speak truth that is not just for your family alone. Peter Scazzero in his book The Emotionally Healthy Leader emphasizes the need to have a sabbath rest that includes involving our families. I think many pastors believe they are putting God first when they involve themselves with many ministry activities when in reality they are putting work above their families. Such as would have been the case for anyone working 90 to 100 hours a week.
As a PK, even if your family had time to form relationships with others, how easy do you feel it is for a pastor to form strong lasting mutual relationships with members of their congregations?
Hi Jeff, thank you for your comment and excellent question. I have always been befuddled by the relationship between pastors and church congregants. There is a relationship, but there is also distance. I suppose the way we “do church” creates this distance, as the pastor is often seen as the CEO. I can imagine that, as a pastor, it would be hard to open yourself up entirely to people because of the consumer-driven tendencies of congregants. If the church does not provide the right programs, worship, ambiance, etc., the Christian consumer will find another place to go. With all this babbling, it is hard for pastors to form solid, mutual relationships with churchgoers. This is what I have seen in my own experience.
Elysse, great post. Thanks for bringing up that we can’t pursue activism at the expense of relationships. I once felt like I was a project to a pastor at our church. It was hurtful when I realized his pursuit of our family was more about completing his job rather than building a relationship with us. How do you guard against activism absent of relationship in your role?
Hi Christy, I am very sorry about the experience that happened to you. Sometimes, I feel very discouraged by relationships here, but ultimately, I do my best to be intentional with the person and where they are at and not where I want them to be. These feel easy to me. Sometimes, I feel the pressure of churches in the US concerning conversions and “fruit.” These are the relationships I find the most tricky! I often feel misunderstood by people in the US, but I need their financial support to live here. Distance makes things difficult. My umbrella answer to your question is that there must be intentionality and proactiveness to guard against activism without a relationship.
Elysse, I appreciate your focus on relationships and activisim. I have noted that many pastors struggle to celebrate a sabbath because of drivenness to succeed. Oftentimes, the pastor’s family struggles because they are always working.
Even though I am more activistic, I am increasingly uncomfortable with busyness and hurriedness. Jesus, seemed to move more purposefully through life, rather than being an activist. He seemed to practice disciplines of disengagement and engagement. He seemed relationally rich, often eating with the outcasts, attending weddings, slowing down to be with people, avoiding big crowds etc.
How might disciple-making approach impact our relationships?
Hi Graham, thank you for your comments. I completely agree with all your observations. I do believe that disciple-making can foster relationship growth because the dynamic tends to be more informal and intimate, and trust can be built. Unfortunately, even disciple-making can be treated as a means to an end. However, it has great potential for authentic relationships without all the fluff that often pervades Western Christianity.
Elysse,
I have struggled with the tension you present here as well. The challenge for churches is that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to actually quantify relationships. However, it is much easier to quantify actions, converts, and other “works”.
I just witnessed a relationship-focused friend go through a very turbulent time with a Muslim friend. If they did not have a strong friendship holding them together, and if her focus had solely been on conversion, then my friend would have lost all of her ability to work within this particular un-reached community. We have to keep a focus on building relationships, which is honestly where we can actually make disciples.
Hi Adam, thank you for your comment and for sharing the story about your friend. I often feel pressure from people in the US to make results happen in North Africa. As you very well know, it can be discouraging. However, life overseas has taught me the value of authentic relationships, and for that, I am very appreciative. Also, I agree entirely with you. We must keep the focus on building relationships.
Elysse,
I have trained you well–people are not projects! 😊 Thank you for your reflections. What do you think would help to break the activistic cycle void of relationship both in a Western church context and in missions?
Hi Kari, thank you for your comment. I believe we must somehow find a balance between being purposeful and proactive in our work and intentional in our relationships. I find it challenging to propose a specific solution to breaking the cycle of activism void of relationships because so much depends on heart motivation. Perhaps I would recommend finding opportunities to step outside our comfort zone concerning relationships. If we only remain in places of comfort, there is no need to grow.
Hi Elysse, Thank you for your post and insight into your life. In my current denominational circles there is a movement to engage in evangelism via personal relationships, one-on-one. An aspect of disciple-making this way is requirement of the pastor/leader to model first. How do you suggest pastors avoid making their external relationships into Gospel ‘projects’?
Hi Julie, thank you for your comment and question. I recently spoke to a friend who works in another country in North Africa. She told me a story of a friend who said, “I think you would like me more if I were a Christian.” The woman’s words got me thinking. Also, a couple years ago, a good friend stopped talking to me because she felt I didn’t respect her family and the faith they adhered to. I find each circumstance very sad. However, it has helped me intentionally build relationships just for the sake of knowing and caring for the person. I share my faith and invite others to learn about it, and I remain open to learning about the person and their values and beliefs. I think the hard thing for pastors is relationships are often not reciprocal. The congregant or external relationship usually has a “take, take, take” mentality toward the pastor. I do believe pastors have to put up certain safeguards concerning relationships. I keep thinking of building spaces of trust where pastors, congregants, and others can be human together and have relationships just for the sake of having relationships. No strings attached. I am constantly navigating this, and as you can see from my babbling, I do not have all the answers.
Hey Elysse! You speak truth about the need for meaningful relationships. I shared with a group recently, we gather as community in church for years and sadly don’t know much about those who we worship with until we read their obituary.
I’m interested in knowing after reading this week how can we better bridge the gap?
Hi Daren, I keep thinking about creating intentional and intimate spaces for people to get to know each other more deeply. I have found that many people don’t even know where to start building relationships with other people. Perhaps, as leaders, we have to set the example first. How can we create spaces of trust where people can be authentically themselves? This is something I am still navigating.
Hi Elysse, The way you have described your current life situation when we have talked, it seems that it is all about relationships. I wonder if that is where the activism can then happen, rather than the other way around.
Hi Diane, thank you for your comment. You make an interesting observation, and I agree with you. I feel relationships and activism often go hand-in-hand (e.g., having gospel conversations) here. I appreciate that many things happen organically here in the desert because life never goes as planned.
Hi, Elysse, thank you for your comment. I do believe that having the four pillars of evangelicalism would be more meaningful with meaningful relationship. Thank again for you post.
Hi Noel, I completely agree with you. Thanks!