What do you mean by the word “Evangelical?”
“You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner…you’re in one!” This famous line from one of my favorite movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, echoed in my ears as I read through the history of evangelicalism. Elizabeth Turner longed for adventure but when she was taken hostage by cursed pirates she didn’t believe what she’d be told. It wasn’t until she saw it with her own eyes that she believed.
The word Evangelical in my “Northwestern American” church context has undergone a tremendous change in the past twenty to thirty years. Hijacked by political pundits and the moral majority to legislate morality in America, it has become a word that, depending on people’s response, quickly reveals where they are in the subcategories of American culture and politics. Pastoring a church with the word, “Evangelical” has created a challenge to reaching people who often associate this word with negative images and soundbites. I once had a guest come into our worship gathering and ask me directly if we, “burned the Quran here?” She had seen Evangelicals do so on the internet, revealed to her by a google search of the word “evangelical” and wondered if we were those kinds of evangelicals also? Then, only a few months ago, our church dropped the word “Evangelical” from the name of our church[1] because our leadership determined (I think rightly) that it is a barrier to reaching people with the Good News of Jesus. Our church is working through what it means to still be evangelical without evangelical being in our name. Some have wondered, “Am I even evangelical?” In our vision and values we continue to affirm that our church is, “Christ-centered, Gospel-Oriented and Biblically-Grounded.” Where did these ideas come from?
Bebbington’s book is like reading my family history. So much of who I am, the meta-story in which I’ve lived and where I have put my hope are rooted in Evangelicalism. Though I am a descendant of The Mayflower, grew up the son of a Presbyterian minister and am now a pastor in a church with Wesleyan/Methodist roots, I am at home in all these worlds because they are all in the family of Evangelicals. At age 3, at a Vacation Bible School at my church, I asked Jesus into my heart. At age 12, I gave my life to Jesus at a Billy Graham Crusade in Portland, Oregon. At age 20, I fully surrendered my life to Christ at a worship gathering at my local church. These conversion experiences are threshold moments in my life and represent decisions I have made to be a follower of Jesus all the days of my life.
Bebbington tells us story after story and quote after quote of the shaping of this movement that has been so influential in Western society and history. He names Conversionism, activism, biblicism and crucicentrism as the founding and guiding tenets of Evangelicalism. One thing that struck me is how, even in its early stages, this movement was reactionary against the sociological developments of its time. Whether in reaction to church authority and the “mediation of priests” or the reaction to the humanism of Enlightenment. Bebbington states, “One eye is constantly being cast over the shoulder at the ritualists and the rationalists. Instead of the joy of new discovery that pervades eighteenth-century lists of distinctives, there is a resolve to resist an incoming tide of error.”[2] While much of Evangelicalism has been a reaction against certain movements of culture, powerful images and metaphors have endured, and even shaped, the theology of Evangelicalism and its history. These metaphors and movements have often not created the most Christ-like examples of love for our enemies. I’m reminded of an example from Our Great Big American God, by Matthew Paul Turner of Billy Sunday’s endorsement of America entering World War 1. Turner states that, “In fact, Sunday practically became thew war’s unofficial spokesperson, declaring multiple times that “Christianity and patriotism are synonymous terms” and “hell and traitors are synonymous” too.”[3] So, perhaps, the hijacking of the word Evangelical is not such a recent phenomenon?
All that being said, no example of this is more relevant, and more powerful, in my opinion, then the image of the Cross. The Crucicentrism that has developed in the West has focused almost exclusively on Substitutionary theories of atonement. While these ideas do get at the very heart of what the cross does, it has also then been taken, in the context of capitalism, as a transactional relationship. Dr. Clark in his work on Evangelicalism and Capitalism seeks to combat the “deforming influences of capitalism”[4] and suggest the resources to rectify them.
What was a new thought to me about the relationship between Evangelicalism and Capitalism was the way that the Puritan Work ethic and our works-based righteousness arose out of a need for the assurance of our salvation that church polity and theology had previously provided. Dr. Clark states: “We might understand that Protestants now stood on their own as a kind of ‘naked self’, determining their own salvation before God with much ‘fear and trembling’. For Bebbington it was this new anxiety, and focus on the doctrine of assurance, that generated the activism that was distinct to Evangelicals.”[5] This insight will be tremendously beneficial in my NPO research related to Sabbath and why it is so challenging for Protestant Evangelicals to take a break and rest in the goodness of God.
But where I’d like to conclude my post is on a suggestion for a healthy future of Evangelicalism in America.It seems like Bebbington’s quadrilateral has ebbed and flowed throughout the centuries, with different movements of Evangelicalism emphasizing different sides. Furthermore, Clark’s observation of the way that the cross has become commercialized and has cultivated a cruceform Evangelicalism that is transactional in nature begs the question: What is the preferred future of Evangelicalism? I’d like to suggest that the emphasis take a cruciform shape again. While Evangelicalism may generate a sense of exile from influence at the center of our Western culture, exile is not a bad place for the Church to exist. In their book, The Great Dechurching, Davis, Graham and Burge state hopefully that, “we can trust in God’s goodness in exile because no one has ever known exile like Jesus Christ. He who was in the very form of God emptied himself to take on the form of a servant…His exile culminated on the cross…”[6]
While activism is needed today, and will continue to be needed, it is cruciform activism that is necessary. While the authority of Scripture is continually being challenged in a post-truth world, it is seeing Scripture through the lens of the cross that will be the most compelling to the world of the future. Finally, while conversionism is at the heart of evangelicalism: may it be the belief that radical and transformative change is possible because of Jesus. And may that radical change take place in a way that leads to service, suffering and forgiveness of our enemies, like the Crucified One that we follow and worship. What I am suggesting is seeing the cross again in broader terms than simply a substitutionary atonement theory steeped in transactional consumerism and surface salvation assurance provided Evangelicalism. Instead, a truly cruciform Evangelical life is shaped and stirred by the cross daily and sees the cross of Christ as both justification and vocation, the place where death was dealt with and the pervasive and primary image that shapes our moral compass.
[1] Name Change FAQ’s | corvallisevangelical (evch.org)
[2]Bebbington, David W.. _Evangelicalism in Modern Britain : A History from the 1730s to The 1980s_, Taylor & Francis Group, 1989. _ProQuest Ebook Central_, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/georgefox/detail.action?docID=179445. Page 4.
[3] Turner, Matthew Paul. Our Great Big American God. 156.
[4] Clark, Jason. Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship. London School of Theology, 2018. Page 49.
[5] Clark, 64.
[6] Davis, Graham and Burge. The Great Dechurching. Page 255.
About the Author
Ryan Thorson
Follower of Jesus. Husband. Father. Pastor. Coach. I am passionate about helping people discover the gift of Sabbath and slow down spirituality in the context of our busy world.14 responses to “What do you mean by the word “Evangelical?””
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Hi Ryan, I appreciate how you talked about asking Jesus into your heart at 3, giving your life at age 12, then surrendering at age 20. It hit on two points. The first was that our faith journey is not a “once and done”. We must continually be connect with Jesus and His Lordship. The second is the progress of maturity. As you aged, your faith could take a further step. I do wonder if not having the word Evangelical in the name of your church you are already seeing evidence that newcomers will check it out? I know it might be early. A friend of mine started attending a church because his son went to youth group there. When he decided to join, he was surprised to learn it was a Baptist church. The minister replied, would you have ever walked in the door if it was advertised that way? Absolutely not was his answer. I will be interested to see what you find down the road. Peace.
Hi Diane. Great question. Its still pretty early on to tell, but we have had more visitors this fall than the previous one. Not sure if its name change related, as we’ve also encouraged our folks to invite people to our worship gatherings. I’m certainly hopeful that our name won’t keep people away but instead encourage them to come and see.
Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ (Matt 16:24-26). Thinking of that in relation to being in exile gives me a new vision. I just heard of Davis, Graham and Burge’s book earlier today listening to a podcast. I’d love to know if it was a good read.
I see many churches changing their names to disaffiliate with the term evangelical or with churches associated with evangelicalism. I like your idea on re-shifting the focus of evangelicalism from activism back to a cruciform focus In your own congregation or community, what is one idea that you would have to make that a reality?
Hey Jeff. Yes, the Dechurching book is worth the read.
I think reflecting on what our acts of service are costing us is important. We can make activitism and service safe and measured by our own efforts, instead of reflecting on the sacrifice and cost (cruciform) of that act of service.
Hi Ryan,
As a Pastor, in reflecting upon Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s, were there any areas you felt David Bebbington could have explored in greater depth?
Ryan, I love the term “cruciform activism” and that last paragraph is “gold”. You should hang onto that! Preach it, brother.
The idea of “activism” now seems more cultural, rather than countercultural. The tendency in the church might be to react and to allow the pendulum swing the other way. But I like the fact that you are calling for a cross shaped activism. In my opinion this requires discernment. It requires us to ask the question, “Where do I see the Holy Spirit at work and how am I being invited into joining into what He is doing.” This places the emphasis on God’s activism in the world to reconcile all things to himself through Jesus. Ours is a response to his work and his invitation.
In what ways might we help our people discern the difference between activism and cruciform activism?
Ryan,
I concur with Graham here. That last paragraph is great and I appreciate the perspective of the cross.
When you dropped the Evangelical label how did your church members respond?
Hi Adam,
We’ve gotten a variety of responses, which in some way, means we have a variety of folks in our church, we I am grateful for. Some have expressed sadness at the lost of something familiar to them. They’ve associated our church with a name and the change is a loss. Others have felt angry that we’ve ‘given up’ on the word and let culture dictate our decision to change a name we’ve had since the 1960s. Others are celebrating the change and grateful that they don’t have to explain to their friends why they go to an ‘evangelical’ church. Thanks for asking.
Thanks Graham. I think activism can often benefit the activists whether or not it actually helps the people they are advocating for. I think cruciform activism is costly for the sake of the other. That is one way it could be evaluated.
Hi Ryan, can you say more about how the focus on assurance and activism impacts your NPO and people’s practice of sabbath?
Sure! I think it speaks to one of the reasons why resting and practicing sabbath in evangelical church traditions is such a challenge sometimes. We’ve put a lot of emphasis in our spiritual life and formation aroudn the stuff that we do, so not doing something and practicing sabbath seem to work against that.
Ryan, I appreciated your post. I enjoyed learning more about your journey and the deep connection to evangelicalism that is generational for you. In your post, you mentioned both Bebbington’s concept of crucicentrism and the idea of cruciformity. How do you explain the nuances between the two?
Hey Chad,
I think crucicentrism is about the centrality of the cross in understanding our salvation and the importance of what Jesus did as core to our message and belief as Christians. Cruciformity is the next step in suggesting that our life is now shaped by that act of love and sacrifice and that we are also to ‘pick up our cross’ and follow Jesus by living that same type of sacrificial life.
Hi, Ryan, my home Church or denomination has that ‘Evangelical’ name beside it. It is called Evangelical Churches of Chuuk. I never heard any negative thing about it until Bebbington. I guess because of the missionary that came to our islands were evangelical missionaries. You mentioned that your Church dropped that ‘evangelical’ label, but still evangelical at heart. Why do you think that is necessary?