{"id":38868,"date":"2024-10-15T14:07:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T21:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38868"},"modified":"2024-10-15T14:07:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T21:07:13","slug":"walking-the-talk-discipleship-in-modern-evangelicalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/walking-the-talk-discipleship-in-modern-evangelicalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the Talk: Discipleship in Modern Evangelicalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou know it when you see it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This phrase is often used as a definition for \u201cpornography” but it can have many other applications as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his classic book, <\/span>Evangelicalism in Modern Britain<\/span><\/i>, D.W. Bebbington uses a similar quote for evangelicalism: \u201cWho was an Evangelical? Sometimes adherents of the movement were in doubt themselves. \u2018I know what constituted an Evangelical in former times,\u2019 wrote Lord Shaftesbury in his later life; \u2018I have no clear notion what constitutes one now.\u2019\u201d <\/span>[1]<\/span><\/p>\n

Bebbington goes on to explain that evangelicalism has changed dramatically over time, so \u201cit is therefore preferable to identify adherents of the movement by certain hallmarks. Evangelicals were those who displayed all the common features that have persisted over time.\u201d <\/span>[2]<\/span><\/p>\n

Bebbington identifies four hallmarks that have stood the test of time and culture:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cConversionism: the belief that lives need to be changed<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Activism: the expression of the gospel in effort<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Biblicism: a particular regard for the Bible<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Crucicentrism: a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross\u201d<\/span>\u00a0[3]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In his dissertation, <\/span>Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d<\/span><\/i> Jason Clark runs into the same issue:<\/span><\/p>\n

    When I explain my project to both ends of this Evangelical constituency, I do [so] by saying I am exploring problems in the relationship between Evangelicalism and capitalism and how we might respond as Evangelicals. I have never been asked in response what I mean by Evangelical, nor asked what I mean by capitalism. It is only academics who reply that such examination cannot possibly be made, with Evangelicalism being too diffuse, and capitalism too broad for any meaningful review.<\/span>[4]<\/span><\/p>\n

    From this comment, it seems that while academics prefer not to define the term, Evangelicals themselves readily \u201cknow it when they see it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    What do people who identify as “evangelical” mean by the term?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Religious statistician Ryan Burge shares that, \u201cIn 2008, 16% [of self-identified evangelicals] were attending less than once a year. In 2023, it was 27%. In 2008, 59% were attending at least once a week. In 2023, it was 50%.\u201d [5]<\/span><\/p>\n

    Burge concludes his piece with this: \u201dOne of the most frequent comments I get when I post this kind of data is something like, \u2018You can\u2019t be an evangelical who doesn\u2019t go to church, that\u2019s an oxymoron.\u2019 My response to that is simply this – you don\u2019t own words. They are in the eye of the beholder. There are a whole lot of people (nearly one in ten Americans) who believe that they are evangelicals but they never or seldom attend a church service. It\u2019s my job to try and understand this group, not just ridicule it.\u201d <\/span>[6]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Are there other definitions for \u201cevangelical\u201d? What difference does it make?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    On the \u201cFree Methodist Conversations\u201d website, Howard A. Snyder shares his confusion about the term in \u201cEvangelicalism\u2019s Fatal Flaw\u201d. He wonders, \u201cWhat in the world is \u2018evangelicalism\u2019? The term is contested and variously defined.\u201d <\/span>[7]<\/span><\/p>\n

    Snyder agrees that it has come to mean \u201cdoctrinally conservative Protestants, especially white Protestants, who are also very conservative politically.\u201d When you pay attention to the news, it\u2019s not hard to see that the media support this perception, taking it at face value, without contesting it historically.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The problem is that the title of \u201cEvangelical\u201d carries certain expectations\u2013about lifestyle, the use of one\u2019s leisure time, sharing the gospel, and missionary work, among other expectations\u2013that too often don\u2019t play out in people\u2019s lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In other words, too often they (we\/I?) don\u2019t \u201cwalk the talk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Walk the talk<\/h2>\n

    While I know I have my share of flaws, when someone\u2019s interpersonal behavior <\/span>consistently<\/span><\/i> fails to include basic respect, kindness, courtesy, and compassion, it becomes challenging (for me) to think of them as \u201cevangelical.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Snyder discusses this further. He says,<\/span><\/p>\n

    I used to think Bebbington\u2019s definition wasn\u2019t quite right. Given recent trends, however, I\u2019ve changed my mind. I think the problem with Bebbington\u2019s definition is precisely that it is on target. Look at the four elements Bebbington lists. Notice anything odd?<\/span><\/p>\n

    At first glance it seems OK. But\u2013where is discipleship? Where is holiness? Where is obedience to Jesus Christ? Unmentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026What is missing is discipleship: actually living out the gospel as Jesus said we must. That is the very thing, of course, that John Wesley focused on.\u00a0 <\/span>[8]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Bebbington quotes Wesley, \u201c\u2018We are justified by faith alone\u2019, he wrote, \u2018and yet by such a faith as is not alone\u2026\u2019 Faith is the only means by which we are made right with God; but faith, as soon as it exists, creates an impulse towards living a better life.\u201d [9]<\/span><\/p>\n

    Calvin University history professor Kristen du Mez wrote the book, <\/span>Jesus and John Wayne; How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation<\/span><\/i>. Speaking with David Brooks for a NY Times article, she says,<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019ve had so many moms I don\u2019t know come up to me in the playground and whisper, \u2018Are you the author of that book?\u2019 They pour out their hearts: \u2018This is not my faith. This is not what I was raised to believe in.\u2019 These are 30-something white Christian women. They are in deep crisis, questioning everything.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>[10]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    That same article by David Brooks quotes Russell Moore who resigned from his leadership position in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2021. He told Brooks, \u201cWe now see young evangelicals walking away from evangelicalism not because they do not believe what the church teaches, but because they believe that <\/span>the church itself<\/span><\/i> does not believe what the church teaches.\u201d <\/span>[11] <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Brooks then writes, \u201cThe proximate cause of all this disruption is Trump. But that is not the deepest cause. Trump is merely the embodiment of many of the raw wounds that already existed in parts of the white evangelical world: misogyny, racism, racial obliviousness, celebrity worship, resentment and the willingness to sacrifice principle for power.\u201d <\/span>[12]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    My perspective on being an \u201cevangelical\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

    I grew up in a reasonably large (for the northeast) Presbyterian Church, before the PC-USA\/PCA split. Although I didn\u2019t live in an especially racially diverse community, I always saw women in leadership roles. As a young adult, I attended a women\u2019s college where we were told we could do anything we wanted, as long as we \u201caccepted the challenge to excel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I often attended a UCC church on the edge of campus, and realized I missed such liturgical components as the creeds and the prayer of confession. I knew they seemed important, even though I didn\u2019t understand why.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    My husband and I met and were married in a PC-USA church while I was in graduate school in Boston. After moving, we raised our children in a UCC church for nearly 25 years (where they did recite creeds and say prayers of confession).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    During all this time, I had a low opinion of the word \u201cevangelical\u201d partly because I didn\u2019t know a single person–not one–who considered themselves an evangelical, and partly because it was associated with \u201cthe Christian right\u201d. I didn\u2019t think politics had a place in the church and vice versa. <\/span><\/p>\n

    (Bebbington writes that the early Evangelicals agreed. Other than the issue of slavery, \u201cin general its leaders discouraged involvement in the political sphere Here was an area of sharp contrast with their Puritan forebears, who for the most part saw the achievement of a holy commonwealth as one of their grand aims.\u201d) <\/span>[13]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    But after becoming empty nesters, my husband and I moved again and attended another PC-USA church. This church was led by a woman pastor who slowly introduced me to the original meaning of \u201cevangelical.\u201d I understood the four hallmarks. They made sense to me. I became upset that such a powerful and useful word had been usurped for political ends.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It became clear to me that there is a confluence of power in a few who tend to manipulate the fears of the many. It always seems to come down to \u201cMy land\u2026 my job\u2026 my town\u2026 my people\u2026 my religion\u2026 my country\u2026\u201d and not <\/span>yours<\/span><\/i>. Or <\/span>theirs<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Clark describes this as anxiety about assurance. He writes, \u201cdespite doctrinal claims, inner assurance for Protestants <\/span>often required evidence of assurance to be visible, in good works,<\/span><\/i> despite beliefs about salvation by faith alone, that then also manifest in the providence of God as a sign and validation of assurance.\u201d\u00a0 [14]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    It appears that this need for <\/span>the stuff of assurance<\/span><\/i> can lead one to cling to earthly treasures. And then to fight tooth and nail to keep those treasures from \u201cothers\u201d, whoever those in power identify and point to as \u201cother.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    I\u2019m not the only one who has developed a negative view of the term \u201cevangelical\u201d. See this graph by Barna [15]:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Where do we go from here?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Although I resonate with Bebbington\u2019s quadrilateral, I also agree with Snyder, that discipleship\u2013a life lived following Jesus and as Jesus would live it if he were I\u2013is missing from our political and social discourse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Instead, we see too many evangelicals who say these sorts of things are “fine”:<\/p>\n

    Immigrant children torn from their parents, many still separated, years later\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Acceptance of the possibility of a many-times-convicted felon, narcissist, and pathological liar as a leader for the world\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

    Easy access to automatic weapons created for wartime because they kill large numbers of people\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Judicial appointments that put the president above the law and remove the right of women to make hard and difficult decisions about their own bodies\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The refusal to care for others\u2019 health and safety by the simple act of wearing a mask while in public during a massive global pandemic\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    An inability to plan for the health and well-being of every person in the country…<\/p>\n

    Leadership that leans into power and controlwhich allows them to say one thing and do the opposite when it comes to sex and marriage\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Attacking people of other faiths and from other countries, both verbally and physically\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    No. No matter how you look at it and regardless of whether or not you go to church, this is not the \u201cevangelical\u201d way of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t have space to continue. So I\u2019ll end here by saying that I hope a new wave of Evangelicals will not only live by adopting the four quadrilaterals, but will add discipleship to the definition, and then intentionally live it out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Publicly and privately, followers of Jesus of all colors, countries, and denominations must rally together to care for those on the margins, hold leaders accountable for their words and actions, and encourage each other to live the gospel as Jesus lived it. It\u2019s not easy when you live in a broken world. None of us are perfect, least of all me. But by the Spirit and grace and power of God, we can do better. We must.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n
      \n
    1. D.W. Bebbington, <\/span>Evangelicalism in Modern Britain<\/span><\/i> (New York: Routledge, 1989), 2.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Bebbington, 2.<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Bebbington, 3.<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Jason Paul Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship” (2018). <\/span>Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary<\/span><\/i>. 5. https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/132\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Ryan Burge, \u201cI\u2019m An Evangelical, But I Rarely Go to Church,\u201d <\/span>Graphs About Religion<\/span><\/i>, Sept. 30, 2024, https:\/\/substack.com\/@ryanburge\/p-149210943.<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Burge.<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. Howard A. Snyder, \u201cEvangelicalism\u2019s Fatal Flaw,\u201d <\/span>Free Methodist Conversations<\/span><\/i>, Feb. 2, 2024. https:\/\/freemethodistconversations.com\/evangelicalisms-fatal-flaw\/.<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Snyder.<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Bebbington, 22.<\/span><\/li>\n
    10. Kristen du Mez, quoted by David Brooks in \u201cThe Dissenters Trying to Save Evangelicalism From Itself\u201d, <\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i>, Feb. 4, 2022.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/04\/opinion\/evangelicalism-division-renewal.html.<\/span><\/li>\n
    11. Brooks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    12. Brooks.<\/span><\/li>\n
    13. Bebbington, 72.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    14. Clark, 76.<\/span><\/li>\n
    15. Barna, \u201cU.S. Adults See Evangelicals Through a Political Lens\u201d, Nov. 21, 2019. https:\/\/www.barna.com\/research\/evangelicals-political-lens\/.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u201cYou know it when you see it.\u201d\u00a0 This phrase is often used as a definition for \u201cpornography” but it can have many other applications as well.\u00a0 In his classic book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, D.W. Bebbington uses a similar quote for evangelicalism: \u201cWho was an Evangelical? Sometimes adherents of the movement were in doubt themselves. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,467,2967],"class_list":["post-38868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","tag-clark","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38874,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38868\/revisions\/38874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}