{"id":38910,"date":"2024-10-17T16:31:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T23:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38910"},"modified":"2024-10-17T16:35:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T23:35:08","slug":"evangelical-activism-and-the-neglect-of-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/evangelical-activism-and-the-neglect-of-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelical activism and the neglect of meaningful relationships?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Evangelicalism has experienced many changes since its emergence in the 1730s, making it often hard to define.[1]<\/a> D.W. Bebbington\u2019s Evangelism in Modern Britain<\/em>: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em> outlines the basis of Evangelicalism and further analyzes and explains the movement\u2019s changes. Bebbington writes concerning Evangelicalism\u2019s quadrilateral of priorities<\/em>, \u201cThere are four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism<\/em>, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism<\/em>, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism<\/em>, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called crucicentrism<\/em>, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.\u201d[2]<\/a> Although each characteristic of Evangelicalism warrants special attention, this post will focus primarily on activism<\/em>, the expression of gospel effort. In his work, Bebbington highlights the many vigorous efforts of Evangelicals, \u201calways on the stretch for God.\u201d [3]<\/a> He continues, \u201cA working week of between 90 and 100 hours was expected.\u201d [4]<\/a> 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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Activism is a tenet of Evangelicalism, as it is evidence of a conversion. Jonathan Edwards writes, \u201cPersons, after their own conversion, have commonly expressed an exceeding great desire for the conversion of<\/span> others.\u201d[5]<\/a> Furthermore, every Evangelical is familiar with Jm. 2:26, \u201cFaith without works is dead.\u201d 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\u2019s words concerning the Evangelical attitude at the turn of the nineteenth century. She states, \u201c\u2018Action is the life of virtue,\u2019 she wrote, \u2018and the world is the theatre of action.\u2019\u201d [6]<\/a> Activism is a virtuous thing, but I fear there is a risk of sacrificing relationships to accomplish \u201cgood works.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up in a pastor\u2019s 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 \u201cgood works,\u201d but we did not know one another. We held people at a distance.\u00a0We neglected to invite our lost<\/em> neighbors, even our church family, into our lives. However, I am speaking solely of my experience, and I\u00a0do not assume this is true of everyone. Barry Jones writes in his book Dwell:\u00a0Life with God for the World,<\/em> \u201cIf 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\u2014rethinking how we relate to our neighbors.\u201d[7]<\/a> I believe this means rethinking our methods of activism and how we prioritize relationships. Bebbington\u2019s work, alongside Jason Clark\u2019s Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnoses of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, <\/em>has me considering the possible reasoning behind this reality. Clark examines the relationship between Evangelical activism and capitalism. Furthermore, he highlights the \u2018entrepreneurial\u2019 activist conversionist Evangelicals of late modernity.[8]<\/a> Clark states, \u201cWilliam Kay evidences how the very streams of \u2018entrepreneurial\u2019 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.\u201d[9]<\/a> Again, Evangelical activism, with influences taken from capitalism, does a\u00a0fantastic job at creating results\u00a0but 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

This blog post focused primarily on Evangelical activism. It also looked at activism and relationships. Bebbington highlights in Evangelism in Modern Britain <\/em>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\u2019s 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 \u201cgood works.\u201d We were actively doing \u201cgood works,\u201d but we did not know one another. We held people at a distance.\u00a0We neglected to invite our lost<\/em> neighbors, even our church family, into our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore<\/span>, 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.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> David Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s,<\/em> (New York, NY: Routledge, 2005), p. 1, Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Bebbington, 2-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Bebbington, 11.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Bebbington, 10<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Bebbington, 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Barry D. Jones, Dwell: Life with God for the World<\/em> (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), p. 246, Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship,\u201d\u00a0 Faculty Publications \u2013 Portland Seminary. 132, 2018), 58 https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/, 51.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Clark, 56.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evangelicalism has experienced many changes since its emergence in the 1730s, making it often hard to define.[1] D.W. Bebbington\u2019s Evangelism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s outlines the basis of Evangelicalism and further analyzes and explains the movement\u2019s changes. Bebbington writes concerning Evangelicalism\u2019s quadrilateral of priorities, \u201cThere are four qualities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"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-38910","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\/38910","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\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38910"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38914,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38910\/revisions\/38914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}