Evangelism vs Evangelicalism

Evangelism has gotten a bad rap lately. In fact, in some circles it's almost a dirty word. I can understand this, some of the "evangelism" that I've seen over the years bordered on coercion. A lot of it could also be considered offensive. Ann Coulter's comment that Christians want Jews to be "perfected" is an example. I think part of what's going on here is that people are confusing "evangelism" with "evangelicalism". Evangelism is merely spreading the good news of Christ throughout the world. Evangelicalism, to me, is a horse of a different color. Micheal Spenser, of the InternetMonk blog qualifies Evangelicalism as the following:

1. Protestant, even strongly anti-Catholic

2. Baptistic, even in its non-Baptist form

3. Shaped by the influence of Billy Graham and his dominance as an symbol and leader

4. Shaped by the influence of Southern Baptist dominance in the conception of evangelism

5. Influenced by revivalism and the ethos of the Second Great Awakening

6. Open to the use of technology

7. Oriented around individualistic pietism and a vision of individualistic Christianity

8. Committed to church growth as the primary evidence of evangelism

9. Committed to missions as a concept and a calling, but less as a methodology

10. Asserting Sola scriptura, but largely unaware of the influence of its own traditions

11. Largely anti-intellectual and populist in its view of education

12. Traditionally conservative on social, political and cultural issues

13. Anti- Creedal, reluctantly confessional

14. Revisionist toward Christian history in order to establish its own historical legitimacy

15. Attempting, and largely failing, to establish a non-fundamentalist identity

16. A low view of the sacraments and sacramental theology

17. A dispensational eschatology, revolving around the rapture and apocalyptic views of immanent last days



While not perfect, this is a pretty good list and hits most, if not all, of the high points. Evangelicalism tends to run most strongly in fundamentalist circles, most especially (from what I can see) Calvinist ones. I'm not trying to point fingers..., well, yeah, I am. I have a real problem with this kind of stuff. First of all, I don't understand the idea behind Calvinist thought. I mean, why would God choose for some of his children to accept him and not others? Especially, when not accepting him means being forever separated from God. That said, these folks, well-meaning though they may be, are the ones doing the very things I mentioned earlier and more. There is an undercurrent of arrogance and superiority running through the Evangelical line of thought. They never say it and would vociferously deny it if you asked them, but it certainly sounds like they believe that, as Christians, they're above everyone else. And, much of what they do crosses the line and moves from evangelism into proselytizing. Many evangelical defend their stance with an almost fanatical devotion. Unfortunately, as James Jordan said " Those who want to bang the drum for a 450-year old tradition are dooming themselves to irrelevance."



Many emerging Christians would call themselves "post-evangelical" if asked. Now, I'm sure you're asking "What's post-evangelical?" Good question, let's see if I can answer it. Post-evangelicalism involves people who have stepped away from evangelicalism, but not the Christian faith. Some of their complaints with Evangelicalism include:

1) a focus on individualism instead community

2) anti-intellectualism

3) narrow or partisan political views

4) lack or engagement (almost a rejection) of art and society

5) insensitive of homosexuals

6) rigid reliance on doctrine, especially Scriptural Inerrancy

There are more, I'm sure, but I think you get the idea. There is a growing group of young folks out there that are looking for God and a place to learn and worship. And, they're not satisfied with the status quo. They want a church based on community, one that uses it's missions to make the world a better place and not to proselytize. A church that respects other religions and beliefs. A church that practices evangelism in the everyday lives of it's members and not by putting up a sign or street-corner witnessing. Whether we can live up to that standard remains to be seen.