When you meet someone for the first time; the first question that everyone asks – is what do you do? When I tell them that I work at First Evangelical Free Church, most give me the same perplexed look as they respond to “evangelical” and especially “free.” Some assume that I am one of those “free” types that they see on TV and others think they have me pegged politically. Then I try and explain it and I realize that no one knows what “evangelical” truly means.
“Evangelical” has become in our culture a word which primarily alludes to particular political views. After the 04 election, the Daily Texan (The UT paper) called our church mainly because our church has the word Evangelical in it and they interviewed us about our political views. Of course we told her that our church does not affiliate with any political party or any politician and she was shocked. Unfortunately, others associate this word with Televangelists. Needless to say, this word has negative connotations in our culture these days.
It is unfortunate not only because our church has the word in the title, but because evangelical is such a rich word theologically and historically. The evangelical movement was a response to German Theologians in the late 1800s who wanted to take the authority, truth and inspiration out of the scripture in order to make Christianity more relevant. The evangelicals worked really hard to maintain their commitment to Scripture and more importantly the “evangel” (gospel) of Jesus Christ. The way I understand church history informs me that the evangelical movement had nothing to do with politics. So I am evangelical in my theology. I have a very conservative view of scripture and the gospel of Jesus is the most important thing to me and my faith. I am on one hand very happy to be called “evangelical,” because of the commitment to the gospel. But on the other hand, I don’t like the negative connotations associated with the word. So what is the answer? I wonder if there is a way to reclaim that word so that it could be associated with the love, reconciliation and grace of the gospel of Jesus as it was originally intended.
And then I try to explain “free.” That is another blog for another day.
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4 comments:
Thanks for the thoughtful post, Jeff. I know exactly what you're saying... every time I tell someone the name of my church, they get that very same puzzled look, because they know I'm not exactly a card-carrying member of the Moral Majority. Unfortunately, that's who people think of when they picture Evangelicals.
I really believe that the only way to reclaim the word is for people to see, on an individual basis, that "Evangelicals aren't all like that." By disassociating myself from political affiliations of any kind, I have been able to minister to classmates who otherwise would not have given me the time of day. They see that, for me, Jesus has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with loving others. I refuse to let politics hinder me from sharing Jesus's gospel.
That is so right, Brooke. I have been reading and listening to a lot of things on culture recently. We have so much trust to build with people who have us "pegged." I pray that we carry out the ministry of reconciliation in our culture.
maybe we could tell people that the 'e' stands for eharmony... because after all, who doesn't like online dating?
I'm so gald to know that I am not the only one who faces this issue. Sometimes, when sitting on an airplane, it's much easier to tell people what I do rather than who I work for.
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