Why I'm Not (just) an Evangelical
The Reformation 21 web log had this quote from Malcolm Gladwell in "Time" magazine:
"One of the big trends in American society is the transformation of the evangelical movement and the rise of a more mature, sophisticated, culturally open evangelical church. Ten years from now, I don't think we're going to have the kinds of arguments about religion that we have today. Even the fight over intelligent design, to me, is a harbinger of a trend, which is that the religious world is increasingly willing to put its issues on the table and discuss them in the context of the secular world. Let's argue about evolution vs. creation, using the framework that secular science has given us. . . .
. . . We will not continue to have this kind of divide between Evangelicals and the rest of society. I just went to an interesting evangelical conference, and throughout, rock bands were playing. The rock-'n'-roll culture within the evangelical world is indistinguishable in terms of the sound of the music from the rock culture that came out of a very different, irreligious secular tradition, except that the words are about Jesus--love and all that. They're not resisting outside culture, they're embracing it and kind of making it their own."
If the divide between the Evangelical community and the rest of society disappears, I doubt it will be because the rest of society has come to Christ.
This is why I'm glad I go to a church where our pastor has to give two sermons: "Why I'm an Evangelical" and "Why I'm Reformed". We can't just be Evangelical, we have to be Evangelical somethings. Last Sunday's broadcast of the White Horse Inn was on "The Weirdness of Christianity". Someone made the comment that Christianity is not a lifestyle, it's a belief system that leads to a lifestyle. If we go through life as Evangelical nothings, it's too easy for our mind-set to be pulled back away from Christ and His teaching, no matter how many WWJD jewelry we wear.
"One of the big trends in American society is the transformation of the evangelical movement and the rise of a more mature, sophisticated, culturally open evangelical church. Ten years from now, I don't think we're going to have the kinds of arguments about religion that we have today. Even the fight over intelligent design, to me, is a harbinger of a trend, which is that the religious world is increasingly willing to put its issues on the table and discuss them in the context of the secular world. Let's argue about evolution vs. creation, using the framework that secular science has given us. . . .
. . . We will not continue to have this kind of divide between Evangelicals and the rest of society. I just went to an interesting evangelical conference, and throughout, rock bands were playing. The rock-'n'-roll culture within the evangelical world is indistinguishable in terms of the sound of the music from the rock culture that came out of a very different, irreligious secular tradition, except that the words are about Jesus--love and all that. They're not resisting outside culture, they're embracing it and kind of making it their own."
If the divide between the Evangelical community and the rest of society disappears, I doubt it will be because the rest of society has come to Christ.
This is why I'm glad I go to a church where our pastor has to give two sermons: "Why I'm an Evangelical" and "Why I'm Reformed". We can't just be Evangelical, we have to be Evangelical somethings. Last Sunday's broadcast of the White Horse Inn was on "The Weirdness of Christianity". Someone made the comment that Christianity is not a lifestyle, it's a belief system that leads to a lifestyle. If we go through life as Evangelical nothings, it's too easy for our mind-set to be pulled back away from Christ and His teaching, no matter how many WWJD jewelry we wear.
posted by Mike at 9:48 AM
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