On the evangelical question

My cousin Mark asked me about evangelicals being stuck in the nineteenth century... I think it is probably more like being stuck in a bad part of the twentieth century. At least in the early nineteenth, being 'evangelical' did not mean being anaemic, or fundamentalist. My dad and I talk about this quite a bit- partly because I cannot fully explain the way I thought from the example or teaching of my parents. Maybe the hymns? Camps? For quite some time I was happy to call myself a 'post-evangelical' as defined by Dave Tomlinson, by a book of the same title. And, as I studied and read, I found that my un-nuanced views were a caricature of the classical understandings of evangelicalism as outlined by the scholar David Bebbington.


In a journey away from evangelicalism there were a few key factors (in my head, remember): abuse of the bible, an 'instant' conversion mentality that I found both wrong-headed, and manipulative... I also was tired. Tired. Tired. Of a relationship with God that was based on bad understanding of 'doing' not 'being', so was rushed, duty-filled, and 'active' in all the wrongs senses of the word. All of this was based on a very limited understanding of God - and a very thorough individualism, and me-ism... Then, there was also a developing engagement with the 'rules' that so many of us lived by, and the necessary exclusion that accompanies that -the prescriptiveness of so much of the way things were. The 'kingdom=denomination' impression that I had.

[I want to make it clear, that one of the enablers for me thinking differently was the many, many people who were not in that mold, or who were dissatisfied with the way things were; the training that I received; and the experiences that I was living through -and a deepening sense of needing to move towards God and loving others, and of needing to engage on deeper, richer levels with the history of the church]

So - I think that what was missing was a sense of grace, time, and an understanding and love of The Trinity.

Does that mean that I'm post evangelical? I don't think so, but I think I would want to redefine what 'evangelical' means. McLaren has a large E, small e, evangelical, differentiates between them, and wants to maintain relationship with the "good one". and I think that 'evangelical as fundamentalism' is repugnant, and that 'evangelical as good news', truly able to deal with suffering, pain, and all about grace, engaging in being, and dealing with justice, including people, welcoming to all.

My Andrew was relaying to me the sermon from Longsight today (oh, how I miss you all), and we were chatting about the reality of meeting God and saying "I've sung allot" or, "I've served the poor" -

So, apart from that, I think some of these muses explains my fixation/ attraction to/ love for/ curiosity about the emergent church. So, there's a lot to think about I know.

Shalom