What do Evangelicals do well?

As a “non-evangelical” I would like to share a story. As a parish council we have been meeting recently to try and redefine and focus our efforts. In particular, the parish is concerned about the aging and gradual dwindling of our membership. Often Anglicans are unclear on the concept of taking the message outside the church walls. They have their missions, locally and around the world, and social work, of course, but they don’t really do evangelism, in the way evangelicals think about it. They have always believed that if people need us or want what we have to offer, they know where we are. In a recent meeting the discussion strayed to how much our faith meant to each of us for various reasons – the sort of unguarded revelations we don’t normally share. The discussion ended like this:
One woman said, “And we have to keep in mind, the reason we want to reach out isn’t just to grow the parish – it’s because of the sort of things we have been sharing. Because we have this beautiful message, this extraordinary gift of grace, this wonderful place of healing – and people now need it more than ever. But how do we communicate that to people outside the church walls? How is it that we tell people we have what they need? What do we call that sort of communication?”
“Like teaching, lectures, public workshops or something?”
“Do you mean like advertising ourselves? That’s not the right word, but..”
“Like marketing? That’s not the right word, either. Promotion - not promoting ourselves, I mean, but what we stand for.”
“It’s called evangelism,” the rector said quietly. “That’s the name for it. Evangelism.”
“Well….I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

At their best what Christians do, both those who call themselves evangelical and those who don’t, is to have such love for the gospel that they can’t help but communicate it, through their words, loving actions and faithfulness. What evangelicals do best is love the gospel and be unafraid to communicate it to strangers.

"Criticizing evangelicalism is fashionable and evangelicals have joined the fashion, sometimes with apocalyptic fervor."

Thanks for having the guts to say this. It's so very true, and I'm as guilty as the next guy. Ultimately, I'm so very thankful for my evangelical heritage and the evangelical world that I still live in. Sure, there are things that could be better, but I think that's true of every sector of reality...in a highly skeptical society we always find the negative and highlight it. Shame on us! Thanks for highlighting some of the things we do well.

I also think we do social justice well. Now, I know this goes against the norm and that people who stereotype evangelicals as only focusing on eternity and forgetting the here and now might disagree. But when you look at the worlds most effective and largest scale humanitarian organizations, many have evangelical roots and ties and are heavily supported by those in evangelicalism.

When I look at all the Evangelical Scholars and Theologians, I feel as if modern scholastic Evangelicalism is what Liberal Protestantism wished it could have been originally: Honest, but not hopeless.

Evangelicalism is a bit of different beast over here in the UK but most of your points seem valid. At least at the moment we seem less likely to create divisions among different evangelical groups.
I wonder if what is really needed is a renewed interest in evangelical spirituality? I often encounter the idea that there is no depth to evangelical spirituality, so evangelicals go and look in Catholicism, Orthodoxy for real soul food. I have no problem with this mining of Christianity's collective resources and have been really enriched by those traditions.
Its the idea that evangelical spirituality is some how second rate I worry about, I think we are short changing ourselves and the whole of Christianity with this attitude.
I remember reading Alister McGrath's "Roots that Refresh" his book on reformation spirituality and being so incredibly "refreshed" in my spirit. We need people who will do the same sort of work for Wesley, the Holiness Movement, the Mennonites, the early Pentecostals, etc not at an academic, historic or purely descriptive level but at a popular level helping evangelical appropriate the depth of their own tradition.

Having recently started an “emerging church cohort,” I find that we walk that fine line all the time between constructive self-criticism which produces growth and change and relentless “institutional church” bashing as a way to try to define ourselves.

Here are two examples that come to mind of things we do well when we are motivated and creative:

Tim Downs, in his book “Finding Common Ground: How to Communicate With Those Outside the Christian Community...While We Still Can” reminds evangelicals that while many of us may not be good at “harvesting” ministries, so many more of us can be and are great at “planting the seeds” of the Gospel.

An evangelical pastor in Russia was doing all the things well that are described above, but was encountering opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church. He asked, and was allowed to become a member. Now he does evangelicalism well from within the Russian Orthodox Church!

O.K. One more. From personal experiences, I know that many evangelicals of all stripes (traditional, charismatic, emergent, conservative and progressive) love God and love others in myriad and incredible ways.

A. Ben-Shmuel (#9) and Ben-Shmuel (#1)

Great comments and an interesting perspective. We've spent some time in Jerusalem (one term) and found it a fascinating mix.

And

I'm being repetitive, but each post seems to bring a new audience onto the blog. The verification text times-out far too quickly. To avoid losing a long comment either:

(1) Write in a word processor and cut and paste into the comment box after refreshing the page on the browser;

or

(2) Copy the comment before typing the verification text and posting - so that you can simply paste it back in the box if the code has timed out.

Ben,

I agree. Evangelicals give money away like no other group I know. Cash charity flows incredibly, which also indicates to some extent the ability of evangelicals to actually 'make' money. That's also quite a feat.

DJ

AMDG

I love what Mariam (#2) said: "What evangelicals do best is love the gospel and be unafraid to communicate it to strangers." Since the gospel is literally "good news" how can we in good conscience keep it to ourselves, especially since we've been told to love others as ourselves.

"This beautiful message, this extraordinary gift of grace, this wonderful place of healing" is meant for everyone.

#17, Scott...

Yes, of course, but a diet of only critique isn't appropriate. One of things we do like about evangelicalism is self-critique!

One other strenght to (or at least it should be):

An emphasis upon Jesus Christ as the center of our faith.

Can't say I haven't anything to add at the moment, but I wanted to say it's nice to take a break from beating up on evangelicalism. We're imperfect, but there's a lot that we do right, and most folks' hearts really are in the right place.

I think that evangelicalism overall demonstrates a discerning spirit of inquiry and courageous willingness to explore theological formulations as human constructs and not as constructs that are as inerrant as the Bible itself. I think the evangelicals are more open to self-evaluation and correction than other segments of the USAmerican church.

I think that evangelicalism overall demonstrates a discerning spirit of inquiry and courageous willingness to explore theological formulations as human constructs and not as constructs that are as inerrant as the Bible itself. I think the evangelicals are more open to self-evaluation and correction than other segments of the USAmerican church.

I second:
Generous. Practical & adaptable. Wanting to share the good news. The bible and theology are important. Personal response to God is necessary.

And particularly Scott Eaton's:
Jesus is the center.

Dana

Great post! Thanks for highlighting some positives, as well as encouraging others to do the same! I would agree with those who mentioned missions as an important element, though perhaps that falls under experiencing "the new birth."

I'm a bit surprised that Julie Clawson hasn't commented here herself, but she has a response to this entry over on her own blog (at http://julieclawson.com/2008/11/13/ecumenical-evangelicals) that I think is worth a read. Specifically, she wonders if Evangelicals really ARE good at being ecumenical. My reaction isn't quite as strong as hers, but when she wonders if a better word might have been "inter-denominational," noting that there are indeed many Christian groups that Evangelicals remain distrustful of, I think she has a good point.

...oh, and
- having bible studies and small groups

1. I appreciate the desire to handle Scripture well. Traditionally, evangelicalism has had a high view of Scripture.

2. Evangelicalism has shown a willingness to critique itself and to practice much reflection on itself.

Professor McKnight,

Evangelicals of all classifications and denominations tend to always have a passionate vive to their theological perspective of the world and how they interact within the world. If one is a fundamentalist evangelical, they tend to be passionately fundamentalist. If one is a socially minded evangelical, then they tend to be passionately socially minded etc... If one is like you and they are an extremely loving evangelical, then those, like you, are passionately loving and excepting of others.

So what do evangelicals do well as a whole? Passion.

Great post and great comments. Makes me appreciate more both my heritage and where I am in the church, in spite of the weaknesses.

I think it has improved much over the years, though my association with Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada brought out the strengths of our evangelical heritage quite strongly, and PBI seems to have gotten only better over the years.

But this is a great heads up to me, Scot, and an encourager, really. For all our deficiencies and problems, there is so much good and so much to be thankful for.

I should list something: Just our emphasis on Scripture as being central for our faith and practice- and that we see it as and call it, the word of God. Of course it leads us to where our faith needs to be centered- God in Christ.

My tuppence worth: (do you Americans know about tuppences? :))

Historic orthodoxy - evangelicalism at its best is no novelty but in continuity with all the creeds of the Church catholic

Good News - At the heart of the movement is a shared experience of the goodness, love and grace of God, shaped by a shared theology

Cultural engagement - contrary to fundamentalism's retreat from culture. Most evangelicals i know are passionate about engaging with the world they live in.

Radicalism - at its best, it is a movement for reform, self-questioning, spiritual renewal and a suspicion of dead traditionalism.

Patrick

PS I prefer 'evangelical Christian' where evangelical is more an adjective rather than as a noun 'evangelical' - which rather leaves Jesus out of the picture.