Evangelicalism suffers from its strengths. And that is a weakness that I have to be willing to live with.

(Warning: Emergers—if there are any of you who still call yourself such— Liberals, and Fundamentalists: hold your nose as you read. You will grow accustomed to the smell.)

What does it mean to be Evangelical? What is the sine qua non of Evangelicalism?

There is no easy answer to this as the semantic domain of the word is usually predefined due to personal history and other subjective baggage. For some, “evangelical” simply means “liberal fundamentalist.” To the media, it is the Republican party at prayer. To Fundamentalists, it means “compromise.” To the Reformed covenantalist, it means “Tim Lahaye.” To former Evangelicals, it means canned presentations of church, cooperate liturgy, and cliché Christianity with Kirk Cameron as its head. To the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, it represents a traditionless group of vigilante Protestants who exemplify and carry the burden of the same follies as its founders, the Reformers.

However, these are all expedient definitions that don’t catch what the spirit of Evangelicalism is all about. In other words, these are perception-based descriptions of what some Evangelicals do and how certain Evangelicals express their beliefs. But expedient definitions are a tool of historical revisionists that, while important as a barometer, have no place in a foundational understanding of what is being expressed.

Let me explain with an illustration:

Take America. Take the United States of America and have people describe what it means to be an American. Do you think that there will be a monolithic voice that accurately describes “American”? There could be. But when people attempt to use expedient definitions, here is what you will get when asked “what does it mean to be American”:

Americans are rich people.

Americans are arrogant rich people.

Americans are greedy arrogant rich people.

For a different spin, try this: America is the land of opportunity.

Or as Bono would put it, “I like the idea of America and am a fan of the idea. But I don’t like American policy” [at least as it was under Bush].

However, America is built upon certain principles that allow freedom. This freedom allows for greed or opportunity. This freedom has no mandate upon particulars of expression. It does not require one political party or another. Even though people will think and say really stupid things, we believe that the principle of freedom—freedom of speech in this case—is more important than making sure people all think “rightly.”  There is a center or an anchor to America. There are American ideals and values. There is still the “idea” of America, even though it does not always find good and “proper” expressions. It is our job as Americans to continue to instill these values—these anchors—in the coming generations so that America does not get redefined due to expediency. We do this by teaching and reminding others of what the “idea” is.

It is the same with Evangelicalism. Since I deal with theology and history every day, I am continually thinking about these principles of Evangelicalism. I am ever engaged in the “idea” of Evangelicalism and the principled anchors that must be understood so that the idea remains in tact. Once the “idea” is lost, so is the form of expression which the idea is supposed to follow.

So, what is the “idea” of Evangelicalism?

Hold your horses…and hold on to your Theology Program caps (which are available exclusively at www.credohouse.org!). You will have to wait for part 2 of this post in which I will give a brief definition of Evangelicalism, followed by a few articles of confession and denial.

But remember, these principles cannot be denied simply because the freedom they allow takes a turn here and there that you do not like.

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