{"id":6618,"date":"2010-08-11T05:54:52","date_gmt":"2010-08-11T05:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/08\/the-future-of-evangelicalism-2.html"},"modified":"2010-08-11T05:54:52","modified_gmt":"2010-08-11T05:54:52","slug":"the-future-of-evangelicalism-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/08\/the-future-of-evangelicalism-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Evangelicalism 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BillyGra.png\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The Neo-Evangelical Coalition Breakdown<\/i><\/p>\n

Why has the coalition broken down? I don’t know for sure, but I think the following two are contributing factors:<\/p>\n

First, some evangelicals who were nurtured in fundamentalism never really softened enough to be big tent evangelicals. They simply cooperated as long as it was the best American evangelicalism had to offer. Such folks never really were comfortable with or welcoming of the broader reaches of the neo-evangelical coalition, whether it was the charismatics or liturgics or Wesleyans or Anabaptists that concerned them. They have survived and can now be found in more strident forms of a fundamentalist evangelicalism.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Second,
\nbig tent evangelicalism tended toward the reductionistic when it came
\nto theology because it sought to cooperate for the good of evangelism
\nand evangelicalism. The more reductionistic it became, the less robust
\nit could be. Eventually, in my limited viewing of the last forty years,  <\/span>the
\nminimalism became too minimal. I point now to one dramatic element of
\nbig tent evangelicalism: the megachurch phenomenon. And here I speak not
\nsimply of big churches but of big churches that did not develop a
\nrobust theological infrastructure. What I mean is this: megachurch
\nevangelicalism, at times, tended toward a theology that was not much
\nbigger than God loves you, Jesus died for you, accept him, and get busy.
\nAnything that smacked of theological robustness or finesse, anything
\nthat demanded theological sophistication, and anything that required
\nserious study was seen as “extra” or “non-essential” or “for the elite.”
\nThis thin theological foundation, which began in the neo-evangelical
\nspirit of coalition but which developed into even thinner ways among
\nsome evangelical pastors and leaders, could not handle the challenges of
\nevangelicalism as it shifted from a genuinely Christian culture into a
\npostmodern non-Christian pluralism. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nI’m not participating here in the all-too-popular megachurch bashing
\nthat I see among some. Instead, I’m contending that megachurches rode
\nthe wave of the coalition and part of that wave was a developing lack of
\ninterest in theological vision.<\/p>\n

What
\nwe are seeing in the NeoReformed, in the emerging, and in the
\nAncient-Future movements is a yearning for a more robust theological
\nvision.<\/p>\n


<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Neo-Evangelical Coalition Breakdown Why has the coalition broken down? I don’t know for sure, but I think the following two are contributing factors: First, some evangelicals who were nurtured in fundamentalism never really softened enough to be big tent evangelicals. 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