Who are Evangelicals?

By many accounts, evangelicals make up about 25% of the population of the United States. Yet evangelicalism has no clear spokesperson or institutional headquarters. It crosses denominational lines, and sometimes ignores them altogether. So who are the evangelicals?

Many people, both inside and outside the movement, have offered their own definitions of what makes one evangelical. Heard any of these?

Mean, Stupid, and Dogmatic
Premillennialist
Anti-evolutionist
Inerrantist
Rich American
Calvinist
Republican
Racist, Sexist, and Homophobic

Many evangelicals do fit some of these definitions, but we don’t think any of them get to the essence of evangelicalism. Here’s why.

Not All Evangelicals are . .

Waiting for the Rapture

Jesus is coming back, probably sooner than we think, to rapture his people. Many evangelicals believe this and, with the popularity of the Left Beyond book series and The Late, Great Planet Earth, it is not hard to see how some would conclude that rapture and premillennial theology is embraced by all evangelicals.

Not so fast. In the nineteenth century, very few evangelicals were premillennialists, and many prominent theologians considered it close to heretical, if not outright heresy. One can argue that, even today, premillennial theology is not the majority view in the evangelical movement.

Why do evangelicals so often disagree about the Bible’s teaching about the end times?

Not All Evangelicals are . . .

Inerrantist

Evangelicals are people of the Bible and affirm its trustworthiness. So it would seem that all evangelicals would affirm Scripture as inerrant.

Well, some do, but many do not. It all depends on what one calls an error, which in turn depends on what the Bible intends to communicate to us.

Some evangelicals say that Scripture isn’t intended as a history or science text. It leads us to salvation. Thus, it might be technically incorrect on factual matters that have no bearing on salvation. Others argue that, if Scripture contains even one factually incorrect statement, God cannot be its author. God makes no mistakes.

Is it important whether or not a rabbit chews its cud (Lev. 11:6)?

Not All Evangelicals are . . .

Rich Americans

Secular elites are giddy about predictions of evangelicalism’s decline. Many evangelicals also see such a trend, and worry about the fate of Christianity. Both groups have a massive blind-spot. If evangelicalism completely disappeared in North America and Europe, it would still be a vital and growing movement.

Christianity, especially in its evangelical expressions, is experiencing unprecedented growth in Asia, Africa, and South America. In fact, two-thirds of the world’s evangelicals live in the Two-Thirds World.

Why have so few noticed this incredible trend? What can evangelicals in North America and Europe learn from their (usually) impoverished but thriving sisters and brothers in the Southern Hemisphere?

Not All Evangelicals are . . .

Calvinists

Lately, some Calvinists have claimed, or at least implied, that their brand of theology is the essential hallmark of evangelicalism. On the one hand, this is odd, given that only a small proportion of those who self-identify as evangelicals are Calvinists. On the other hand, Calvinism has exerted influence beyond its numbers, particularly because they presented a theology that countered Protestant Liberalism.

So what do you think? Must one believe in total depravity, that we are passive in our salvation, that Christ died only for those elected to salvation, that humans cannot resist God’s offer of grace, and that salvation cannot be lost in order to be part of the evangelical world?

Not All Evangelicals are . . .

Republicans

Pollsters tell us that evangelicals voted almost 3-1 for the Republican candidate in the last two presidential candidates. So it seems that an extremely large portion of evangelicals are Republican. However, the small print tells us that pollsters only count white evangelicals, ignoring all minority voters (who voted overwhelmingly Democrat in these elections) who self-identify as evangelical. Maybe evangelicalism is not as Republican after all.

In this chapter, we examine why evangelical Christians often adopt widely divergent political affiliations and explore the dangers of allowing any political loyalty to overshadow commonality in Christ. HWJV (How would Jesus vote)?

Not All Evangelicals are . . .

Racist, Sexist, and Homophobic

Most people would rather tap-dance through a minefield than talk about racism, sexism, and homophobia. There is a lot of hurt and sensitivity all across the spectrum, and perceptions often get in the way of realities.

However, no honest observer can deny that Christianity has often been guilty of treating people poorly on the basis of race, gender, and sexual preference, and evangelicals today are often accused of perpetuating such oppressions today. If evangelicals are to fight oppression and discrimination while holding firm to their convictions, doesn’t it make sense to face these issues head-on rather than ducking?