As a reader of Outreach, it’s likely that you identify with the evangelical tradition or are at least adjacent to it. And increasingly, it’s not a secret that evangelicalism looks different than mainline Protestantism. While a few decades ago we may have viewed our mainline friends as siblings, now we might look at them as distant cousins. The same is probably true about Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
Evangelicalism is now a distinct movement of its own. It also is a global movement. The World Evangelical Alliance represents hundreds of millions of believers around the world. There’s a certain affinity we have with one another no matter where we live that sets us apart as distinct, particularly in the priority we place on people coming to faith in Christ through the ongoing proclamation of the gospel.
This is our team. This is our family. This is us.
Now, it isn’t right to say that all is healthy and well with evangelicalism. In many respects, evangelicalism is in a difficult place, in North America in particular. It is embattled and thriving, as Christian Smith famously commented. In this moment in the unfolding history of the evangelical movement, it is crucial for us to articulate who we are, address pressures we face, and affirm what keeps us focused—with the goal that we might continue to thrive as a movement faithful to the call of our Savior.
Who We Are
The most common description of the distinctives of evangelical belief comes from British historian David W. Bebbington. It’s called the Bebbington Quadrilateral, which states the four emphases that make up evangelicalism are:
- Biblical authority
- Crucicentrism, or the centrality of Christ’s cross-centered theology
- Conversionism
- Activism (which Bebbington described more broadly as missions but also includes evangelism and community transformation)
The Quadrilateral itself distinguishes us from other Protestant groups. For example, our view of biblical authority sets evangelicals apart from many other Christian movements. This high view of Scripture creates a boundary distinguishing us from other groups. However, defining exactly what those boundaries are can be difficult at times. Evangelicals still differ widely on a number of issues, such as the mode of baptism or the role of women in ministry. And we come to those differing conclusions because within our common commitment to uphold the authority of Scripture, we have different interpretations.
While I like Bebbington’s Quadrilateral, it’s important to see just how central conversionism is to our understanding of evangelicalism. Everything that makes evangelicalism uniquely “evangel”-ical is wrapped up in the root word that gives the movement its name: euangelos (meaning “gospel”). It is for the conversion of people from every tribe and tongue that evangelicals even exist. We are, in every respect, conversionary Protestants. Outreach is integral to who we are.
Resisting the Pressure
We have to acknowledge that we are also being buffered by both the right and the left. There’s a significant and growing right wing of evangelicalism that thinks that the things I described here are not enough. They require more, including becoming more driven by certain political battles and advancing certain shibboleths that one must say and believe that lie beyond these core ideas.
I should add that this perspective seems more common in our pews than in our pulpits. When we look online, we can observe a significant desire to reshape evangelism tending more toward a cultural-political group than a biblio-theological one. This may seem relatively minor at face value, but if we’re not careful it can dramatically steer us off course from our defining calling to reach the world with the gospel.
Just as the rightward pull threatens to erode our commitment to the conversionism priority, so too a leftward pull threatens to erode our commitment to the biblical authority priority. A significant pressure exists—much of it successful—to move Christians away from (very public) cultural issues deemed out of touch and on the wrong side of history.
In the middle of these two pulls, there is a significant majority who revere the Bible and the power of the gospel. Because of our high view of Jesus Christ, evangelicals embrace the call to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. We believe we are called to cultivate human flourishing and societal transformation throughout the world as a testimony to the truth of the gospel and as a glimpse of the eternal reign of Christ.
We hold to biblical authority, even when it is controversial to the surrounding culture (and sometimes the broader Christian church). We must remain steadfast to protect the integrity of what has made us decidedly evangelical, not only in the United States, but around the world.
A Unifying Mission
I became editor-in-chief of Outreach because I think it is a vital voice in a chorus of voices that remind us to be united on the things that draw us together. Sometimes we call that keeping “the main thing the main thing.” That phrase is the unofficial esprit de corps of evangelicalism.
Unlike Bebbington, who saw evangelicalism as a quadrilateral, I think of it as a tent with conversion, or new life in Christ, as the center pole holding the tent up. Flowing from it are ropes that hold it together, or the mission that unites us. And then the side poles of the tent include some of what Bebbington talks about (and more).
As I fellowship with and speak to varied and different evangelical groups around the world, I see brothers and sisters in Christ who share a common vision, who are part of the same evangelical tent, and who are seeking to be on mission together to make a gospel difference. Despite doctrinal differences, they possess tremendous missional alignment. And that is a beautiful thing.
We are at our best as evangelicals when we are pursuing mission together. Now, levels of that mission are complicated because Presbyterians and Pentecostals can’t generally plant churches together from the same pool of people. It works great until your first baptism, and then you don’t know if you need a cup or a tank, for starters.
But all around this country, evangelicals and evangelical-adjacent people are gathering at conferences where they’re learning from one another, encouraging one another, and even giving to one another because they are part of a common movement that wants to reach people with the gospel.
Keeping Our Focus
The buffeting on the left and the right will continue—it’s been the case for as long as Christians have been together. It’s amplified in today’s interconnected world. My encouragement to you is simple: Let’s all be united in keeping the main thing the main thing. Namely, conversion and mission. These two are integrally linked, as experiencing conversion leads to mission, and mission seeks the conversion of those not yet reached. From the fountainhead of these main things flow many other attributes.
If we lose our focus, we could get pulled to the left, losing our conviction and focus on biblical authority. We’ve seen what happens when that occurs again and again. Or we could get pulled from the main thing to the right, where the primary focus of the Christian faith is on constant battles over winning cultural turf rather than the central mission of God.
To be clear, we will always need to stand firm on truth. We must say hard things. But as we hold the authority of Scripture and go on mission together, we’ll be on that journey collaboratively.
This notion of ecumenism is bad to many people, often with good reason. The ecumenical movement has frequently been driven by the lowest common denominator, leading to de-emphasizing conversion and the mission. We see that around the world, and we see that in mainline Protestantism in America.
I hope instead to be an evangelical ecumenist who says we are in this together, centered on the mission to reach our world for Christ. Although there are issues to the left and to the right that we must address together, the answer is not to lose our common focus.
Here at Outreach that’s what we’re committed to. It’s in our name. It’s what we are about. We’re looking to call together people who believe in the authority of Scripture and a common mission who want to show and share the love of Jesus.
I want to see men and women converted by the power of the gospel. That’s my mission, and I hope it’s your mission. Let’s pursue this together.