| “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” |
| —Matthew 28:19a |
Earlier this week I watched the ever-popular Sunday political analysis television programs. In response, I wish to strongly assert the following:
- “Evangelical” is not a political philosophy.
- “Evangelical” is not a wing, sub-group, division, or stepchild of the Republican political party.
- “Evangelical” is not a monolithic voting block.
- “Evangelical” is not an identifying label for those individuals who may display hatred toward any person or group of persons, including, but not limited to, the poor, people of color, individuals who identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community, or members of any other expression of Christianity, or of any other religion.
- “Evangelical” is not a label to aptly describe people of low intellect or reduced powers of reasoning, nor does it describe those who cling to religious fantasies, or who hold to beliefs considered anti-science.
- “Evangelical” is not a term restricted to any particular Christian denomination—or “brand”—of Christianity. I am privileged to know Evangelicals who worship in every type of Christian church: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Protestants of every denomination—and God knows that there are countless Protestant denominations.
I am an Evangelical Christian. I so identify myself because I believe that God, in His mercy and grace, sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to occupy human form, to live a sinless life in this world, to die on a horrible Roman cross of torture to pay the penalty for my sins, to rise from the dead fully alive, and to ascend to heaven, where He sits at the right-hand of God the Father ever making intercession for me. I believe the Holy Spirit lives within me to enable me to serve as one of God’s ambassadors to this troubled world. And, I believe that the commission that Jesus gave His disciples to go out into the world and share the gospel applies to me, as well as it did to them.
For my part, I am a sinner saved by God’s grace. By this I mean that I inherited the sin stain from Adam through my parents. As soon as I could make choices, I chose to sin on my own. Based on my own merit, I am nothing more than a terrible sinner. Yes, I am a sinner saved by God’s grace, forgiven because of God’s love expressed through the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus.
I am specifically an Evangelical Christian because I believe in the Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:16-20:
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Politically, I am by nature, instinct, and careful intellectual analysis a Conservative. But, I utterly reject the accusation that I am a racist, a hater, one who is blinded by privilege, or that I am anti-poor, anti-people-of-color, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-liberal-Christian, or anti-any other religion.
My intense and unrelenting research into the psychology of human nature may well have given me strong opinions about a wide variety of subjects related to human behavior. But, none of my opinions in these matters stem from some anti-intellectualism that can be attributed to me simply because I am an Evangelical Christian.
My Evangelical Christian beliefs inform my chosen way of life. But, they do not lead me into some dark pathway, as critics often claim. Quite to the contrary, as an Evangelical Christian—and by the blessed virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit—I am walking ever forward into a pathway of God-given light. Likewise, my natural Conservative inclinations may be informed by my faith. But, my faith does not dictate my politics.
To the media I say, “Please stop identifying Evangelicals as a political group. Though we Evangelicals are, without a doubt, patriotic Americans, we Evangelicals have a far greater interest in the Kingdom of God than we do in American politics.” Yes, I do care about our nation. And yes, I do have an interest in who I choose to lead our nation. But, I do not get together with other Evangelicals and caucus for a particular political party like the media seems to imagine.
While many Evangelicals may have strongly held religious beliefs about the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage, the nature of human sexuality, the science of biology, the science of the earth, its climate, and all other aspects—along with a host of other very important life issues—the vast majority of Evangelicals do not expect that our national, state, and local leaders will necessarily hold to our beliefs. We are not so naïve as to imagine that any leader is anything more than a horrible, awful, terrible sinner—just like we are. And, hopefully, at least some of those leaders are also ones who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and saved from the penalties of their sins by God’s grace.
We Evangelicals may wish that we could find a leader who has bowed his or her knee in fealty to Christ. But, increasingly we do not reasonably expect that to ever be the case—at least in the foreseeable future. We Evangelicals also recognize that politics tends to corrupt individuals because of the enormous power invested in those who hold public office. Most of us do hope, however, that the leaders we elect will control the temptation to abuse their power. And, we also hope that these leaders we elect will behave with civility toward one another and toward us.
As an individual, I get very concerned when I think that a government organization—such as Congress, or the Executive Branch, or the Judiciary—that is supposed to fairly adjudicate the power of the government might become a political weapon against those who hold a differing political view than those in power. In my opinion, that is not the behavior of a democratic republic. Rather, it smacks of the kind of behavior found in nation states ruled by dictators.
Above all else, we Evangelicals expect our leaders to obey the law. And, if their role is to enforce the law as written, we expect them to do so.
Even in making these statements, I recognize that I cannot, and I do not, speak for all Evangelicals. For within the whole congregation of believers, who heartily wish to respond in obedience to Christ and share the good news of His salvation, there will be those who do not agree with every point that I have mentioned above. So, again, one final time, to the media I say, “Please stop identifying Evangelicals as a political group. We Evangelicals have a far greater interest in the Kingdom of God than we do in American politics.”
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, May 6, 2015
