BLOG 11.19.12. GROSS MIS-USE OF THE DESIGNATION: “EVANGELICAL”
The definition: “evangelical” has been grossly besmirched, and made too often tawdry, by so much of the press in the recent political campaign. Of course, it is also misused by all too many unthinking folk inside the church as well. Let me explore that with you.
The adjective: evangelical, derives from the word “evangel,” i.e., a Greek word that designates a thrilling announcement. It is, yes, a thrilling word, or maybe better: a word suffused with thrill. It was used in Greek and Roman cultures to announcement great events, military victories, major accomplishments of many sorts. It was the kind of thing that a herald would shout in the marketplace as he announced to the populace some news they really needed to know.
The New Testament writers adopted it to speak of the thrilling announcement of what God had done, and was doing, in and through Jesus the Messiah. Paul would speak of this as the awesome reality that: the mystery hidden from the ages was now revealed in and through Jesus with cosmic consequences. It speaks of reconciliation of heaven and earth, of the forgiveness of sins, and of New Creation now in process in the here and now. The evangel spoke of God’s declaration: “Behold, I make all things new!”
When Jesus inaugurated his public ministry in village of Nazareth he gave content to this “evangel.” He announced his good news to the (helpless) poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed, and the arrival of the great Jubilee of God. Toward the end of his earthly ministry he gave the criteria by which all would be judged at the end of the age, when he identified himself with the hungry and thirsty, with the stranger/immigrant, with the naked, with the sick, and with those in debtors prison. These two passages smack of Isaiah 61!
Sandwiched between those beginning announcements and that ending prophecy is the agenda of his New Creation, which is the mandate of all of those who will follow Jesus. It is called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s account of the evangel (or the Sermon on the Plain in the Luke’s account). It talks, right up front, about identity with the poor, with the mourning, with the meek, with those passionate about righteousness, with the merciful, with the pure in heart, with peacemakers, and with those willing to undergo persecution for the sake of such.
By implication within this agenda are such things as the sanctity of life, the sanctity of sex, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of environment and the stewardship of creation … and, ultimately the whole of life.
Such an evangelical agenda is far too radical and subversive to be fully embraced by any known political party, or any configuration of liberal or conservative folk!
Not to mention that there are all kinds and breeds of evangelicals: Protestant and Catholic evangelicals, Messianic Jewish evangelicals, fundamentalist evangelicals, progressive evangelicals, radical evangelicals, social action evangelicals, charismatic evangelicals, and Pentecostal evangelicals …. As well as composites of all sorts.
All that said: to identify “evangelical Christian” with some conservative political segment, as has been done in recent times, is an exercise in obvious mindlessness whether by the press, the politicians, or by those in the church who grab it as self-identity. The evangel, the gospel, is huge and cosmic and all embracing and transformational and fraught with joy and hope and sheer thrill!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
