Beliefnet Guide To Evangelical Christianity

1 Who Are Evangelicals? I know a man who resigned from his evangelical church as a result of a youth-sponsored coffee house (it was a fund-raiser for a missions trip). The kids were hosting several youth bands, and one of them played that Mick Jagger classic "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." That same night, two middle-aged women who'd grown up on the Stones bobbed, weaved, and clapped hands overhead like something out of Woodstock. They too considered themselves evangelicals. Full disclosure: I was one of those two women. The point being, as with every mode of religious expression on the American landscape, evangelical Christianity has its contradictions and champions, saints and sinners, workhorses and weirdos. There is not one "bloc" of the American population that fits into a category called evangelicalism. Evangelicals can be white, African-American, Asian, or Hispanic. There are the educated and the uneducated; the rich, the middle, and the under-class; the tax-paying upright citizens; the down-and-out drug addicts and prostitutes; the right-wing conservatives and left-wing liberals. It is better to think of evangelicalism as a river carrying life-giving water to its many branches and streams. The individuals who inhabit the landscape may come and go. But the river remains, a mystical life force that nourishes otherwise disparate groups and, in a way, holds them together. When today's inhabitants are gone, the river will do the same for those yet to dwell upon the land. It can, and does, get messy when a mighty river cuts through the crags of everyday life. For believing evangelicals, the source of the river abides in absolutes. But this results in complications. First, evangelicals themselves do not agree upon the interpretation of these absolutes; and second, they desire so sincerely to obey the mandates of faith that they sometimes take irrevocable stands for or against things with the best of intentions. The man who left the church because of Mick Jagger's song did right by his convictions. The rocking, dancing women expressed God-given delight over great music. In their minds they were responding as King David himself did when the Ark of the Covenant was carried to Jerusalem: Let's rock and roll! "The lyrics are Augustinian," I later commented to my fellow rocker, upon learning of the man's antipathy. St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions (a work widely cited by evangelicals): "You made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You." Compare: "I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried . . . I can't get no satisfaction." In Augustinian terms, Mick Jagger makes perfect sense. Evangelicals tend to make such justifications. They feel the need to make sense of the culture in theological terms. This can be problematic. The world and even God himself sometimes do not make sense. That is one challenge for evangelicals. Another challenge is dealing with the negative stereotypes perceived by the public--of evangelicals as right-wing extremists; nerdy Ned Flanders types; sourpuss puffy-haired church ladies; or pasty-faced soft-bellied television Bible thumpers. A survey taken by pollster George Barna in December 2003 noted that Americans generally disliked evangelicals more than any other social sector, except for prostitutes, whom they edged out by only a slight margin. Though true evangelicals wouldn't mind such company (after all, Jesus hung out with prostitutes and other fringe people), one purpose of this book is to clarify contradictions that have aroused public confusion and point out strengths largely undetected in public consciousness. A few explanations: First, although I employ the masculine pronoun when referring to the Deity and to the Holy Spirit, God possesses no gender (and there are references in the Old Testament where God is likened to a mother).Zoba, Wendy Murray is the author of 'Beliefnet Guide To Evangelical Christianity', published 0000 under ISBN 9780385514521 and ISBN 0385514522.