Evangelical=Conservative? Not Necessarily

I was discussing this new blog with a friend in England the other day. He is an Evangelical Christian as am I. In fact, we both belong to the same denomination. He expressed his disdain for American news broadcasts that equate Evangelical with the political agenda of a certain group of conservatives in the United States. He pointed out that Evangelicals in the UK were not as likely to be linked to the same causes as those in the U.S. He mentioned that Evangelicals in the UK were generally opposed to the war in Iraq and would oppose the death penalty if it were reinstituted in England.

I have been in church all my life, and it has only been the last few years that Evangelicals have become totally identified in the public mind with a certain political position. This is not to say that evangelicals, as a group, haven't taken political positions in the past ranging from abolition to civil rights to prohibition to abortion. What has changed recently is the blending of theology and political philosophy so thoroughly that the public perception of Evangelicals is that these political positions are somehow written into our doctrine. Also, many have taken an all or nothing approach in the past few years which was missing for a long time.

The other day, someone wrote me politely criticizing something I had written and said something like, "Why I can't accept liberals as Christians is that they believe abortion to be alright." There are two problems with this. First, just because someone opposes the criminalization of something doesn't mean they approve of the action. That is a distinction lost on a lot of people. But more to the point of this article is the fact that this person has reduced the entire spectrum of liberal philosophy to a single issue. He mentions nothing about civil rights, governmental responsibility to aid the poor, health care, day care for children, curbing governmental intrusion into private expression, or the many other "liberal" issues out there.

The same happens on the left. People who reduce conservatism entirely to either opposition to abortion or making war. Indeed, the concepts of economic conservatism tend to get lost entirely in this debate over the other issues like abortion, war, and gay rights. Even many conservatives lose sight of classic conservative issues like small government, states rights, and economic restraint. Likewise, many liberals also will have nothing to do with Christianity because they have identified the theology of Christianity with the political philosophy of conservatism.

In reality one can build a case for liberalism as strongly from Christian scriptures as one can for conservatism. It kind of depends on whether one is an Old Testament Christian or a New Testament one. Although, it's not quite as simple as that either. But that's for another day.
So, what do Evangelicals believe? While there are minor differences, for the most part we accept the Apostles Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic (meaning in this case the Universal church not the denomination) church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

We also believe that we are called to share this "Good News" with others. Admittedly, many of our leaders have more of a penchant for sharing the Bad News, than the good, but that's not part of the theology.

Jesus tells his disciples right before he goes into heaven, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20)"

The Greek word from which we get the words Evangelism and Evangelical means to "proclaim good news." It is the word used in the Christmas story when the angel says "Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy." (Luke 2.10) We have found something wonderful and we are called to proclaim it to others. We do not have the option of sitting by and watching smuggly in our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ, in our experience of peace, joy, freedom from guilt, and assurance of eternal life while others are ignorant of this great gift. Indeed, eternity would judge us harshly if we kept this a secret.

So, we Evangelize. We tell the good news to others.

Now, within this definition of Evangelicalism, you don't see any political agenda. Jesus continually sidestepped people who wanted to draw him into the politics of his day. He said, to "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's" (Luke 20.25) This is actually, the first recorded statement of the doctrine of the separation of Church and State.

Being Evangelical does not require one to be of any political party, to vote a certain way, or to support certain political issues. What it requires is a personal experience with God through repentance and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal savior and a committment to live one's personal life by the precepts of the Bible.

I remember C.S. Lewis writing in The Screwtape Letters about how a person that a demon is supposed to tempt has come down with a bad case of "Mere Christianity." Screwtape laments that if they could just get him to add something to Christianity like "Christianity and Social Reform" or "Christianity and the War" they would have a way in.

Unfortunately, too many of our Christian activists have given the enemy an opening by discarding Mere Christianity for Christianity and Political Power. But please do not confuse that with what Evangelicalism really is all about.