Turn About - A New Day for Evangelicals?
It was a stimulating way to spend a day off. I had looked forward to it. I was in Rockford to attend a retreat for the Judson University Board of Trustees. The morning was to be spent with two top evangelical leaders: Larry Eskridge, Associate Director of The Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals; and Mark Galli, Senior Managing Editor of Christianity Today magazine. I was not disappointed.
It was Mark Galli who particularly grabbed my attention. He talked about the place evangelicals now have at the table of discussion in America today. 'Wait,' I thought. 'Are not Christians being written off today, accused of being tuned to a frequency not located on planet earth?' Not so, said Galli. In the last five years, centrist evangelicals have a place at the table, he reported. Evangelicals are no longer clamoring for a place at the table. They are at the table.
Two to three times a month, Galli reported, he receives calls from such places as Time magazine, wanting to know what Christians are thinking and saying about an issue. We have a social presence in America today, he said. Galli said Rick Warren is the new Billy Graham. Warren identifies himself with our culture. He is very active in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Last year, a group of evangelicals was invited to the White House to dialogue with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Evangelicals are now the voice of Christianity in America and the world, Galli thinks.
Who was Galli talking about when he used the term evangelical? Galli listed four defining characteristics. 1) Those who place Christ and the crucifixion at the center. They have a keen sense of our need to be changed, and it cannot happen on our own. We need redemption. 2) The importance of conversion. It is not just being better people. It is being turned around through relationship with Jesus Christ. 3) Those who are Biblically based. 4) Those who have an activist faith expressed in their daily living. They live the faith. They have a social conscience.
Galli reported that evangelicals are present in nearly every sphere of American life. To reinforce his point, Mark Galli recommended D. Michael Lindsay’s book Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite.
How should we respond to this open door? Is it possible that we could misuse this opportunity? Galli thinks that is a possibility. Of utmost importance for evangelicals today is to be faithful stewards of this new attention. Pray for those who have occasions to speak to people in power at this favorable time. For those of us who are evangelicals, we must be conscious that we represent mainstream Christianity today if Galli is right. Our words matter. Our lifestyles make a difference. Above all, we represent Christ in a world often confused by our staggering contemporary issues. May God, who has trusted us with this moment in history, find that we have been faithful.
It was Mark Galli who particularly grabbed my attention. He talked about the place evangelicals now have at the table of discussion in America today. 'Wait,' I thought. 'Are not Christians being written off today, accused of being tuned to a frequency not located on planet earth?' Not so, said Galli. In the last five years, centrist evangelicals have a place at the table, he reported. Evangelicals are no longer clamoring for a place at the table. They are at the table.
Two to three times a month, Galli reported, he receives calls from such places as Time magazine, wanting to know what Christians are thinking and saying about an issue. We have a social presence in America today, he said. Galli said Rick Warren is the new Billy Graham. Warren identifies himself with our culture. He is very active in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Last year, a group of evangelicals was invited to the White House to dialogue with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Evangelicals are now the voice of Christianity in America and the world, Galli thinks.
Who was Galli talking about when he used the term evangelical? Galli listed four defining characteristics. 1) Those who place Christ and the crucifixion at the center. They have a keen sense of our need to be changed, and it cannot happen on our own. We need redemption. 2) The importance of conversion. It is not just being better people. It is being turned around through relationship with Jesus Christ. 3) Those who are Biblically based. 4) Those who have an activist faith expressed in their daily living. They live the faith. They have a social conscience.
Galli reported that evangelicals are present in nearly every sphere of American life. To reinforce his point, Mark Galli recommended D. Michael Lindsay’s book Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite.
How should we respond to this open door? Is it possible that we could misuse this opportunity? Galli thinks that is a possibility. Of utmost importance for evangelicals today is to be faithful stewards of this new attention. Pray for those who have occasions to speak to people in power at this favorable time. For those of us who are evangelicals, we must be conscious that we represent mainstream Christianity today if Galli is right. Our words matter. Our lifestyles make a difference. Above all, we represent Christ in a world often confused by our staggering contemporary issues. May God, who has trusted us with this moment in history, find that we have been faithful.
posted by Pastor Randy Gauger at
7:32 PM
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