Editorial note – The ideas expressed in this piece are mine and are based on materials and ideas that I have written and presented in the past.

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This was first published in the June 2024 issue of the Fishkill UMC Newsletter.

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I was baptized in the Evangelical Reformed Church, and I was confirmed in the Evangelical United Brethren Church.  Thought my heritage, through my words, through my thoughts, and through my deeds I consider myself to be an evangelical Christian. 

But the term “evangelical Christian” has taken on a rather negative connotation, in part because of the actions of many who use the term as a means of identification.

Today, many proclaim themselves to be a “evangelical Christian” but their actions suggest that they neither understand what evangelism is or what it means to be a Christian. 

Theirs is a view defined in black and white, and you must accept it.  It is their view that the Bible is the source of all knowledge, even when the early Christian church did not hold that view.  They loudly profess to have been saved from sin but you and I have not, and, as a result, we are going to live the rest of our lives in Sheol.

That, to me, is not evangelism and, to be honest, it is the very attitude that almost drove me from the church, and which is probably driving many people away today.

But I didn’t leave because there were those who showed me that the church could be a force for good, a force for justice, and that it was possible to be a representative of Christ on Earth. It would be very difficult for me to leave today just as it is very difficult for me to watch others tell the world that the Gospel is about the rich and the powerful, the mighty and privileged.

Contemporary evangelists see the “Great Commission”, Go out into the world, and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19 – The Message), as a commandment to get other people to become Christian.

If we read Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel translation of the “Great Commission”, we read,

As you travel, then, make students of all races and initiate them into the family of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to live by all that I outlined for you.”

I think that because Dr. Jordan was working with the original Greek version of Matthew, this is more reasonable interpretation of the original work and speaks to what we, as evangelists, are to do in today’s world, teach the people.  Instead of forcing or requiring people to become Christians, we need to teach people to live in the manner that Jesus taught the Twelve.  As Dr. Francis Collins noted in his book, “The Language of God”, each person must make their own decisions concerning the existence of God and what one believes.  By teaching people, we give them the opportunity to find Christ on their own.

Tony Campolo, noted evangelist, Baptist minister, and conservative Christian, feels that the concept of evangelism has been hijacked by the political motives of the “religious right”. He feels that the Gospel message, of reaching out to the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the oppressed, has somehow been lost in the politics of the times.

Dr. Campolo asked,

What do we do about the poor?

What do we do about education or the environment?

What do we do when the system that is in place ignores the little children of this country in favor of big business and greedy corporate interests?

What do we do when other Christians tell the parents of gays and lesbians that their children’s sexuality is their fault, that they somehow have lived a sinful and wrongful life?

How is it that we have allowed Christianity to become so judgmental when our own Savior never judged anyone? (From an interview with Tony Campolo posted on Beliefnet.com on 12 November 2004)

What Is Evangelism?                                                                   

Evangelism can be defined as declaring the good news about all that God is doing in the world; but it is much more than simply challenging individuals to yield to Jesus, letting Jesus into their lives, and allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them into new creations.  It is also about proclaiming what God is doing in society right now to bring about justice, liberation, and economic well-being for the oppressed. (From Tony Campolo’s forward to Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel: Luke and Acts)

An evangelical Christian is one who presents the Gospel message of hope, justice, and freedom from oppression to the world. If that means taking action to relieve poverty, heal the sick, feed the hungry, house the homeless, give aid to the needy, and free the oppressed, so be it.

Henri J. M. Nouwen wrote,

Only when we have come into touch with our own life experiences and have learned to listen to our inner cravings for liberation and new life can we realize that Jesus did not just speak, but that he reached out to us in our most personal needs. The Gospel doesn’t just contain ideas worth remembering. It is a message responding to our individual human condition. The Church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its tables. Doctrines are not alien formulations, which we must adhere to, but the documentation of the most profound human experiences which, transcending time and place, are handed over from generation to generation as a light in our darkness. (From Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Senator Cory Booker stated,

Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don’t tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all her children. Don’t preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give.

Many churches today give people exactly what they want.

They give them a sense of “being filled with the Spirit”; they give them a sense that their sins have been cleansed. And they certainly give them messages that bring purpose to their lives without making them feel guilty about what they have done. They hear that the poverty of this world, the death and desolation that come to this world are only signs of God’s return, of Christ’s Second Coming. They find in these new churches comfort and sanctuary.

The Gospel Message                                                                     

But this is not the Gospel message! The Gospel message is not meant to make you feel good; it is meant for you to hear and then act.

“Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power and with its defense for the weak… Christianity has adjusted itself much too easily to the worship of power. It should give much more offense, more shock to the world than it is doing. Christianity should take a much more definite stand for the weak than to consider the potential right of the strong.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Barbara Wendland, a United Methodist layperson in Texas, pointed out that many of the things that make us comfortable in church often make us less effective as a church.

Patriotism is effective if it reminds us of our nation’s commitment to justice for all people, yet flags and martial hymns in worship tend to glorify war rather than remind us that we have been called to be peacemakers. We may find that tradition provides a sense of continuity, but it can also make it difficult to bring about change.

Emotion can inspire us to do God’s work in the world, but wrapping oneself in a blanket of emotions can often block critical reasoning. The church can only be effective if it keeps reminding us how far we must go before God’s will is done on this earth. An effective sermon on poverty and disease in our own community should leave us feeling rightly uneasy about not doing more to help and it should inspire us to do that little bit extra. (From Connections, April 2005)

The Gospel message cannot be pared down to something that fits on a bumper sticker. The Gospel is meant to transform us, not protect us. Unfortunately, this is not the message of many of these big churches. Without the cross, without reason, the message presented is sugar coated and self-serving. People come to these services because they are not required to do much more than that.

The Gospel message is to be shared, not hoarded, and we must work to find ways to share it. This is something we are often unwilling to do. We hesitate to respond as Jesus would have us respond because it is so radical a notion. We would much rather focus on a quiet, private, personal relationship with the Lord rather than follow the teachings that call for a public, prophetic witness. We like being on the mountain, we do not want to come down and must work in the valley. We can live with reports of poverty, sickness, and oppression; we just would rather not have to deal with it.

Our heritage                                                                               

Today, the United Methodist Church is considered a traditional and mainline denomination, not an evangelical one. Yet, evangelism was the hallmark of the early Methodist movement; our growth in America came during the major revival periods of this country’s history, driven in part by the evangelical fervor of Methodists. But we are no longer considered an evangelical church.

Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor.

John Wesley did not start a church. He wanted to renew a church that had become narrow, moralistic, cold. He wanted to renew it through new hearts, a courageous spirit, community that included the least & the unwanted, and passion for Jesus.

John Wesley understood that it was the primary purpose of the church to present the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ but a church blind to the needs of its members or the community that it was in could not do its work. You cannot preach the power of the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ when people are hungry, homeless, or suppressed by an indifferent society. John Wesley also understood and preached that it was the responsibility of everyone having accepted Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior, had to go out into the community.

John Wesley understood the need for the church to present a message the people understood. A church blind to the needs of its members or its community cannot do its work. You cannot preach of the power of the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ when people are hungry, homeless, or suppressed by an indifferent society. John Wesley also understood that an individual, having accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, had the responsibility to show that he had done so. This meant helping the community.

Our unique and combined heritage is more than simply meeting in a church somewhere on a Sunday; it is a heritage of being in the field, of being involved with the people, of being God’s representative here on earth at this time and place. As United Methodists we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith, and we are saved so that we can do good works. All that we do follows as a response to the radical grace of God.

Let us remember that we are the inheritors of a movement that gathered in the homes of believers and invited not just believers but non-believers to be a part of their community. Let us also remember that we are also the inheritors of a movement that faced intense opposition and persecution, and I am not necessarily speaking of the early, post-Easter Christians.

Methodism here in America was often marked by the clergy of other denominations denouncing Methodist preachers for “preaching delusions,” “working to deceive others,” spouting heretical doctrines,” and “promoting wild singularities”. These “wild singularities” included dramatic preaching, exuberant worship, and weekly class meetings where members shared their inner most selves.

Ours is a heritage of evangelism, not the evangelism of today which seeks to control the human spirit and tell others the right and wrong way to do things. Ours is an evangelism based on what Jesus did and what John Wesley did. Ours is the evangelism that brings the Good News to the people so that they can find Jesus for themselves.

Our theological heritage was and still is to preach outside the normal boundaries of a church. Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor, those traditional Christians called the “unwashed rabble”.

The early Methodist movement was everything the traditional church wasn’t.  It was often messy or unregulated.  It was based on small groups, it empowered women, gave enslaved persons a sense of freedom, and created a vision of justice and liberation.

In 18^th century America, Methodism was a “volatile, alienated, defiant, and charismatic” movement that empowered “those who were demeaned and degraded” with a revolutionary sense of God’s liberating loved (“Religion in the Old South”, Don Matthews, University of Chicago Press, 1977).  Methodism was seen as a threat to the establishment of the time because it was revolutionary, inclusive, heart-centered, and Jesus-fired.

What Will tomorrow bring?                                                             

The United Methodist Church has been lost in the wilderness for the last thirty years.  It has struggled to find itself amidst the turmoil and change of society.  Against the turmoil and change of 18^th century society, the Methodist revival begun by John Wesley sought to bring hope and renewal to the people.

That mission does not change over time.

Perhaps we, the people of the United Methodist Church, having found our way out of the wilderness should remember who we were and become those people once again.  Let us remember from where we came and once again bring hope and promise to the people.