We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded by your direct support for ReKnew and our vision. Please consider supporting this project.

Are Evangelicals an Endangered Species?

020/365 united we stand...

Joits via Compfight

Tim Suttle offered some thoughts on the Huffington Post a few days ago about the state of evangelicalism and what is needed to keep it from going the way of the dinosaurs. In an atmosphere of increasing division and conflict, he offers mission as a unifying center that will keep evangelicalism vibrant. Rather than becoming more and more fractured along theological lines, is it possible for the church to set aside our differences and come together to serve? Let’s hope so.

From the article:

Theological diversity is nothing to fear. The Gospel doesn’t need people who will defend it. The Gospel needs people who will become transformed by it and live it out. That’s mission. And even if it does need defenders, the best defense of the Gospel is not an attack on the heterodox — it is a people who have been transformed by the love of God into instruments of redemption, learning to live in fidelity to God and each other no matter what our doctrinal disagreements. A people who have been formed in self-sacrificial love and theological humility of the one, the holy, the catholic and the apostolic — these are the marks of the church. Where these are absent, the church has ceased to be faithful and will most certainly falter.

Related Reading

How Important is Non-Violence? (podcast)

Greg considers how God’s judgment differs from our own, making it an expression of his love. Whereas, for us, judgment stands contrary to our love.  Episode 489 http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0489.mp3

Lighten Up: Square Peg, Round Hole Theology

This comic was featured in The Bohemian Bowmans. If you don’t follow them, you probably should check them out. They’re great.  

When the Bible Isn’t Clear

Mark Grapengater via Compfight Roger Olson wrote a post today entitled How to Solve a Theological Dilemma when Scripture Doesn’t Clearly Solve It: An Exercise in Theological Method. The title itself is provocative and problematic if you’re a fundamentalist, so Roger spends some time dealing with the mindset of fundamentalism. This is a really valuable read if…

Evangelism or Social Action: What’s the Priority?

Throughout the last century Evangelicals were known much more for their emphasis on personal piety than for their social action. This is fortunately beginning to change. Pioneers like Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo and Ron Sider have for decades been trying to get Evangelicals to see that the Bible mandates that followers of Jesus care for…

Podcast: How Should We Handle Disagreements in the Church?

Greg discusses Christian conflict resolution. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0206.mp3

Do We Jeopardize a Person’s Salvation by Sharing the Gospel with Them? (podcast)

Greg considers the evangelism implications of the idea that we are all IN. Why risk someone having an opportunity to opt out? Episode 494 http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0494.mp3