No one is really able to nail down a definition of evangelicalism. No one is really able to describe it succinctly. There is confusion about what evangelicals think and who is in the evangelical camp and who is not. Mainline Protestants are quick to separate themselves from evangelicals but conservative Catholics are jumping on the evangelical bandwagon.

Not long ago someone called me an evangelical for holding the belief that Jesus was Christ and that Jesus lived, died and rose. Because of that fundamental belief, this person claimed I was an evangelical. I reacted negatively to the descriptive but why? Is it because I’m a democrat who senses that red state southerners have misused God in their quest of political domination? Or is it because what most people associate with evangelicalism stands in opposition to my theology? What is my understanding of evangelicalism and why am I so weary of it? Allow me to take a stab at what it means to be an evangelical and then let me state briefly why I hope our church plant will operate under a different theological umbrella.

Evangelicalism (and again, this is my understanding) believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, that Jesus is the only way to God, that abortion and homosexuality are indisputably evil, that there are no shades of grey but that God is very clear on what is right and what is wrong, that it is incumbent upon us to spread God’s Word and if we don’t, well... These are the first markers of evangelicalism that pop into my head.

There are some commonalities between this understanding of evangelicalism and me. For example, I hold the Bible up and look to it for the story of God’s work in the historical world, our current world and the world to come. I regard it highly. I do believe Jesus is the way to God. After all, Jesus is God. Issues such as abortion and homosexuality are important as are poverty, war, work and relationships. And fially, we are blessed to be conduits of God’s Word here on this earth.. In these ways, I am an evangelical.

But it gets difficult when you add that absolute, authoritative voice to those convictions. It’s the field of grey where I find myself dwelling more often then the “right or wrong” or “black and white” fields. I’m not so certain that I have it all figured out despite having Mastered the Divine as my degree implies (Master of Divinity). I preach with trepidation knowing that I could possibly regard that sermon as BS when God reveals more of God’s self in the week, month or year to follow.

So when it comes to the wording of how the Bible functions, moral values and coming to God, etc. I part ways with evangelicalism because I simply don’t speak the same way, the same language. The Brooklyn church plant will look differently than other recent church plants because I won’t be yelling from a megaphone that all must come to know Christ or else! I will be proclaiming truths revealed by God and hope that others will share their stories too all the while understanding that God continues to reveal God’s self in new, exciting and yes, even disturbing ways every day. Stay tuned for more on this topic.