Part II: Who and What, Really, is an Evangelical?

Note: This is the second in a twelve-part study on the meaning of evangelicalism today.

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE, A CHRISTIAN

    Throughout this commentary, I wish to emphasize my very strong personal belief that even though, as someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ, (that is, a “Christian”,) I do believe in the concept that Jesus was, for me, “the Word of God manifested in human form–obviously one type of theological concept–and yet, I also recognize that this is not a belief that everyone can or must accept. Likewise, I do not presume to have “the” best or preferred understanding of such a belief; and, I must admit that due to my own human-ness, I may be mistaken!    

   In fact, as it is becoming more popular, many persons will insist that they have no religion-oriented beliefs;  that they do not need any kind of sectarian trappings, formula or doctrine to “save” them from anything that they encounter in this life; and that there is no reason to be concerned about any so-called afterlife. This sort of thinking is premised on a likely acceptance of our human fate within a great and given world of nature, science, and secular options. (Even the “Stoics” have taught that “the wise man should be free from passion, unsubdued by joy or grief, willingly submissive to natural law.”)

    
    Likewise, I have no quarrel with the proposition that any eternal being, power or deity is not confined or limited to a single “chosen” or exclusive concept or system of beliefs, religious or otherwise, whether Christian or any other expression of faith.  It is my firm conviction that any sincere search for one’s, or a society’s, relationship to a source beyond the earthly sphere has as much reason to be accepted as genuine as my own belief-system. 

    It is presumptuous for any one set of religious thought to feel that it is the singular vehicle or voice to reach an understanding of faith, when you realize that this world has been populated by literally billions of persons and thousands of cultures and religious orders over the centuries. The differences in languages, customs, and environmental factors (among many others) would certainly negate any honest interpretation that a single defined encounter with a deity is or has been the sole effort made by any such deity to reach the countless other societies down through human history.

    None of this is new; there have always been “believers” and “non-believers” within most or all societies and forms of religion or faith (these two  words are not necessarily synonymous, but we will treat them as such at this point.)  Whether we are dealing with the Western religions and belief-structures, such as Christianity or secular humanism, or the Eastern faiths, such as Islam or Buddhism, divisions and differences of the basic tenets of religion (or non-religion) exist. They have for centuries, and, unfortunately, have been the basis of hatred, discrimination, and wars, supposedly (and sadly) “in the name of religion.”    

    Of course, the place of non-sectarian philosophers  (ancient and current) cannot be overlooked; as those sages down through the centuries, especially within the limitations of human discourse, have attempted to search the depths of the meaning of human life and destiny. Their words are worthy of consideration, but, like every other human being, they are subject to making mistakes, and limited to the extent of their worldly knowledge. The same goes for religious thinkers and philosophers.

    I will not attempt any definition of the time-honored philosophies of atheism and agnosticism. Apparently, those who subscribe to these idealogies deny or doubt the existence of “God” or any deity outside our human realms.  Either, they might say, “God is dead”, or “There is no rational proof that He/It/She ever existed.” Take your pick. In any event, to assume some sort of position on where any one of us, or group or all of us, might fit within some greater realm of faith, belief, or understanding of our human destiny, is a mental, emotional, and perhaps even physical commitment that we make from time to time, either knowingly and unknowingly.                                

        For some of us it is constant;  but with all of the distractions available to us, it may be more common to place our religious side of life in compartments that will arise in our encounters with certain and uncertain vicissitudes of life. (For example, one humorous “churchy” bromide often says, “ the church is useful solely for ‘hatching’, ‘matching’, and ‘dispatching’,” referring, of course, to baptisms, weddings, and funerals.)  Also, it is very common to say to someone in need, “You are in my thoughts and prayers,” with the latter effort seemingly a reference to a source of help on a particular difficult occasion, looking beyond one’s own power or ability.

    Thus, each of us, regardless of our social setting, will make commitments–to family, to social or communal systems, to other individuals or groups, and to concepts and principles that we will refer to as we run into the diverse encounters and experiences of our lives. This usually first happens when we reach what is often referred to as the “age of accountability”, a time (or times) when we realize that we cannot depend upon someone else, parents or other authority figures, to make these decisions and commitments for us. 

   So it is with how we look at the Christian message; or any other form of beliefs or non-beliefs; we do have the choices that come our way , and with the priorities and actions we choose, we define just how we fit within a system of beliefs, faith, or understanding.

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