{"id":652746,"date":"2014-06-04T06:07:54","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T06:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?p=652746"},"modified":"2014-06-04T06:07:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T06:07:54","slug":"defining-evangelicalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/","title":{"rendered":"[Re] Defining Evangelicalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

[Re] Defining Evangelicalism:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I, am an evangelical.<\/p>\n

There, I said it.<\/p>\n

Though, when I call myself evangelical, I do not <\/b><\/span>mean it in the sense that I am this anti-science, homophobic, \u201cGod-fearing,\u201d authoritarianistic conservative.\u00a0I think we all know that this is\u00a0<\/b>not<\/b><\/span> Christianity, nor is it representative of the Jesus who is the central figure of Christianity.<\/b> When something is said to be\u00a0\u201cgood news for all,\u201d but the only people who preach it<\/b> and believe in it<\/b> are the only one\u2019s who benefit from it<\/b>, it\u2019s safe to assume, it\u2019s bullshit.<\/p>\n

In the past they called this \u201cEurocentric colonization,\u201d but recently we\u2019ve just labeled it \u201cAmericanized Evangelicalism\u201d.\u00a0I\u2019m sure this will be changed sooner or later, and just renamed, and repackaged differently when others start catching on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to lie, I am disgusted by the Churches history. Acknowledging this past and history of my own personal heritage, it absolutely breaks my heart. At the risk of sounding judgmental, I must say Christopher Columbus, et al\u2026 do\u00a0not<\/b><\/span>\u00a0represent the core of Christianity, that being Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Then the question comes down to, \u201cWhy or How then can you\u00a0still\u00a0<\/i><\/b>yet remain \u2018Christian,\u2019 let alone evangelical?\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing, I\u2019ve spent the last 10 years of my life, off and on, considering this problem of religion, evangelicalism, and Christianity at large.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to the conclusion the problem is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/i>evangelicalism,\u00a0the problem is authoritarianism.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAny time the perseverance of an organization or idea subverts the well being of humans you have authoritarianism.\u201d \u2013 Mike McHargue<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We must differentiate as Christians between authoritarianism and evangelicalism<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The most dangerous part of Christianity is when we claim to\u00a0\u201cknow\u201d<\/em>\u00a0what other people\u00a0need.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>It goes from a \u201clearned set of belief\u201d to buying into my set of beliefs should just be \u201ccommon sense\u201d. We\u2019re convinced that what we know is the absolute truth, that if you don\u2019t believe this or that you\u2019re going to be eternally damned, but\u00a0<\/em>if you do believe this or that you\u2019re going to receive eternal salvation. [side note: if you step back and think about that \u201clogic\u201d for a second, it doesn\u2019t seem so logical anymore. Christianity, a religion that offers salvation based off of, not our actions, but Christ\u2019s actions is now saying in order to receive the benefits from Christ\u2019s action you must first think, or rather, \u201cbelieve\u201d this or that\u2026 convoluted, eh? Back on track\u2026]<\/p>\n

Authoritarianism, it turns a loving God into a spiteful monster.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the difference of informing<\/em><\/strong> people of your personal set of beliefs and forcing<\/em><\/strong> your set of beliefs on people.<\/p>\n

\"Peter-Enns-Andy-Gill\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems that most of us, even myself at times, have taken on\u00a0a means of presenting a manipulative ideology that is demanding all people to adhere to this \u201cevangelical epistemological doctrine\u201d or set of beliefs. To be fair \u2013 we as evangelicals are not the only one\u2019s at fault for this, it just so happens that Christian America has\u00a0had most of the \u201cpower\u201d [or rather authority] in the last century.<\/p>\n

I have no problem with Christianity, but I do have a problem with murdering mass amounts of people just because they don\u2019t embrace Christianity (i.e. Constantine, the Crusades, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, et al).\u00a0To not be disgusted by the things in which \u201cChristians\u201d have taken part of would be to willfully ignore grand scale historic <\/i><\/span>injustice.\u00a0Ignoring recorded, credibly documented history is almost as insane as\u00a0creating some \u201calternate reality\u201d in which natural law, empirical scientific evidence, and reasonable logic don\u2019t exist\u2026 #creationism<\/a><\/span>\u00a0[but I\u2019ve already written that post \u2013 so I\u2019ll try and stay on topic]<\/a><\/p>\n

This turning of a blind eye has become normative for our<\/strong> evangelical culture.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest \u2013 because in the past I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve been honest \u2013 Jesus had power. Jesus had authority. But Jesus was not<\/em><\/strong><\/span> authoritarian. The people who disobeyed, disagreed, and refused to adhere to a law in which God Himself<\/em> had set in place, Christ loved them\u00a0regardless of their disobedience or life in which showed they were in direction rejection of his\u00a0fathers<\/em> teaching.<\/p>\n

He did not take over the government and use his power to sway policy, law, or push his moral prerogative. He had the power, and the authority to do so but instead, He came, He\u00a0loved<\/span><\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0and He gave is life. His authority, the very reason His name today is still\u00a0power<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is because He chose to love instead of force. Is this not a model of Church and \u201cevangelicalism\u201d that we must embody 2,000 years later? Is this not a witness to the clich\u00e9 that in the end\u00a0love<\/strong> wins<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Power and authority in the here and now is temporary, but love and kindness, this is for the here, now, and later\u2026 it\u2019s eternal.<\/p>\n

[Photo Cred \u2013 Relevant Magazine<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Re] Defining Evangelicalism: I, am an evangelical. There, I said it. Though, when I call myself evangelical, I do not mean it in the sense that I am this anti-science, homophobic, \u201cGod-fearing,\u201d authoritarianistic conservative.\u00a0I think we all know that this is\u00a0not Christianity, nor is it representative of the Jesus who is the central figure of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2493,"featured_media":652751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,16,21],"tags":[25,256,257,258],"class_list":["post-652746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian","category-church","category-culture","category-millennials","tag-andy-gill","tag-defining-evangelicalism","tag-evangelical","tag-evangelicalism"],"yoast_head":"\n[Re] Defining Evangelicalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defining Evangelicalism - Though, when I call myself evangelical, I do not mean it in the sense that I am this anti-science, homophobic, \u201cGod-fearing\u201d...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[Re] Defining Evangelicalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defining Evangelicalism - Though, when I call myself evangelical, I do not mean it in the sense that I am this anti-science, homophobic, \u201cGod-fearing\u201d...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-04T06:07:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/\",\"name\":\"[Re] Defining Evangelicalism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-04T06:07:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-04T06:07:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\"},\"description\":\"Defining Evangelicalism - Though, when I call myself evangelical, I do not mean it in the sense that I am this anti-science, homophobic, \u201cGod-fearing\u201d...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/defining-evangelicalism\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"[Re] Defining Evangelicalism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Gill\"},\"description\":\"Andy Gill has studied theology for two years in Princeton and graduating from Eastern University stepped into pastoral ministry in southern California. 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