A further thought: I wonder if these types of trends<\/a> are accelerating due to what I speak of in this post?<\/em><\/p>\n Indulge me.\u00a0 I want to suggest there have been two events in recent times, which are portentous for what we call evangelicalism.\u00a0 When a rock is dropped in a pond, waves are set in motion.\u00a0 We see or feel them in time, based on distance.\u00a0 These two events, among others, are rocks dropped in a pond.\u00a0 Their waves are coming, they\u2019re just not here yet.<\/p>\n These two events, I believe, amount to a death sentence of sorts\u2014one handed down, but not yet executed.\u00a0 My sense is these waves, which picture the ideas and consequences set in motion by those events, portend the death of modern, American, evangelicalism.<\/p>\n Yes, I know the supposed death of evangelicalism or fundamentalism have been foretold many times over the years and we should smile if those of that tradition were to echo Twain, that the reports of their deaths have been greatly exaggerated.\u00a0 And I should be clear, rarely does any significant historical movement entirely die out.\u00a0 Obviously, I\u2019m speaking metaphorically and mean by \u201cdeath,\u201d simply cultural irrelevance and loss of influence.\u00a0 Additionally, I readily admit I could be wrong.<\/p>\n I also know that movements and traditions are capable of change.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible that enough leaders and thinkers in that tradition will also see what\u2019s coming, what\u2019s on the horizon, and move people to change\u2014to see and think differently\u2014to act differently.\u00a0 So, there are many wild cards in play here.\u00a0 I give no great weight to any prophetic gifting I may presume here, other than to say\u2014it\u2019s also possible I may be onto something.<\/p>\n With those caveats, I will stride forth.\u00a0 Modern American evangelicalism (and their cousin, fundamentalism) could be considered, in my opinion, dead men walking\u2013but I speak mostly here to evangelicalism.\u00a0 Alive, yes, but the clock is ticking.\u00a0 Some evangelicals may read this and respond, \u201cBut the gates of hell will never prevail over the church, and the gospel will never pass or be defeated!\u201d\u00a0 Rah, rah.<\/p>\n Yes, I agree.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not what I\u2019m suggesting.\u00a0 The truth is that traditions, denominations, movements, and schools of thought, theologies, do in fact die, or fade into history<\/a>.\u00a0 The vagaries of history and events in general can coincide in such a way that leads ultimately to their demise.\u00a0 If anyone doubts this, simply read some history books chronicling either Christian history or religion in general.<\/p>\n Again, I\u2019m not speaking of the Church Universal, but of historical traditions, splinters, streams, arising in temporal time.\u00a0 Only pride would ever lead a religious group or tradition, produced by an enormously complex matrix of historical events, to believe (as if similar events could not arise in the future) they were somehow a permanent feature of temporal time\u2013blessed above all others.<\/p>\n Of the two events I speak of, one is well known and one more hidden, one political and the other, theological.\u00a0 The public, political, and better-known event or stone dropped in the water, was the \u201celection\u201d of Trump.<\/p>\n Of this first event, not much needs to be written that hasn\u2019t already.\u00a0 This was such a grievous, unwise, small, petty, ignorant, and immature act of hypocrisy on the part of evangelicals, it still staggers the imagination and the slightest rational mind.\u00a0 After all, what tradition or movement could possibly teach for decades the importance of personal morality, integrity, honesty, and character in political leaders and then turn on a dime and vote for the exact opposite\u2014all to say yes<\/em> to the devil\u2019s temptation of political power?\u00a0 This was the first shout of, \u201cdead man walking.\u201d<\/p>\n The second, more hidden, and theological event was the publication of two books.\u00a0 One book<\/a> was popular (infamously?) and written for a general audience, while the other<\/a> is probably less known to the general public and written more for the serious reader or academic audience.\u00a0 However, both make the same claim, to wit: Love wins, and all shall be saved.\u00a0 Both books, in their own way, come to the same conclusion.\u00a0 As to the end of all things, the cosmos, everything and every person\u2014all will be redeemed, even as if by fire.\u00a0 This was the second call of, \u201cdead man walking.\u201d<\/p>\n The first event revealed the ethical, social, political and intellectual poverty of evangelicalism.\u00a0 The warning<\/a> given many years ago now, in general, was either not heeded or misunderstood.\u00a0 The continued Babylonian captivity to consumerism, nationalism, blind obedience to one party, the practical, entertainment and numbers over spiritual formation and deep theological reflection has led to a number of problems.\u00a0 Foremost, we now see, a people willing to vote for (or tacitly agree with by remaining silent) an ethically challenged, ignorant clown.<\/p>\n The second event, undercuts the very raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/em> of the evangelical tradition.\u00a0 What does the verbal proclamation of the gospel, witnessing, sharing\u2014the telling of others about Jesus and salvation mean now, once we remove the specter of hell as an infinite consequence for the failing to \u201caccept\u201d Christ in this temporal, finite earthly life?\u00a0 When the edifice is built upon the idea the neighborhood is on fire, but the inhabitants are unaware\u2014thus one\u2019s job, one\u2019s whole existence, is to warn them the house is on fire so they might be \u201csaved,\u201d and we find that edifice cracked, well\u2026what then?<\/p>\n Having said that, the proclamation of the gospel, evangelism, and making disciples will go on (lest evangelicals\u2019 shudder at my words).\u00a0 We are clearly tasked with such.\u00a0 However, once these books have been digested (along with many others), we will see these tasks in a completely different light\u2013or we should.\u00a0 Evangelism will become (what it has always been), a lived announcement of the news already announced here:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.\u00a0 He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d (Luke 4:18-19)<\/p>\n The good news isn\u2019t turn or burn<\/em>.\u00a0 That\u2019s the message of a sociopath.\u00a0 The good news, as just noted by Christ in Luke\u2019s gospel, is truly good as it announces a new paradigm, a new Kingdom, a way of life that subverts whatever structures and powers were in place (including our own hearts), that led to the creation of the categories of persons he identifies, in the first place.<\/p>\n It is primarily something lived<\/em> and not just, \u201cshared.\u201d\u00a0 One cannot bring such a message without doing something about these very categories making up the audience, the recipients of this good news (otherwise, we are hypocrites).\u00a0 This is something evangelicals have always reversed, putting mouth before foot, with a view toward a supposed future hell, rather than any present ones.<\/p>\n The good news isn\u2019t about saving people from a future hell of eternal torture, but about the announcement hell has been harrowed and all the gates and locks have been destroyed by the death and resurrection of Christ.\u00a0 The \u201chow\u201d or strategy of this announcement is in the loving and serving of others, especially our enemies\u2014thus, the Kingdom comes<\/em>.\u00a0 What will evangelicals do when they realize the so-called \u201csocial gospel,\u201d is really\u2026just\u2026the gospel<\/em>?<\/p>\n Now, again, I may be wrong about all this.\u00a0 I probably sound like that bothered, troubled mind, Nietzsche<\/a>, and his madman:<\/p>\n \u201cI have come too early,\u201d he said then; \u201cmy time has not come yet. The tremendous event is still on its way, still travelling \u2013 it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds require time even after they are done, before they can be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the distant stars \u2013 and yet they have done it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n