Evangelizing Evangelicals

By John Fanella

When the Apostle Paul entered the city of Athens (Acts 17), he found a city full of devout spirituality and outward religion. He found intelligent, creative people, stunning temples, stately monuments, and magnificent edifices symbolizing Athenian gods and faith. He discovered sects and religious leaders, libraries and universities, power and prestige. Most notably, he found people—lots of them—all clamoring to hear about “the latest things” (Acts 17:21).

What Paul didn’t find in the abundance of outward spirituality was truth. Athenians worshipped many gods instead of the one God of the Bible. The gods they did worship were more man-like than God-like. Their lifestyle was marked by immorality. They exalted the goodness of man on one hand and disregarded human life on the other. And they possessed an endless preoccupation with pleasure, success, and self. Paul found religion in Athens but it was false religion. 

Paul’s experience in Athens vividly reminds us that it is possible for groups of people and even entire cities or nations to have the outward appearance of spirituality but lack the truth. Such groups, movements, cities, and nations, are targets for evangelism, regardless of how glorious the outward façade may appear. Thankfully, Paul was not deceived by the spiritual glow of Athens.He realized that the Athenians needed to be told the truth about the God of the Bible. They needed to be evangelized. 

In many ways contemporary evangelicalism is a New Athens. It has an abundance of spiritual fervor, activity, and structure but is starved of distinctly Christian truth and practice. Much like the Athens that Paul encountered, Evangelicalism is “in every way very religious” (Acts 17:22). It is a movement, arguably, more religious than any other Christian movement today. Researcher George Barna has documented the record-high levels of religious activity among Evangelicals. “Its adherents are more likely to discuss spiritual matters with other people, volunteer at a church or non-profit organization, discuss political matters with other people, discuss moral issues and conditions with others, stop watching a television program because of its values or viewpoints, and go out of their way to encourage or compliment someone.”[1] 

However, Evangelicalism is also a movement that is abandoning many if not most distinctively Christian doctrines and practices. Since the eighteenth century, Evangelicalism has progressively adopted the secular humanism of the enlightenment. It has become a movement less grounded in the supremacy of God than it is in the centrality of man. More and more, Evangelicalism has become a vehicle to deliver the enlightenment message of human potential, human goodness, self-help, and moral revolution.

Rather, the message of Evangelicalism has become a message of finding your purpose, developing your potential as a human being, having your needs met and hurts healed, and becoming the victorious winner God made you to be. The Evangelical message has become, by and large, a message of self-improvement rather than self-denial. Instead of abandoning human merit and potential as “loss” the way the Apostle Paul did (Phil. 3:8), and the way he instructed the Athenians to do in Acts 17, Evangelicalism has made self-improvement and self-actualization its central promise. 

This shift is evidenced by the unparalleled success of Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life and other best-sellers within Evangelicalism such as The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson, Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen, The Search for Significance by Robert McGee, the plethora of diet and self-image/self-esteem books by Cloud, Townsend, and Arterburn, and countless other self-help books that consistently top the Evangelical bestseller lists.

To see the extent of the shift, we can compare today’s Evangelical bestsellers with some of the bestsellers of another era of Evangelicalism—the era of the English and American Puritans. Among the bestsellers then, you would have found books like Christ the Life of Believers by Thomas Brooks, The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock, The Evil of Evils by Jeremiah Burroughs (about the depravity of man), Gospel Fear by Jeremiah Burroughs (about fearing the Word of God), The True Christian’s Love to the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent, Communion With God by John Owen, The Saint’s Everlasting Rest by Richard Baxter, and World to Come by Isaac Watts.[2] 

Each of these books, and most all books and sermons by the Puritans, were fixated on the glory and character of God, the excellency of Christ, the believer’s communion with God, and the hope of heaven. Here we see the unmistakable shift in emphasis within the Evangelical movement. The Puritan adoration of God, Christ, and heaven has been replaced by a fixation with man, happiness, and this present life. In this sense, Evangelicalism has become deeply secular--as secular as mainstream culture only covered by an Athenian veneer. 

Like Paul did in Athens, we need to see through the blinding glow of Evangelicalism and recognize the theological and practical anemia of the movement and seek to confront it. No longer can we ignore Evangelicalism as a target for evangelism. It’s time for the church and mission organizations to begin evangelizing Evangelicals.

Who Are The Evangelicals?

The first task in targeting a group for mission work is identifying exactly who they are. This is not an easy task when it comes to identifying evangelicals because evangelicalism is a movement rather than an organization or denomination. Evangelicals are found in nearly all denominations in some degree. In some denominations they are the majority, in others they are the minority. But it is important to note that there is likely an Evangelical group in whatever denomination or church you are in.

George Barna and his research organization have categorized an “evangelical” based upon their answers to nine questions about faith matters. They say their faith is very important in their life today; they believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; they believe that Satan exists; they believe that the eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; they believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and they describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

Barna’s method for identifying evangelicals is sound because it recognizes the fluid nature of Evangelicalism, and the fact the Evangelicalism is a movement united by certain doctrinal convictions more so than by ecclesiastical or ethnic bonds. 

Evangelicalism: The New Athens

Contemporary Evangelicalism is much like the Athens of Paul’s day. Evangelicalism has an abundance of outward structure. They also have intelligent and creative adherents who keep up with the latest ideas. George Barna reports that 31% of Evangelicals are college graduates, compared to the national average of 21%.[3] They have stunning temples in their mega churches, parahurch ministries, publishing houses, and retreat centers. They have hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, and graduate schools. They have denominations, organizations, and highly regarded leaders. They abound with authors, philosophers, and communicators. They have power, including in the political arena so vividly seen in the Evangelical vote during George W. Bush’s second term election. They have incredible wealth. And they have people—lots of them. Barna reports that there are somewhere between 14 and 16 million Evangelical adults in America.[4] Evangelicalism is certainly aglow, just like Athens was in Paul’s day.

Christian Secularism: The Evangelical Paradox

But what is becoming painfully apparent is that Evangelicals are no longer shaped by the truth of the Bible. Evangelicalism is fast becoming infected by the deep, self-centered and secular view of life shared by the general culture and even with the New Age movement. Wade Clark Roof, a sociologist at the University of California-Santa Barbara has concluded in his research that the self-centered, self-deifying impulse of the age is now a part of the Evangelical as well as New Age spirituality. He says that among “born again Christians,” “God is thought of in very human terms: God is, as it were, created in one’s own image.”[5]

Research has certainly confirmed Roof’s conclusion. For example, nearly nine out of ten Evangelical students (roughly paralleling the number of public university students) agree that “self improvement is important to me and I work hard at it.” When asked how many agreed with the statement, “For the Christian, realizing your full potential as a human being is just as important as putting others before you,” 62 percent of the Evangelical college students agreed, while only 44 percent of the public university students took this new psychological approach to self fulfillment.[6] In a Barna poll, more than half of the Evangelicals surveyed agreed with the statement, “The purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment.”[7] By and large, Evangelicals are now known more for their belief in self, pleasure, and personal fulfillment than they are for their belief in God, sin, and salvation.

When it comes to the doctrinal beliefs of Evangelicals, no longer can we conclude that they are a universally biblical group. In fact, in his book What Americans Believe, George Barna reveals, “Evangelical Christians are almost equally divided between those who strongly agree and strongly disagree with the statement, “There is no such thing as absolute truth.”[8] 

When it comes to their view of man, Evangelicals no longer believe in “total depravity.” 77 percent of born again Evangelicals (the overwhelming majority) believe that man is basically good. Four out of five believe that when it comes to salvation, “God helps those who help themselves.” One third of all Evangelicals agree, “All good people will go to heaven, whether they have embraced Jesus Christ or not. Research has shown that Evangelicals are actually more likely than non-Christians to agree with the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” self-help philosophy of secular humanism.[9] 

Scholars Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, and George Marsden observe, “Since the nineteenth century, many Americans, including many Evangelical Christian Americans, have tended to believe in the goodness of humanity, in the importance of believing on oneself, in self-help, and the ability of free people to solves their own problems.”[10] Other scholars and researches such as James D. Hunter, Phillip Lee, and David Wells have all voiced similar concerns over the decline of biblical beliefs and the ascension of secular humanism within Evangelicalism. 

A Form of Godliness but Denying its Power

Because of these alarming trends, I conclude that Evangelicalism is a New Athens. Of course, the comparison is not perfect. Evangelicals do have a basic knowledge of Christ, whereas the Athenians were completely ignorant of him. Evangelicals understand something of the God of the Bible, whereas the Athenians had no knowledge of him until Paul arrived. And Evangelicals are commendably higher than non-Evangelical on their commitment to things like sharing their faith, having conservative morals, and viewing the Bible as God’s Word. 

However, the beliefs and practices that make Christians distinctly Christian have been largely jettisoned by Evangelicalism. Tragically lacking in contemporary Evangelicalism is the God-centered theology of the Bible, the belief in man’s helplessness before God, a repudiation of secularism, a distinctively Christian way of life, and a commitment to historic Christian virtues. This is kind of thing that Paul warned young Timothy about when he said,

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

Evangelicalism has a form of godliness, but is denying the power of godliness through its repudiation of core Christian beliefs and practices. We know from Jesus’ experience with the Scribes and Pharisees that it is possible that people or entire movements can have elaborate outward forms of godliness without ever acknowledging or experiencing the dunamis, or the explosive power, of the Holy Spirit within their heart and soul.

Jonathan Edwards On Outward Religion

Outwards religion was the topic of 18^th Century theologian and philosopher Jonathans Edwards’ book, The Religious Affections. Samuel Logan, Chancellor of Westminster Seminary, has said, “The Religious Affections is the most important book ever written on American soil.” I would certainly agree. Never has there been such a piercing and exhaustive distinguishing between outward faith and true, inward faith as Edwards’ Affections.

The Religious Affections were basically an exposition of 1 Peter 1:8, which reads, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Edwards’s objective in the book is to establish the fact that true faith is not measured by outward forms of religion, but by the internal joy, love, and delight of the heart toward the person of God.

Written as a response to the Great Awakening, Edwards was trying to teach the church of his day the basic principle that I too am trying to communicate—that outward spirituality isn’t enough. Edwards maintains that the essence of true faith not in outward displays, not in eccentric outbreaks, and not in learned behavior, but in a person’s heart response to the character, sovereignty, and glory of God. For Edwards, the extent of a person’s delight in God’s character determines the validity of his religious experience.

Edwards’ corrective to outward spirituality is a needed antidote in our day as much if not more than it was in his day. Evangelicalism needs to hear Edwards’ call to a God-centered faith. They need to question whether God in His sovereign majesty has been the true object of their faith, or whether their object has simply been a god created in their own image who meets their “felt” needs and serves their political and social causes. They must grasp the true essence of Christian experience—what Edwards called religious affections.  

So what does Jonathan Edwards classify as the essence of true Christianity? What are the Religious Affections? Following is a partial list that he includes in the third section of Religious Affections. Notice how different his list is from the tests of authenticity we hear in contemporary Evangelicalism.

Religious affections are spiritual, supernatural, and divine. The Christian experience cannot be duplicated anywhere else in all of creation. The joy, freedom, and delight of being in Christ are unique to the operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Do you recognize that your faith is absolutely unique to the time when the Spirit of God converted you? Was the change that he brought new to you, never before experienced before your conversion? If so, this is an evidence of true religious affections.

Religious affections are grounded in the transcendently excellent and amiable nature of divine things as they are in themselves; and not any conceived relation they bear to self or self-interest. When we think about God, is the thought of him excellent in our mind regardless of what he promises us? In other words, even if God promised us nothing, would we still be convinced of his moral beauty and excellency of character? If so, this is an evidence (a main evidence for Edwards) of religious affections.

Religious affections are attended with certainty. The Holy Spirit gives a conviction of Biblical truth that cannot be explained with words. When this conviction is present in people, it is a sign that the Spirit of God is at work.

Religious affections soften the heart. Religious affections bring tenderness, gentleness, and humility. When all of life is seen in relation to the excellency of God, love becomes the fountain of all expression. If you find love and tenderness dominating your emotions, it is a sign of true faith.[11] 

Genuine faith is rooted in our heartfelt delight in God’s character, not in the promise of self-fulfillment and personal development. True faith, or religious affections, is deeply God-centered, or better yet God-exalting. True Christian faith is ultimately an exalting in the glory of God not in the potential of man. Unfortunately, as research has shown, contemporary Evangelicalism has misplaced this central truth. Instead of rejoicing in the unseen God with “an inexpressible and glorious joy,” Evangelicalism has preferred the exultation of man and has made the needs of man its highest priority.

That is why Evangelicalism is now as much a target for evangelism as any non-Christian nation or people group. The mission is not to introduce Evangelicals to the idea of God or even of redemption through Christ. The mission is to introduce them to the fullness of God, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, and the distinctiveness of the Christian way of life. It is a mission to introduce them to the “power of godliness.” The mission is to confront the idolatry of Evangelicalism, introducing them to the one, true God of the Bible and the lifestyle His Son called us to lead. It is a mission to persuade Evangelicals of the sovereignty of God and his absolute worth, holiness, and supremacy. 

The Mission to Evangelicalism

I once went snorkeling with a missionary group in the Caribbean off the coast of the Dominican Republic. We found a local who was willing to take us out to sea on his boat, which was fully equipped with snorkeling gear. He didn’t want much money for the expedition, so we secured his services. He took us out and we had a great day looking at the undersea world and splashing around in “paradise.”

We went back to the mission house that evening to rest up for a full day of ministry the following day. Suddenly one of our young team members became violently ill. Then another. Then another. Then everyone. Then me. We were introduced to the awful virus known as dysentery—a stomach virus whose goal is to transfer your insides to your outside.

When we returned to the United States, my wife Cheryl and I had adverse illnesses for nearly a year. Cheryl came down with a severe case of bronchitis, and a physical indicated that I had been exposed to tuberculosis. As it turns out, our day in paradise was, in reality, a day swimming in poison. It was cheap, but oh was it costly.

Evangelicalism is like an infected beach in paradise. It has the appearance of a cool, inviting oasis. But the high percentage of false beliefs and practices, akin to our invisible dysentery, makes it an unsafe place in which to splash around—even for just a day. Everything about modern Evangelicalism says, “Dive in. Join us. The water is great.” But swimmers soon discover that the presence of toxic beliefs and immoral lifestyles are working together to cause undesirable spiritual harm and illness to all swimmers.

The mission to Evangelicalism could be compared to treating water infected by dysentery or bacteria of any kind. It needs a shock treatment and chemical balancing before it can become a safe swimming pool again. It needs the Word of God to bring purity. It needs genuine Christian virtue to overpower the harmful disease of sin, scandal, and sedition. And most of all it needs God Himself. Not just the appearance of God—but the genuine presence of God to permeate its very essence.

What was ironic about our experience in paradise is the memory I have of dozens of people lounging on the beach that day. They were tanned, sporting bright, fashionable swimwear. They were listening to festive, island music. They were drinking beautiful drinks with colorful umbrellas capping them. There were kids running on the beach, and pets chasing frisbees. That scene had the image of life at its finest—which I am sure these people thought they were experiencing. But the truth is that they were all sitting on the perimeter of a cesspool of disease and poison.

Even worse, if anybody knew that the beach was infected, they didn’t warn us. Maybe they suspected that this beach was dirty, but they were too caught up in the beach scene to care about us or to tip us off before we so unsuspectingly dove in. Maybe they concluded that the drinks and the music and the bodies were more important that the poison water into which people were diving. All it would have taken that day to save our team from agony was one person to say, “Hey that water is dirty. Don’t go in there.”

How many people have sat idly by and watched myriads of people dive into the waters of modern Evangelicalism without warning them that the water is dirty. Whether you’re in the water already or on the shore thinking about jumping in, I want to be that voice that says to you, “Be careful. The water is dirty.” But I also want to invite you to swim in clean water—the water of Biblical Christianity. The water of the "older evangelicalism."

_______________________________

[1] George Barna, Barna Report: Evangelical Christians (Ventura, CA: www.barna.org).

[2] Most of these Puritan books are being re-published by Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, a division of Ligonier Ministries. I greatly appreciate the re-printing of these Puritan gems, but lament that we do not have many contemporary writers writing such works today.

[3] The Barna Group, Evangelical Christians, www.barnagroup.com.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Wade Clark Roof, A Generation of Seekers (New York/San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1993), 75.

[6] James D. Hunter, Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, 1987), 53.

[7] George Barna, What Americans Believe (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1991), 92.

[8] Ibid., 83-84.

[9] Ibid., 80.

[10] Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, George Marsden, The Search for Christian America (Westchester, Ill.:Crossway, 1983), 127.

[11] Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections (Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth, 1994), 124-347.

John Fanella is the Pastor of Beulah Congregational Church in central North Dakota. He is the author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Made Easier to Read.