Concerns - Part I

I was challenged by a conversation with my sister at the beginning of the summer, which led me to examine closely the Evangelical Manifesto and some issues around it. I wanted to blog about these issues, but it needed time and research. I have begun, and am continuing, to research and think about these things, but I am going to get started here by talking about my concerns. I expect to make other posts related to all this, so this is not my final thought or conclusion. And if anyone wants to agree, disagree, or discuss these things, go ahead.

I have concerns about the Evangelical Manifesto. I went to their website and read the summary and have downloaded the full document. From reading the summary there are some good things and some not so good, but I will wait until I have read the full document before I raise any questions on it. In the meantime, some of the things on the Manifesto's website were eye-opening. So I will begin there.

The “Intro” to the manifesto has some disturbing aspects:

“An Evangelical Manifesto is an open declaration of who Evangelicals are and what they stand for. It has been drafted and published by a representative group of Evangelical leaders who do not claim to speak for all Evangelicals, but who invite all other Evangelicals to stand with them and help clarify what Evangelical means in light of “confusions within and the consternation without” the movement. As the Manifesto states, the signers are not out to attack or exclude anyone, but to rally and to call for reform.”

Stop here for a minute. It sounds okay so far, but why do they say “not out to…exclude anyone”? If it is indeed a “declaration of…what they stand for” how can it not be exclusive? It says it is intended to be read by anyone, but not everyone is going to agree with them. Alright, that may be a technicality, but there’s one other problem here. This sounds a lot like those who push for tolerance, acceptance and inclusion in the church, at the expense of sound doctrine and absolute truth. Let’s go on.

“As an open declaration, An Evangelical Manifesto addresses not only Evangelicals and other Christians but other American citizens and people of all other faiths in America, including those who say they have no faith. It therefore stands as an example of how different faith communities may address each other in public life, without any compromise of their own faith but with a clear commitment to the common good of the societies in which we all live together.”

Again - tolerance and being inclusive of everyone. It is a fine line to have such an open, non-offensive (if that is the intent) discussion without compromising your faith or lowering your standards. Also, the overall premise here is somewhat disturbing, because it sounds a lot like the dangerous, post-modernist “emerging church” movement, which promotes “dialogue” and dismisses absolute truth. (I will probably talk more about the emerging church movement, but if you’re not familiar with what it is, you can find a lot of articles just by Googling “emerging church”.)

“For those who are Evangelicals, the deepest purpose of the Manifesto is a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ.”

This is good, though I’m wondering what they mean by “reposition Evangelicals in public life”.
That's enough for now. I don’t want this post to be too long. I guess this can serve as my “introduction” of this topic.