Kurt Fredrickson, at Fuller:

I am an evangelical. It defines the way I think (my orthodoxy), how I act (my orthopraxy), and how I relate to God, to others and my world (my orthopathy). This is a joyful and hopeful way of being a Christian. An evangelical loves God greatly, and seeks to serve others and bless the world. An evangelical is eager to engage in a community of faith that worships and encourages discipleship, and engages in mission around the world and in a neighborhood. This is that faith that is part of my heritage. This is the brand of Christianity that I have chosen. I am proud to be an evangelical.

But a crime has been committed. I am an evangelical, and I have been robbed.

American culture is eager to talk about religion, and this becomes very apparent as national politics heat up. In this cycle, I am hearing the term “evangelical” bantered around more frequently. Unfortunately this term is used to describe a wide range of people:

• Those eager to decide who is in and who is out
• Those who see God as stingy
• Those who hold tightly to a strict set of doctrines and question anyone outside of their fenceposts
• Those who are certain who goes to heaven, and who goes to hell
• Those who ascribe to well defined and narrow moral and social values
• Those who see evangelical as a synonym for Republican

I am proud to be an evangelical both theologically and genealogically, but the term has been hijacked….

An easier way to say this is that an evangelical is someone who is transformed by the person and work of Jesus Christ, finds the Bible to be authoritative for life and doctrine and pracitce, and actively worksto make the world better. This is a humble, vibrant, and generous faith that comes alive in communities of faith full of people who believe this good news and live it out in thoughtful and heartfelt ways.