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| Outdoor venue at the Wild Goose Festival 2015. |
This year I had the
opportunity to attend two Evangelical events. In the summer I was at
the Wild Goose Festival,
described by some as a kind of “Evangelical Woodstock.” And then
in the fall I accompanied my 93-year-old mother to Panama for the
centennial
anniversary of the mission organization that she and my dad
served in for almost 40 years. As a “recovering
fundamentalist/evangelical” I found it intriguing to listen in –
now as an outsider - on the issues that evangelicals are struggling
with in the 21st
Century. Related to various themes, what I heard were folks
anguishing over
how to be a part of the modern world within the context of still
maintaining their evangelical identity.
From
my own Evangelical years, I remember attending Moody Bible Institute
in the early 70s and being instructed in no uncertain terms that
listening to rock music, having a beer or glass of wine, attending
movies, and even going to see the Broadway musical Godspell all
constituted sinning. In fact, if I were caught doing any of those
things I would have been severely reprimanded and probably expelled
from the school. So it came as a bit of a surprise to me when some
years later, after I had already departed the
Evangelical/Fundamentalist camp, I discovered that Evangelical
churches were promoting drums and electric guitars and rock &
roll-rythmed praise songs (even dancing) in worship. Today MBI Radio
stations across the country offer Christian rock music as well as
movie reviews, including recommending movies to their audience - even
PG13 and R-rated movies (unheard of back in the 70s)!
Similarly,
during my student years at Moody, Karl Barth was condemned as a
Christianity-undermining “neo-orthodox” theologian. We learned
that he along with the older “liberal theologians,” including the
social gospel movement were anti-God and anti-Christ, not Christian
at all. And Catholic – and especially liberation theology - were
anathema. In more recent years however, Barth at least, seems to have
gained significant favor among Evangelicals, identified as one of
their own. And, as my observations in this piece reveal, perhaps a
move toward a social gospel and at least a tentative openness to the
liberation tradition as well.
These
experiences and others along the way have led me to the conclusion
that there is something superficial, lacking in truly rooted
integrity within Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism. What at one time is
affirmed with utmost certainty as the truth is later somehow found
not to be so. What is for a moment deemed absolute turns out to be
relative to the times (even though they will ardently disavow any
kind of relativism). What was wrong yesterday is today deemed to be
alright; or conversely what was seen as Truth (“with a big 'T'”)
yesterday may be up for question now.
What
I witnessed in the Evangelical settings I visited this year was
people anguishing over how to re-shape once again their Evangelical
stance in order to massage into place acceptable connections with
formerly unacceptable ideas, ideas that seem impossible to reject now
in the world of the twenty-first Century. This, while still
maintaining the guise of biblical literalism and salvation so central
to the Evangelical/Fundamentalist core.
One
of the leading themes that was voiced repeatedly at Wild Goose was
the deep pain related to identifying as gay or lesbian within the
Evangelical community. There were expressions of anger, even rage –
understandably – over experiences of being called sinful, being
shunned, or even being told they and their friends are going to hell
for being gay. Similar disbelief and exasperation were expressed
over perspectives suggesting that the solution to gayness is healing
or conversion, that “God will bring you back to your true identity
as straight.” The other part of this conversation were those
wrestling with how to fully claim gay identity within an authentic
Evangelical faith and theology. Given what I have observed in the
past, what I anticipate is that within a few years (or decades)
Evangelicals will find a way to affirm that being gay or lesbian is
fully compatible with authentic Evangelical faith.
At
the conference in Panama there were two messages that caught my
attention. One came from a Colombian pastor, Alex Chiang, who spoke
candidly and at times forcefully to the audience of mostly North
American and not always fully receptive white missionaries. He challenged the missionaries to
recognize that the “pure Gospel” they claim to bring to Latin
America is in fact laden with European and North American cultural,
historical, and political baggage. “You have proclaimed a gospel
that is superficial, lacking depth and lacking roots” he challenged,
“a gospel that has done damage to the people and to the church in
Latin America.”
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| My Mom (bottom left) in group picture at the Centennial Celebration in Panama. |
“Latin
America is Catholic!” Chiang asserted somewhat defiantly. Citing
the example of Jesuit missionary, Luis Espinal, who was martyred in
Bolivia for taking a stand with the poor, and quoting Brazilian
liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, he argued that the Catholic
church has changed significantly. “So, in coming to our countries as
missionaries you must be clear,” he challenged. “Do you view the
Catholic Church as an enemy (as did the missionaries of an earlier
era), or do you recognize them as partners in proclaiming the true
gospel?”
On
the political level he argued that the so-called “leftist”
governments so demonized within the official political rhetoric and
policies of the United States are in fact loved and valued by the
people, especially the poor, in Latin America. “So, don't come to
our countries carrying the political baggage of your government.
Rather, come with open hearts and minds to listen. If you are going
to be missionaries in our countries, leave your preconceived ideas
behind and be open and learn about our
cultural, religious, and political reality!” He closed his
presentation showing the video by rap artist Calle 13: “Soy
America Latina” (“I am Latin America”).
The
other challenge at the Panama conference came from well known (in
Evangelical circles) speaker and author Bob
Moffitt. His central message - also not always well received - called for a radical change in the
foundational premises of Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christianity.
One of his key affirmations was that “To hold that proclamation
(evangelism) and conversion are primary is an error.” Contrasting
with the central focus of Evangelicalism, he proposed that “Jesus
made followers,
not converts; he pointed to the Kingdom (of God) not to salvation!” “In Jesus
practice, discipleship
is the first step. Within this relationship, conversion may (or may
not) happen. And it may come first, but often it will not come at
all.”
Instead
of claiming the superiority of their own unique position with God and
emphasizing the priority of conversion, Moffit challenged the
Evangelical audience to “demonstrate the love of God.” “This,”
he affirmed, “is the most essential part of following Jesus.” He
continued: “We (Evangelicals) tend to get caught up in numbers, but
what is important is not the quantity
of believers or churches but the quality.”
Offering
a Kingdom-centered theology, Moffitt proposed that “the purpose of
the church is not salvation, not church planting, but equipping God's
people by serving, by making disciples. When we do this, God enters
into our society and transforms. What we need today is a
demonstration of God's love. It is this demonstration of a new kind
of humanity,” he concluded “that will bring people to Christ. A
follower of Jesus is someone who serves, someone who looks like
Jesus.”*
Hearing Chiang and
Moffitt, I reflected on the fact that what they are proposing - now
within Evangelical/Fundamentalist circles - are in fact understandings that
have been held for decades by most within the mainline and Catholic
communities. For me, this was encouraging to hear, and it confirms a
suspicion I have held for a long time – that despite its staunch
claim to staying true to an "unchanging New Testament gospel", Evangelicalism is also
an evolving faith perspective. The only difference is that it tends
to lag some decades behind other part of the Christian church.
As for the question of the
place and acceptance of gays within the Christian community, broader
segments of the church are at various places along the spectrum of
views regarding human sexual and gender
identity. What I witnessed at Wild Goose is, again, simply a
confirmation that sooner - although probably later - Evangelicals
will come around on this issue too. In the meantime however, some are
choosing to leave the Evangelical churches and others to leave
Christianity altogether.