Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Andy Gill

Home
Progressive Christian
7 Reasons Why I Choose to Continue Identifying as an Evangelical

7 Reasons Why I Choose to Continue Identifying as an Evangelical

Last updated on: December 29, 2017 at 5:14 pm by Andy Gill

7 Reasons Why I Choose to Continue Identifying as an Evangelical 2017-12-29T17:14:36-05:00 Andy Gill

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

EVANGELICAL LABEL ANDY GILL 1

Labels matter. Just think of your favorite brand names… what do they mean to you? How do these brands affect how you see others who wear them?

We tend to associate certain types of people with certain types of brands.

Supreme. Luis Vuitton. Nike. Starbucks. All the way to cars such as Ford, Tesla, or Honda…

The images we associate with these brand names hold weight and enough power to them that they could make or break even the most reputable companies on this list.

Most of us are aware that how we look and/or how others perceive us impacts what jobs we have, what circles we run in, and how we’re treated on a day to day basis…

For better or worse, labels, they matter…

Dunder Mifflin Assistant to the Manager Andy Gill

With all of this being said I completely understand why it’s now so odd for me to continue embracing the label “evangelical.”

Plus, there’s very little about who I am that would fall into what’s so many of us would define as an “evangelical Christian.”

A vast majority of us “progressives” when thinking of an evangelical Christian have images of Kirk Cameron or Franklin Graham pop into our heads; or, we’re reminded of their viral declaration of this supposed “war on Christmas”; then, there’s Ken Ham and the creationists; those who believe the Bible to be inerrant, literal, and/or the infallible word of God’s downloaded straight out of heaven.

The label evangelical is now many times associated with descriptors such as hypocrisy, conservativism, bigoted, xenophobic, or anti-gay.

It’s gotten so bad that evangelicals don’t even identify as evangelical anymore.

The Very Brief Etymology of this Word “Evangelical”…

What I mean when I talk about “evangelicalism” is not any form of doctrine or ideological set of beliefs; what I mean when I talk about “evangelicalism” is pointing more so towards a form of a contextualized cultural relevancy utilized by the Church.

So, with the etymology of this word being kept in mind here’re several reasons why I’m comfortable being called Evangelical:

Previous Post

December 25, 2017

The Evangelical Spin on the Biblical Nativity Story: Here's Why the Evangelical Jesus is ALL Wrong

Next Post

January 3, 2018 Calling Out Worship Music Snobbery...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Books Buzzfeed Christian Church Church Culture Dating Dechurched eXvangelical Guest Post Humor Inspirational Justice LGBTQ Life Marriage Media Millennials Mini Post Monday Money Podcast Politics Race Reason Relationships Science Sex Socioeconomic Theology Theology Uncategorized Video Wednesday Youth Ministry

Select a Month June 2020 March 2020 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many clean animal pairs were in Noah's Ark?

Select your answer to see how you score.

6 7 5 3

Support this
Column