American Evangelical Christianity: A Failed Movement?
by Roger E Olson, Patheos:
[…] When I was young, evangelicals expected sermons at least sometimes to be convicting. I have not heard more than one or two convicting sermons—challenging common beliefs, customs, practices, lifestyles—in years. When I was young, evangelicals expected to be taught how to evangelize, witness, live boldly for Christ, even be persecuted. When I was young, evangelicals expected each other to be different from secular society in terms of lifestyle. When I was young, evangelicals expected to be challenged when they abandoned their spouse or family for no good reason and bonded with someone else. When I was young, evangelicals expected Christ to return soon and so did not seek their security in savings and material possessions. When I was young, evangelicals expected missionaries to come to church, stay in members’ homes, call out the call to be a missionary. When I was young, evangelicals were routinely challenged to live self-sacrificing lives of service to God’s kingdom in the world. When I was young, evangelicals were routinely warned against falling into worldliness, following the fashions of secular culture. When I was young, to be very specific, evangelical families had almost daily “family devotions” together at home. I could go on identifying the common, core characteristics of what it was like to be evangelical in America in the 1940s through the 1970s and into the 1980s.
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