What does it mean to call myself ‘evangelical’?
by Thomas Renz, Psephizo:
Thomas Renz writes: Labels can be powerful – and problematic. When we use a label to define ourselves, we generate expectations in others which we may or may not be willing to fulfil. In the USA the term “evangelical” has become so highly politicized that some who used to think of themselves as evangelicals have dropped the label as a self-designation. For them the name has become toxic, referring to a culture from which they want to distance themselves. But while some who affirm evangelical faith feel alienated from the evangelical subculture around them to such an extent that they wonder whether they should still use the label (e.g., Craig Keener), others who have left their evangelical subculture and strongly disagree with some positions widely attributed to evangelicals are nevertheless keen to retain the label “evangelical” for themselves (e.g., Jayne Ozanne).
Many of us have a strong desire to allow people to choose their own labels but there is perhaps also a growing recognition that as a means of communication the meaning of words cannot be privatised. For example, some “feminists” (another contested label) observe that allowing biological males to claim the label “woman” for themselves changes the definition of what it means to be a woman for everyone. Labels are powerful and therefore contested.
Labels cannot be owned, Humpty Dumpty notwithstanding.
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