New Survey of International Evangelical Leaders Shows Conviction and Concern
by Rob Schwarzwalder
June 24, 2011
A new survey produced by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life provides insight into the perspectives of 2,200 Evangelical Christian leaders around the world. Although the headlines the survey is receiving have to do with the rather gloomy cultural outlook of North American and European Evangelicals (in contrast to those in the Global South, who say Evangelical influence is growing), buried within it are two findings that should make those who are hoping for a wedding of theological and cultural erosion within Evangelicalism distinctly uncomfortable.
First, the survey finds that 96 percent of those surveyed believe “abortion is usually or always wrong.” While I wish it were 100 percent, nonetheless it is clear that international Evangelical leaders of all kinds believe abortion is the taking of a life of a person, a tiny image-bearer of God. Of course, this is consistent with the facts of science and reason, but it shows, too, that Evangelical leaders remain committed to the biblical teaching that God wove us in our mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139).
Second, the survey notes that 84 percent of Evangelical leaders believe that “society should discourage homosexuality.” Again, 100 percent would be better, but the fact remains that despite decades of aggressive homosexual activism, the large majority of Evangelical leaders understand that homosexuality is a moral wrong and is socially destructive.
Of further note is that a startling 71 percent – and remember, these are Evangelical leaders from nations as diverse as South Africa and Canada – believe “the influence of secularism” is a profound threat to Evangelical Christian faith, followed by 67 percent who cite “consumerism.” Militant Islam, government restrictions on religion and other perceived threats rank further down.
This is surprising because secularism is not a religious or political movement (such as Islamicism) nor generally recognized as the source of anti-Christian persecution. Rather, secularism is the (active or passive) rejection of theism as a force in personal, cultural and civic life. Under the secularist rubric, things are not wrong but “inappropriate.” Christian faith is diluted to the point it becomes only a vague belief in a self-reflective, undemanding, and distant deity. Consensus trumps truth, popular will crests over principle, the lowest forms of culture become accepted or at least are viewed as ethically optional.
As with society at large, believers in Jesus Christ have been adversely affected by secularism. Instead of radical allegiance to their King, they too often are susceptible to the cult of narcistic secularism. Radical autonomy and a blurred understanding of the God of the Bible lead to divorce, various forms of interpersonal or substance abuse, sexual sin, or a bland apathy toward the things of the Savior: Why study the Gospels when you can shop? And isn’t Christianity just a code of ethics with some religious language thrown-in?
When Christian faith is reduced to the “moralistic therapeutic deism” described by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton in their valuable book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (2005), the Jesus of the Bible becomes the innocuous and thus uncompelling figure the secular Left would render Him.
He is more than that, though, much more - ”He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17). Which is why, regardless of the threats imposed upon His work on earth by various religious, social and political movements , He wins in the end. The challenge for those who love Him is to remain faithful, no matter what. And He is always with them to give the strength needed to that end.
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Comments
This shows that Christians aren’t united unanimously on a controversial issue that the bible is clear on. This indicates that some of these leaders are trying to please everyone. They’re trying to please both society and God. I didn’t know one could serve 2 masters.
I’m so concerned about this ‘Moralist Therapeutic Deism’ I’ve heard about. Does it have something to do with PanDeism? I’ve heard a lot of people talking about this PanDeism lately, and it seems to be a very complex argument that’s hard to work around. I have tried to speak of Christianity with some of these PanDeists, but they keep coming back at me with talk of doctrines of “Supercession” and “Inconsistent Revelation” and “String Theory” and other stuff that I had not heard of before. What do I do?
By: Chuck Anziulewicz | June 24, 2011 at 4:00 pm
I’m reminded of a commentator on a Southern Baptist website who wrote, “I can’t reconcile how someone could feel he or she was born with strong homosexual feelings, love Christ and yet take on the limitations of what seem to me to be straightforward biblical teachings. That’s agonizing, and I don’t really understand it.”
And this is the weird thing: “Straighforward biblical teachings” should at least be understandable to the average person. So often I hear it said, “OUR ways are not GOD’s ways,” as if God was some sort of inscrutable alien being.
Consider The Golden Rule: We do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Put all the religious dogma and ritual aside, and this is what our laws boil down to. We don’t lie or bear false witness because we won’t want people to lie to us. We don’t steal from other people because we do not want people stealing from us. We don’t betray the trust of our spouses because we wouldn’t want them doing the same to us. Same goes for killing and a variety of other “bad” behaviors.
And yet somehow there seems to be this sheepish adherence to a double standard for Gay and Straight people. If you’re Straight, it’s all so wonderful to be able to find a compatible person of the opposite sex, court and get engaged and marry and live happily ever after. But if you’re Gay, all of that is completely out of the question. Don’t even bother trying to find a compatible person. Lesbians and Gay men are precluded from any hope for romance or commitment. Gay people are simply told: “Gosh, sorry about that. You make us uncomfortable; acknowledging your existence means we might have to revise what we’ve been teaching all these years – meaning, Whoops! No infallible Magisterium or “literal” Bible … so you’ll just have to sacrifice your life and any hope of finding somebody to love. Tough luck, kid. God said it, I don’t necessarily understand it, but there it is.”
I wish more social conservatives and evangelical Christians would at least TRY to wrap their minds around why this makes so little sense to Gay people, and why constant exposure to this sort of disdain is exactly WHY so many Gay young people end up taking their own lives.