"Liberal Evangelicalism"

I read this morning at The Christian Post, that liberal evangelicals are about to begin a campaign to move the church beyond debates about abortion and homosexuality. The following quote, however, belies the truth of this organization ~ it is fraudulently misnamed, and has no right to the name "evangelical." This new group, called Red Letter Christians...

"announced plans to establish a grass-roots network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members."

Two things stand out here. The first is the group's official name ~ Red Letter Christians. One must assume it refers to the Words in Red found in so many editions of the Bible, words which come from the mouth of Jesus Christ. This is a tired and predictable practice among liberal Christians. They are always putting the New Testament at odds with itself ~ setting Christ against Paul, and creating a "canon within a canon." For example, at a recent ordination exam, a student who was questioned about homosexuality said, "I stand with Jesus, who said nothing about the subject." Apart from the answer being egregiously wrong (Jesus uses the word porneia), it illustrates the hostility liberals have toward the whole counsel of God.

A second item of interest is that the true taxonomy of the organization is revealed in the use of the words "moderate" and "progressive." These are not hallmarks of evangelicalism, but is rather the smokey nomenclature of evangelicalism's enemies. For an evangelical is not moderate nor progressive. An evangelical is devoted to the "old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16), to "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), and to trembling before God's Word (Isaiah 66:2).

"Liberal evangelicalism" is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. To be an evangelical is to reject the philosophies of the secular world, and to rely solely upon the Bible, the "evangel" or good news found in God's infallible Word. The church must move the world, to echo G.K. Chesterton, not vice versa. When I begin to hear liberals speak of saving souls and rescuing the damned from the fires of hell, I will then cautiously embrace them as brethren. Until then, they remain, in my mind, a fifth column, traitors to the cause of Christ.