Out of Egypt:

Being Evangelical - The Centrality of the Word, pt. I: What is Wrong with the American Church?

Right now, American Christianity, even professedly evangelical Christianity, is in a pretty sorry state. Fragmented, ineffectual, and frequently shrill, the Church has a bad reputation in the world - and not, largely, for its courageous witness to "Christ and Him crucified," (1 Cor. 2:2) but for its pursuit of political activism.

The Gospel, of course, has political implications, since Christ stakes His claim upon all of life, but most contemporary Christian political activists seem content to advocate merely a veneer of Christian ethics in our culture. Their activism seems more motivated by a concern for the Church's comfort than by a prophetic desire to confront the idolatries inherent in American life.

Evangelicals are right to be concerned about the cultural decay which surrounds them, and to desire to influence American culture for Christ; there can be no retreat into pietism or fundamentalism. However, unless we as a Church are "transformed by the renewing of [our] minds," (Romans 12:2) we cannot hope to transform the world around us. The Reformers - the first evangelicals - sought the reconstruction of all of society, but the Spirit only blessed their work insofar as it came from a deep understanding of the will of God as expressed in Scripture.