Lead:

Did you know that the word “Christian” was originally intended to be derogatory? In a new study just released by Barna, there’s another word that similarly carries a lot of baggage these days. Today we look at that, what it really means, and how to talk about it.

Intro:

Did you know that the word “Christian” was originally an epithet? A jibe? A curse word, of sorts? The earliest Jesus followers called themselves “people of The Way” as we see in Acts 9, and that’s a reference to an Old Testament phrase that escapes me at the moment. But along comes Publius Cornelius Tacitus — a Roman some have called the most important Roman historian ever — and somewhere around 115 AD he’s writing about how Nero blamed the big fire on these Christians who are followers of one they call Christ. And Tacitus isn’t writing from a friendly perspective — he’s talking about Nero persecuting them for their abominable crimes and superstitions which, as we know, may have been accusations that Christians were thought to be cannibals for eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus. It’s illiterate propaganda, but just in case you thought #fakenews was a new phenomenon, there you go.

In the same way, there’s a new study out that show’s there’s another Christian word is a serious hot-button word. You probably already know it, some new research just released that corroborates it, and today I’m going to equip you to be better prepared for your next conversation about it. And that word is… <Jeopardy theme> …what we’re going to talk about in today’s All Our Minds segment.

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Bible:

Passage: 1 Timothy 3-4
Translation: HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 32
Words: ~656

All Our Minds:

Today’s word with a pile of cultural baggage is…evangelical. Let me share with you an overview of the research from the Barna organization (link to it in today’s notes, show #954), define it, and the talk about talking about it.

Overview:

The majority are neutral, so it’s neither positive nor negative. It’s the extreme voices that are heard. Surprise!
The positives vs negatives tend to divide along political lines. In other research, evangelicals do tend to be more politically conservative.
The report authors suggest that if our goal is to build a bridge to Jesus, it could be a barrier.

Definition:

The word evangelism, as used in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) comes from the Koine Greek word meaning, “messenger of the Good News” meaning, of course, the good news of Jesus’s sinless life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection — the gift of life for all who believe and trust.

Broadly speaking, theologically there are four affirmations that define, then, what it means to be evangelical and share with you one (not the only) Bible verse that substantiates this kind of question on a research survey:

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.
Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (Ro 3:23-24, ESV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.d From now on you do know him and have seen him. (Jn 14:6-7, ESV)

It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt 28:19-20, ESV)

So far so good, right? What stands between this being your opinion and something of deep, objective truth?

The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.

See where we end up? We’ve talked a lot about this program about why the Bible is trustworthy, and the point is that it has to be or people are just making up stuff that they think Jesus said. A few words from a systematic theology book:

Jesus’ view of the Bible is of particular interest to evangelicals, since He is held to be God Incarnate, and, hence, whatever He affirms has divine authority. Thus whatever Jesus taught about the Bible is the last word on the topic.
Granting that God exists and that miracles are possible, even non-evangelicals are hard-pressed to avoid the conclusion that Jesus speaks with divine authority—at least if one accepts the authenticity of the Gospel accounts. If the Gospels present accurately what Jesus taught, and if what He taught was confirmed by miracles to have divine authority (cf. John 3:2; Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:3–4), then what Jesus taught about the origin and nature of Scripture is divinely authoritative.(1)

So there you go. If Jesus is God, He gets to determine what Truth is and how God reveals Himself to us. As it relates to what an evangelical is, then, it’s someone who believes in the person, and work, of Jesus, God incarnate, who’s either lying to us, an utter nutbag, or in fact, authoritative because He’s God.

The bottom line

In the past — link to that show — I’ve shared why I almost didn’t become a Christian for the same reason that some of the Pharisees didn’t in John 9: I loved the praise of men more than I loved the praise of God. Both Matthew and Mark record Jesus himself saying that Christians will be hated for the sake of bearing His name. That’s our first heart check. Maybe it’s our first prayer, “Lord, help me to see you more clearly and fall in love with You more deeply”

Next, you need to make a decision about how to refer to yourself. Labels can be handy. At some point it became easier for someone to refer to themselves as Lutheran rather than saying, “I generally agree with the teachings of Martin Luther.” The problem with any label — Christian, evangelical, orthodox, Presbyterian, anything — is that it’s only useful to the degree that someone else understands what you mean by it.

Hear me correctly, I’m not saying to quit calling ourselves Christians or Jesus-followers. In fact, Jesus Himself says, “But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Mt 10:33, NIV). But as it regards the word “evangelical” you know what it means, but there’s a good chance someone you’re talking to — even inside the church — doesn’t.

Finally, I’m a questions guy, so I’d be remiss to not remind you to turn it into a question. When the time is right, it might be useful to ask someone what they mean by the word they just said. And/or you could simply ask them questions or just state your convictions about the four essential statements and avoid the word “evangelical” altogether.

Wisdom:

Passage: Proverbs 16:10-20
Translation: HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 11
Words: ~176

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

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(1) Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume One: Introduction, Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2002), 266.

#954: 1 Timothy 3-4 | Are you? Are they? Should we? | Proverbs 16:10-20