This being an election where – until recently – a former Baptist preacher was running for office (see more here), there was a lot of discussion about what Evangelicals were and how they might influence the election. 

Writing for Christianity Today, Prison Fellowship’s Chuck Colson, offered a definition of “evangelicalism”: 

“What is it that makes us evangelical? Our commitments to orthodox biblical Christianity, spreading the gospel, and promoting righteousness in all spheres of life. To be an evangelical is to defend life at every stage, help the poor, and strive for justice. (We could use more volunteers in the prisons, by the way.)”

Why does this matter?  Colson goes on to describe why Evangelicals need to influence society:

“As we continue to be salt and light in our culture, evangelicals of all stripes need to band together. What we have in common is more important than the things that divide us. Republican or Democrat, we’re all committed to preserving moral order, biblical orthodoxy, and defending the marginalized. These are biblical priorities around which we can and should unite.”

 The church that matters is the one that holds fast to what it believes, that offers to the community a measure of service that matters, and is consistent in our message.  We band together with like-minded churches for the purposes of creating civic impact, when we can do so without compromising what we believe in.

In a former church, our congregation of 100 banded with other congregations, large and small, to oppose the town recreation department’s decision to hold league sports on Sunday morning.  It was already creeping into early Sunday afternoon, but we stood up and drew our line, and they backed down.  Common action by a few with passion, banded together across denominational lines, for the good of the Kingdom. 

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