Dear Fellow Evangelists:

I was raised an evangelical, but as I have mused before, I have grown despondent in my affection for that label. I fear modern evangelicalism has become a tool of an us/them division which is not only destructive to earthly cooperation and community, but dismissive of God’s Word and full revelation in Jesus Christ.

As it is now interpreted, the core value of an evangelical has deteriorated into unchangeable engagement. Evangelicals are those who interact from a position that ‘we cannot—will not—be moved in any way by the thoughts or insights of others; our news is good and their news is evil.’ Such evangelism begins with ears fully plugged, so fellowship and reconciliation become a one-sided move. For there to be success, or cooperation, or enlightenment, the other side must move toward us; any move toward them is perceived as a reconciliation with evil.

Which is, of course, at odds with Isaiah’ s insistence that all our righteous acts are but filthy rags (Isaiah 64.6) and Paul’s reminder to the Romans that there is no one who is righteous, not even one (Romans 3.10). I was raised to understand how evangelism is not the work of the saved rescuing the damned, but the work of God reaching to all who confess their own righteousness as eternally insufficient; we are saved by God’s righteous love alone.

Which brings me to President Trump’s statement last week at the National Prayer Breakfast: “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.” These words were, no doubt, intended as a slam against Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted in favor of the President’s conviction on the first article of impeachment. Prior to his vote, Romney gave a passionate speech in which he explained his vote as rooted deeply in his commitment to do what is right before God.

Were the President’s quote taken in isolation, I couldn’t agree more. I, too, have problems with people who use their faith as a justification for wrongdoing, but I’m a little less amenable to hearing this rebuke from someone who is decidedly irreligious and who has surrounded himself with 'evangelical' advisors who believe their ‘glorious’ ends justify any means.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know by now that the President was acquitted on both articles of impeachment, an outcome formed by vote count, not spiritual awakening. I am completely convinced, in this imperfect and unrighteous world, that men and women of true faith voted for conviction as well as acquittal; I do not have the right nor the capacity to judge the hearts of my neighbors, let alone Senators or Representatives.

But I am deeply troubled by any ‘evangelist’ who does not begin every earthly encounter with the simple prayer, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18.13).

Struggling to disentangle earthly politics from eternal salvation, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor