Evangelical: Yes, And...
Kindred Church, in many ways, is not special. We find ourselves doing - and being - many of the very same things Christian churches have been doing since the church began or over the course of history. For example, we gather on Sundays as a large group. We also take communion (the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist), every Sunday. We sing songs, listen to sermons, and share regular meals together. None of this is unique, and – in this way – we want to stay connected to the cultural tenets of the Christian faith.
There are, however, some things that make Kindred Church ‘distinctive’ – that is to say, ‘unique’ to the place we find ourselves. Do we corner the market on the ways we envision the church’s identity and purpose? Certainly not. We are not the only people throughout history – or even in our immediate area – who have thought the things we think, feel the things we feel, and believe the things we do. We’re simply saying Kindred may be ‘different’ when considered alongside other churches in our context, in 21st century Reno-Sparks.
Another important defining point: when we say a Kindred value or principle is ‘distinctive’, we’re not saying it’s ‘better’ than that of another church. We’re saying it’s ‘different’, or – in some way – perhaps ‘outside the norm’ of what you’d find in other churches with similar backgrounds.
For our purposes here, churches with ‘similar backgrounds’ would refer to those who have come out of the Christian Protestant movement, exist primarily in the United States at this time in history, and that hold to some or all of the core principles of modern American evangelicalism.
Now, there’s another word that needs to be defined for the sake of this discussion: evangelicalism. We’re not talking about political behaviors or cultural trends here, but rather, the core beliefs that define this bloc of American Christians. The National Association of Evangelicals, together with LifeWay Research, use these four statements to codify what it means to consider yourself an ‘evangelical’:
“The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.”
“It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
“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.”
You may read those statements and already notice that they line up fairly closely with Kindred’s own statement of beliefs. In that way, we consider these churches and ours to share much of the same DNA (not too many distinctives to be seen here). To start digging into ways we may be different, let’s try this exercise. We’ll take a look at those four defining statements of evangelicalism, and add some Kindred-like color commentary:
“The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe… and I accept that, as an American Christian living in the 21st century, it’s important for me to consider my own cultural context and biases, as well as those of the original Biblical authors, to understand it more fully.”
“It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior… and to be an active participant, along with the church, in the ways Jesus is redeeming all of creation, by joining in the work he started during his earthly ministry: the rolling back of injustice and oppression; humble, self-sacrificial service; and loving and uplifting all who would draw near to God.”
“Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin… and it’s important to me to see those benefits and blessings applied equitably, to all who would come to Jesus for salvation, regardless of race, nationality, age, gender identity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, economic class, past mistakes, present problems or future failures.”
“Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation… and we push back against the ways we, as Christians, tend to confuse salvation with conformity to modern church culture or tradition.”