Saturday, May 10, 2008

An Evangelical Manifesto

I just finished reading An Evangelical Manifesto (and you can too, at anevangelicalmanifesto.com). This is yet another treatise presented by a group of Christ-followers that calls other Christ-followers to follow better.

We have had many other declarations and treatises like this, most notably the following: Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), the Cambridge Declaration (which I was privileged to have a hand in), and The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration just to name three.

Each has had an impact at some level, and this latest one will as well. I would greatly encourage you to read this one, and do so carefully, for it calls us in a different way than did the others. It calls us to more than a doctrinal definition of what it means to be an evangelical Christ-follower, as did the others.

This one speaks to our lives, and the increasingly large gap between who we say we are, and who we really are. Read it, and get involved with the discussion that certainly will follow. For you facebookers, check out the discussion group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13163778933.

I think this Evangelical Manifesto is really good, but not because I believe it is a fully-orbed theological presentation of evangelical belief. It isn't and some will take great pains to point that out and try to undermine its credibility. Rather, it is a simple and humbling call to live up to our label as those defined by the Evangel. I signed it, and hope it speaks loudly to more and more who are ready to hear.

Hope this helps,

David