Posted: 06/20/05

2008: Hillary's in the White House, Babies are Dead and Evangelicals are in Hell

So, you are an evangelical?  Are you sure?  Are you sure you want to be?

Twenty years ago, evangelicals had a born again experience, held the Bible in high esteem and attempted to evangelize.  By 1995, a Gallup poll revealed only 19% claimed to meet all three criteria. 

Today the broad tent of evangelicalism embraces everyone from John MacArthur to Brian MacLaren.  The evangelical tent is growing wider every day with disastrous results in three arenas.

Politics

President Bush won the '04 election with 78% of the white evangelical vote.  Democrats realized they had to get a piece of that demographic or they would only see the White House when the president summoned them.  What is the strategy to capture more evangelical votes?  Redefinition.

After the election, John Kerry proclaimed he is reading the Bible again and he's eager to take up the debate about voter values.  "I am sick and tired of them saying they somehow have a better understanding of Christianity, of the Judeo Christian ethic, of values ... Show me where in the New Testament Jesus ever talked about the value of having taxes and taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich in this country."

Tony Campolo, who believes that "evangelical Christianity has been hijacked," recently said, "Evangelicals need to take a good look at what their issues are. Are they really being faithful to Jesus? Are they being faithful to the Bible?"

What once defined an evangelical is being re-written before our very eyes.  With its roots deeply planted in liberation theology, the new evangelical has the following priorities:

>social programs for the poor

>health care for everyone

>no war

>love at all costs

>protect the environment

>do not judge other's morals

Consider this:

> God's Politics is Jim Wallis' effort to help liberal Christians redefine what voter values are.  "How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and only pro-American?" It has been on the NY Times best seller list for months. 

>Hillary Clinton recently proclaimed to Holy Flame Pentecostal Church in Little Rock, "As you know, I consider myself an evangelical Christian, really a Christian conservative."  Really? a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage conservative evangelical?  Did you know there was such a thing?  There is now.

>Howard Dean, Jimmy Carter and John Kerry have all fired the salvo, "We must make OUR values the nation's Christian values."  Yikes.

Perhaps you are thinking, "No, that can't be.  The foundation of evangelicalism is Christ and Him crucified.  Salvation is the source of our compassion."  Not for long.  The new evangelical is being redefined and love without salvation is the foundation.

While the bumper sticker that reads, "Jesus was a Liberal" are not many, they will be multiplying once the media jumps on board. 

USA Today just reported that 33% of conservatives are prepared to vote for Hillary, the pro-choice, pro-gay marriage evangelical.  If we do not define and defend evangelicalism as being "born again", then say hello to Hillary in '08 as she siphons off un-saved and undiscerning evangelicals.    

Morality

When love for loves sake replaces Christ and Him crucified as the foundation of the faith, evangelicals are going to come up with a different set of moral priorities.  While "life" may be on their list, it won't be number one, nor will it mean life at conception.

The new evangelical will love the person in a wheelchair more than the life in a petri-dish.  The new evangelical will consider saving the invalid's savings account for the grandchildren instead of saving the grandma.  The new evangelical will not condemn the practicing homosexual as that would not be loving.  Love when not rightly grounded will result in a love gone astray.

Eternity

Finally, evangelicalism stands at the door of work righteousness and knocks.  If the new evangelical cornerstone is love and not Christ and Him crucified, we are just a stone's throw from attempting to inherit the Kingdom by our own efforts.

The new-evangelical believes in the gospel of love, not of repentance and trust.  While love is certainly a Biblical attribute, loving one's neighbors will not save on the day of judgment.  Many will cry out, "Lord, we did many wonderful things in your name." 

Losing an election to Hillary is painful to ponder.  The thought of losing souls to the new evangelical gospel is unbearable. 

www.ttwministries.com        todd@kkms.com

By Todd Friel Email: todd@wayofthemasterradio.com Click here for bio and archived articles