The Dreaded "E" Word?

I recently had an email conversation about a particularly divisive issue among Christians with someone whom I respect quite a lot.  As we expressed our viewpoints, I asked a great deal of questions, which is part of my nature as a highly inquisitive human being.  Some of my hypothetical questions were pretty philosophical in nature, and as I am a very direct person, it was felt by the other participant that I was somehow transformed into Torquemada of the Spanish Inquisition.  (In all fairness, I was awfully blunt, but the only way I've ever learned is through questioning, so it is the main tool in my arsenal of learning and understanding.)


Anyway, I digress.  At a certain point during the email volleys, I was dubbed an "Evangelical" Christian.  At the time, I didn't really dwell on it too much.  But, as time has passed, and as I've thought about how that word is spat out of people's mouths as an epithet, I began to wonder:  When did "evangelical" become a swear word?


I started digging around a bit to discover the roots of the word "evangelism".  I'll spare you all the boring details, but the Koine Greek word "evangelion" is derived from "ev" (good) and "angelion" (I bring a message). Put those together and you have something akin to "a bringer of good news".


Obviously, Christians who read that "good news" in the context of Christianity refers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So, put the etymology together with the context, and evangelism is the telling of the good news of Jesus Christ.  


Okay, now that the word study is over, you can re-engage your brain (for those of you who slept through the last two paragraphs).  The greatest single New Testament reference to evangelism (and there are many) is Matthew 28:18-20, and they are the words of Jesus Himself.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (ESV)

Here, we see Jesus commanding His followers to go out and spread the message of His death, burial and resurrection, and the subsequent gift of salvation to all mankind ("all nations").  It would appear that "evangelism" would be very descriptive of this command.


So, let's put the pieces together, shall we?  Jesus commanded His followers to spread the good news, or evangelize.  Believers in Jesus Christ should take the commands that are issued from Jesus's mouth pretty seriously, I would say.  So, in essence, anyone who proclaims that they are a Christian would necessarily have to be an "evangelical Christian" (or at least should be).


So, I guess my question is this?  What is a "non-evangelical" Christian?  It seems the two terms are incompatible, doesn't it?


As I write this, I'm thinking that perhaps the word has become perverted because people don't really know what it means.  In fact, I'm relatively certain that most who spit it at others like some sort of venom are actually meaning to call that person a "fundamentalist".


A fundamentalist Christian, I am not.


An evangelical Christian?  I wear that badge proudly.

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Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

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