Why Are Evangelicals So Angry?

With religious-based violence devouring our planet, why would such a broad consortium of evangelical leaders use the langue of war to rally believers to have impact in the world? A four-page advertisement in the current issue of Christianity Today heralds a 'Wake Up Call" and a "Call to Arms" as a "Battle Cry" for Christians in America. You can see the ad here. Brad and Wayne discuss what this says about the evangelical view of the gospel, our place in the world, and why is this approach so effective in stirring a certain kind of believer to action.

5 Comments

  1. Oy vey! I remember a time when I wouldn’t have thought twice about a bunch of religious leaders calling themselves generals!

    But on the flip side — the thought of only 4% of Americans invovled in Churchianity, bring it on!

  2. Your comments on the anger in Evangelicalism was definitely thought provoking. Maybe the anger is toward all the devastation evidenced on God’s children both in and out of the “forms of Church”. I wonder if the reference to battle, army and war isn’t so much that there isn’t an enemy and that there isn’t a battle, but who is the enemy and who is our general?

  3. I had not heard of “Battle Cry” until listening to your podcast. When I went to their website, it took me back to the early ’80s and the Moral Majority days. (Come help us stamp out sin in our lifetime!) I was surprised to find that our enemy is now the culture, the media, etc. I always thought we fought against principalities, powers, etc.

    I think in your pod-cast you made the comment that our days are more dangerous than they were for Ozzie and Harriet (not sure I got that part correct). In some ways, maybe these days are, but think about it another way. If we all lived in Mayberry, and the big challenge in life was who would sing the solo in the choir production, then where would our need for a Saviour be? We would all live in a moralistic society, with decent jobs, homes, etc. and a healthy dose of religion to make it all “seem” right. I’m not sure which is more dangerous to the Kingdom, our current culture which raises a lot of questions about what is really true, or Mayberry which pacifies the longing for God with a cheap substitute.

    I think these Battle Cry folks are like a dog chasing a car. If they ever actually turned our culture into a Christianized culture, what would they do with it?

    Now that I’m done bashing them, I now want to at least applaud their desire to see young people come to Christ. I know these guys truly have a heart for winning young people to Jesus, and sparing them the tragedies that this life affords. For this, I will be grateful.

  4. Good discussion on the podcast. Why are these people so angry? Because they have such little faith. They’ve taken their eyes off Jesus, and are just seeing the wind and the waves. They are sinking. Let’s pray they will cry out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:22-36)

Comments are closed.