“Gospel Integrity”
“Gospel People” — Week 6 Reflection
Are We There Yet?
“Are we there yet?” This is the question your kids ask when they are anxious to arrive at their destination.
Well, I am happy to say, “We’ve arrived!” We are at the end of this helpful little book on what it means to be a Gospel People—thank you for reading and following along. This last chapter is called Gospel Integrity. Which is what the purpose of this book is all about, A Call for Evangelical Integrity.
For some reason, as I thought about this book, and this chapter particularly, I couldn’t help but think about that famously hilarious line from The Princess Bride, where Inigo Montoya, in response to Vizzini—who kept using the word “inconceivable” incorrectly—remarks, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
This book is about helping readers understand what the word “evangelical” means. Sadly, people use this word and have no idea what it means. You might be an evangelical and not even know it. You may think you are an evangelical—even referring yourself to others as one—while the Inigo Montoya’s of the world look at you and think or say, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Or worse, you know what it means, even confessing that you believe in the defining principles of evangelicalism, but your actions reveal something else.
Consistent Evangelicalism
This chapter gets at the heart of that inconsistency, as the author opened with a question: “Is evangelical even evangelical anymore?” Good question! Reeves asks this because, according to a study—which he cites on pg. 105—it seems that people have forgotten what that word means. Or, they are grossly misaligned and lacking in gospel integrity. Now, if I am being charitable, I assume that the people who filled out this study simply didn’t really know what the word “evangelical” means—which I will come back to in a moment.
Nevertheless, there is a great tragedy of life, which is that none of us are as consistent with ourselves as we wish we were—or would like to think we are. Thus, part of the work of sanctification is bringing into alignment our beliefs and our behaviors. Part of that work is bringing to light those areas of inconsistency, where our beliefs and behaviors are less than whole.
But let’s assume the best and believe that the biggest issue in evangelicalism is a definition of terms—people just don’t know what it means to be evangelical. Thus, they live inconsistently with a set of beliefs they don’t really hold because they don’t know them.
Reeves has used a helpful little chart to bring clarity to the term (pg. 119). In short, he reveals three defining characteristics and beliefs of an evangelical:
Revelation from the Father
Regeneration through the Spirit
Redemption by the Son
In other words, if you believe those three things, you just might be an evangelical! I know! Exciting, right? However, notice that I emphasized the word might, because even those three statements need defined—which Reeves has done in the previous chapters, and highlights in this same chart. Things like the supremacy of scripture, justification by faith alone, and the new birth are implied in these three main categories. Now things are starting to get clearer on who and what is an evangelical—and who isn’t!
Defining Our Terms
I really like the way that Reeves has defined what it means to be a gospel people and a true evangelical, as it has been historically understood. These categories are new for me, and I have found them to be a helpful repurposing of the term in these modern times, when the word seems to have lost its meaning. Previously, I understood the term based on how George Marsden defined it back in 1984 [great year BTW], which Reeves summarizes on pg 127.
The authority of Scripture
The real, historical work of God in salvation as presented in Scripture
Salvation through personal trust in Christ alone
The importance of evangelism and social action
The importance of spiritual transformation in the Christian life
According to Marsden, if you believe all of those, and the evidence of them can be found in the way you live your life, then guess what—you probably are an evangelical! Congratulations!
I remember my history professor once joked in a lecture on evangelicalism, “If you ever get that feeling to share the gospel with the person you are sitting next to on a plane, you might just be an evangelical.” And that’s when I knew—I guess I am an evangelical!
Which brings us to the point of this chapter, and the point of the book, how can we have evangelical integrity? Well, it starts by defining our terms. What does it mean to be an evangelical? And once we have come to a consensus on that definition, we humbly look at our lives and diagnose if we are truly living in accord with those beliefs. And where we aren’t, we change our behavior, employing the help of other Christians (gospel people) as we do.
