The word evangelical seems to have fallen out of favor, and perhaps for reasons that are understandable. Where the word once had a distinct Christian meaning, in recent years it has come to be conflated with politics as much as religion, with civil issues as much as spiritual. Many wonder whether the term is worth salvaging or if we should simply move on. Many wonder whether Christians should still consider themselves evangelical or whether it would better serve Christ’s cause to find a new self-description.

Michael Reeves has wondered this as well and has written Gospel People: A Call for Evangelical Integrity to address the issue. “This is a book about being people of the gospel,” he says. “In other words, this is a book about what it means to be evangelical. I believe that there is a biblical case to be made for the importance and the goodness of being evangelical.” This is not to say that he will defend everything that calls itself evangelical since “across the world, swathes have come to self-identify as evangelical without holding to classic evangelical beliefs. And then there is the problem of how being ‘evangelical’ has become associated with particular cultures, with politics, or with race.”
He believes that modern-day evangelicalism is facing a crisis of integrity in which many of those who consider themselves evangelicals “are being defined—and even defining themselves—by agendas other than the gospel.” The only solution is to go back to the foundations upon which evangelicalism was founded, “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” To be people of the gospel, we must begin with the gospel. Evangelicals, after all, are people of the gospel or, as the title of the book says, gospel people. “Evangelicalism, then, must be defined theologically. To be evangelical means to act, not out of cultural or political leanings, but out of theological, biblical convictions.”
So what are these theological, biblical convictions? Reeves traces how the Apostle Paul defines the gospel and says that any teaching that will be consistent with his must be “Trinitarian, Scripture-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-renewed.” He condenses this down to three r’s: revelation, redemption, and regeneration. Thus at the heart of true evangelicalism are three essential heads of doctrine:

The Father’s revelation in the Bible
The Son’s redemption in the gospel
The Spirit’s regeneration of our hearts

These headings serve as a kind of “table of contents” for the book, with each of them receiving a chapter-length treatment. Having examined each closely, Reeves writes about the importance the Bible places on being gospel people. When we understand this, we’re equipped to know that “with the gospel as our anchor, evangelicals are able to see that not every issue is a gospel issue, and not every error (or departure from our view or practice) is a soul-killing heresy. Some doctrines are more essential and foundational than others.” This means that evangelicals ought to define themselves by the most central, gospel-related issues, not the peripheral ones as is too often the case.
The final chapter is a call for gospel integrity—for those who call themselves evangelical to be evangelical indeed. To display such integrity we will need to examine ourselves and be willing to critique ourselves. Yet we can and must do this. “It runs against the very grain of the gospel we cherish for us to indulge in self-justification. Instead, the evangelical way is not to condone or to flee but to repent and to reform. For evangelicalism, being a gospel movement, is and always has been a renewal movement: we seek to renew ourselves and the church around the gospel (and never vice versa). It is a reformation movement, about adhering ever closer to the gospel in thought, word, and deed. On that reformation hangs the future of evangelicalism.” Only when we have great clarity on the gospel will we unite around the gospel and eagerly promote and defend it.
In the end, Reeves determines that evangelical is too good a word to lose and too significant a term to abandon. Thus it falls to us to embrace it and then ensure we are living worthy of it. “The word evangelical has centuries of pedigree for a good reason. It may have lost some of its value in some places, but that can be regained through reinvestment. And where else can we people of the gospel go? There really is no acceptable and viable alternative with anything like the historical weight or the descriptive simplicity.”

I tend to agree with Reeves that evangelical is a term worth embracing rather than abandoning for, as he says, there is simply no great alternative. There is no other word that has the historical pedigree and the depth of meaning. Hence, it falls to us to continue to use it and, even more importantly, to continue to ensure we are living as people of the gospel. There is lots to commend in Gospel People and it’s a joy to recommend it to you.

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May the God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Another Week in a Difficult and Hostile World)
Grief Is Not the Enemy
“Like love or joy or hope, grief is not less than an emotion, but it is also much more. And certainly, love and joy are tightly connected with grief. We cannot truly grieve something or someone unless we love them first and take joy in them. It would be natural to think of grief as the opposite of joy, or the absence of love, but that’s not quite right.”
How to Think Wisely About Becoming a Social Media Celebrity
“Most of us are still trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. There’s got to be that perfect job out there somewhere, where I can make a ton of money, impact the world for good, be respected and adored, be myself, and do what I love.” For a growing number of younger people, that’s being a social media influencer.
How Will I Find My Ministry Calling?
Whatever vocation you’re pursuing, here’s some counsel from John Piper on finding it—though it’s especially related to ministry.
Join Tim Challies At The SING! Conference
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EXCLUSIVE: Visit singconference.com and use code ‘CHALLIES35’ to save 35% before General Registration closes June 17. (Sponsored Link)
The Churches of Antarctica
I enjoyed this little roundup of the churches of Antarctica. It’s a continent so thinly-populated that it’s possible to show photos of almost all of them.
We Rest to Work
Guy Richards continues his series on rest: “Rest in a post-Fall world should be directed to the end of enabling us to fulfill our mandate to work. This sets boundaries on how much we rest and what that rest looks like. It tells us that we should, generally speaking, rest only as much as we need to in order to work.”
With Us Now and til the End
“Do you believe Jesus is with you? Or is he standing off in the heavens, waiting to join the glorified you at the end of the age?” Do you believe he’s with you when you suffer? When you sin?
Flashback: Whatever Is False, Whatever Is Immoral, Whatever Is Prejudiced…
We must deliberately discipline ourselves to consider only what honors God, only what is pleasing to him, only what results in his sweet peace.

You are not to rest partly on Christ, -partly on doing all you can, -partly on keeping your Church, -partly on receiving the sacrament. In the matter of your justification Christ is to be all. —J.C. Ryle

Grace and peace to you on this fine day.

Today’s Kindle deals include a nice selection from Crossway.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Bible Never Offers a Drink from Shallow Waters)
Analogies for the Trinity Considered, Including Bad Ones
This is an interesting observation: “The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, which are the two most important confessions of faith that teach the doctrine of the Trinity, never even use the word ‘three.’ They say nothing about ‘how God is three in one.’ Rather, they teach that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You can count to three if you want, but it’s hardly essential, and in fact you’ll understand the doctrine better if you forget about counting.”
The Kigali Commitment — the statement from GAFCON 4
This was an encouraging report from GAFCON (despite this sad intro). “In a couple of weeks, King Charles III will swear in his Coronation Oath to maintain and defend ‘the true profession of the gospel… the Protestant Reformed religion’. Sadly, the current leadership of the Church of England has chosen not to maintain and defend this faith but to subvert and replace it with something else more amenable to modern culture.”
Lessons About God from Job
This is a helpful summary of the big message at the heart of the book of Job.
4 Benefits of Developing Position Papers in a Ministry Context
“Going through the process of developing position papers increased our clarity, confidence, compassion, and consistency.” Our elders have found the same as we’ve worked through the issues and written out position papers.
My Son’s Short Life Was Not a Waste
“Tugi Mbugua Musyimi was a part of our family for nine months. God began knitting him together in his mother’s womb at some point in July 2022. From the moment we first learned of his existence, we were excited as God answered our prayer to grow our family.” John Musyimi testifies to God’s purposes even through sorrow.
Why God Made You for Membership
“In an age that suspects and even despises authority, church membership is a loud, arresting statement of our devotion to Christ.”
Flashback: Deconstruction, Exvangelicals, and Jumping Overboard from an Ocean Liner
We hear a lot about “deconstruction” these days and a lot about “exvangelicals.” And though the terms may be new, the reality is as old as the church itself—some will profess faith for a time and then fall away.

The great enemy of peace is the consciousness of sin. He who would give us peace must deal with that first. —F.B. Meyer