The Younger Evangelicals

I finished a book that I have had on my list of must reads for quite a while. I have grown very fond of Robert Webber and his voice within the Evangelical community. His writing has made me realize that some of the thoughts, frustrations, hopes, and concerns about Western Evangelicalism that I have had for the last decade are not the isolated, misguided thoughts of a cynic. In fact, Webber reminds his readers that the shifts in culture have also caused shifts in the way people of faith see themselves in the story of God. Although the themes of his book are covered in many of his writings he gently encourages the younger generations of Christians to not settle for the status quo in matters of faith and to reclaim the full historical expression of orthodox, catholic faith, the one Lord, one faith, one baptism that Paul talks about in Ephesians 4. The following excerpt gives you an idea of who the Younger Evangelicals actually are: The younger evangelicals who are neither traditional nor pragmatic evangelicals. They share common elements of the faith such as the authority of Scripture, the affirmation of the trinity, the deity of Jesus, the efficacy of Jesus' death and resurrection, and the affirmation of the church as the body of Christ. But they differ with both the traditionalists and the pragmatists on how Christianity is presented and practiced in a twenty-first-century culture (p.41). I'm not sure that all those who Webber lumps into that category I would find much common ground with, but their is certainly an appreciation for a broad spectrum of belief and practice and a desire to be rooted in the ancient story that doesn't change in order to do ministry in an ever changing postmodern culture.