A friend wrote, “I no longer call myself an Evangelical.” Thoughtful, well informed but now I suspect feeling embarrassed, he has chosen to avoid a term used globally by hundreds of millions of Christians. For many within shouting distance of U.S. media circles and party politics, the word has become a banner of disrepute. Evangelical is now a word disfigured by political pundits, muddied by protestors from the left and right, and brought into dishonour by self-proclaimed spokespeople who excuse inappropriate behaviour and language as the necessary price for political power. The center has shifted, and many Evangelicals now wonder where they fit.
