Rev. Robert L. Montgomery
My big disappointment in this election year has been the support given to Donald Trump by people who consider themselves “evangelicals.” They were reportedly key to Trump’s Republican primary election victories. After Super Tuesday, it became clear that Trump would be the official Republican Party nominee for president.
I consider myself an evangelical, although I do not like the meaning that the term has acquired, largely because of the support given by “evangelicals” to former President Trump, but also the views of some evangelicals who divided the churches. For example, many evangelicals are not open to scientific discoveries regarding human evolution and specifically gender and human sexuality. They generally approach the Bible, especially Genesis, literally, viewing human beings as the descendants of two people rather than as the product of a long-term evolutionary process. The Book of Genesis is an in-depth theology about God and human nature, not a scientific description of creation. I have no problem believing that God used an evolutionary process discovered in numerous scientific studies.
If people claim to be Christians, as evangelicals claim, I accept their word, even though studies have shown that some rarely attend church. “Evangelical” is a highly honored term in Christianity and it appears in the name of some Christian groups, especially abroad. Nonetheless, American “evangelicals” have acquired an identity that is seen as alienating and dividing from other Christians and their churches that do not conform to their views. The term “evangelical” has become associated with the lack of acceptance of women in leadership positions and those who are part of the LGBTQA community, leading to their exclusion and often physical harm.
I am disappointed in the reputation of evangelicals because I honor and love the term “evangelical,” which means “good news” that Christianity seeks to carry, however imperfectly. Christianity became a world religion thanks to its Good News, despite its failures and human weaknesses. My parents and four of their children, including myself, participated in the organized effort to proclaim the good news throughout the world.
To be sure I am understood correctly, I believe that Christians, because of human sin, have made many false claims and supported many bad causes throughout history. These failures have discredited the Christian faith and needlessly created anti-Christian attitudes among many people. Nevertheless, the “good news” or gospel spread throughout the world, so that Christianity became the largest world religion.
A fatal weakness of evil is its tendency to self-destruct through excess. People then recognize an obvious evil. Evil uses force against good to defeat and eliminate it, but evil’s ugliness, cruelty, and weakness are exposed and people can reject them. The cross of Christ is the ultimate example. The same was true of Rome’s cruel persecution of Christians. More recently, the Holocaust brought centuries-old anti-Semitism to a horrific climax. Democracy has spread throughout the world because people naturally hate domination and love freedom. Science has spread throughout the world as an ally of truth and goodness, even if it can be misused. Modern medicine, which Christian missions have carried throughout the world, has had a tremendous impact in demonstrating God’s love for those who suffer. The missions also brought modern education, which includes science, to the world. This has contributed greatly to raising the standard of living around the world. People realize the fallacy of superstition and ignorance, especially when humans use them to maintain power over others.
Providentially, American democracy broke with the long tradition of combining religion and power by separating organized religion from government. Many current evangelicals would reverse this important historical development by recombining Christianity with governmental power, something Jesus Christ and his immediate followers opposed and refused to do. With its religious freedom, America offers Christianity the opportunity to purify its message to the world of a loving Creator God who loves all people and all creation and who has acted in history to bring new life to all . It is the evangelical message which accompanies the global mission entrusted to him. By emphasizing this message and associating it with acts of love towards individuals and to improve the living conditions of those who suffer, evangelicals can repair their damaged reputation among the population and continue to spread their message. This applies to Christianity as a whole which has struggled throughout its history to better represent its founder.
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The Rev. Robert L. Montgomery, Ph.D., lives in Black Mountain.
