Candidates Should Hear Evangelicals

What shook the earth last week in Washington wasn't the president, Congress or anything from the campaigns. Rather, it was a remarkable manifesto from a group of more than 100 evangelicals.

Their signed declaration, which you can read at www.evangelicalmanifesto.com, begins with a needed message for evangelicals themselves. At the outset, the document declares:

"The two-fold purpose of this declaration is to first address the confusions and corruptions that attend the term 'Evangelical' in the United States and much of the Western world today, and second to clarify where we stand on issues that have caused consternation over Evangelicals in public life."

Some evangelicals, who define themselves as believing in the Good News of Jesus as defined by Scripture, have been critiquing the movement for a while. But not until this document has a group so deliberately challenged evangelicals to rethink their identity.

The most encouraging set of points involve the call for evangelicals to return to a religious identity – "Evangelicals should be defined theologically, and not politically, socially, or culturally" – and to move away from single-issue politics.

Those are essentially the same point because the broad image of evangelicals in most other Americans' minds is that of right-leaning Republicans.

The fact that there are now so many leading evangelicals stepping forward, from the theologically conservative Dallas Theological Seminary to the social-activist Sojourners community, shows that some are trying to steer evangelicalism in a different direction. One in which theology is more seriously valued than popular speakers and entertainment-driven worship. One that understands the Bible instructs them to care for the poor, justice and the environment.

Ironically, the fact evangelicals are trying to be less politically identifiable is the reason that politicians like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain should take this document seriously.