Evangelicalism Continues to Move Left<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Jan Markell
www.olivetreeviews.org
 
Nothing stays the same anymore; it is always morphing into something it shouldn't.  So it is with evangelicalism.  My alma mater, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, recently featured the king-pin of the "religious left," Jim Wallis.  Wallis heads Sojourners' ministry and magazine, a ministry devoted to social issues though called evangelical.
 
In his e-newsletter Wallis refers to his Bethel experience where he spoke to a packed chapel service.
 
He says, "I was at Bethel University, known as a conservative evangelical school--fertile ground for recruiting by the 'religious right.' But the wind is changing at Bethel as it is among the new generation of evangelical students across the country for both faith and politics in America."
He continues, "I asked the students if they wanted to be 'true evangelicals'" (referring to Luke 4 and the reference of bringing the good news to the poor.)  The implication here is that if it doesn't follow the social gospel it cannot be good news. 
 
Wallis seems to minimize the moral values of the "religious right" such as abortion and gay marriage while emphasizing issues he feels are greater causes today: Poverty, global warming, human rights, ethics of war in Iraq, and more.  Wallis said that the value of human life cannot just be seen in the abortion issue without also addressing issues of the poor.
 
After a standing ovation by the students who were overflowing in the chapel hall, Wallis says, "It didn't feel like a standing ovation but rather an altar call, with students standing to say they want their faith and lives to make a difference in our world." I ask if evangelical colleges and seminaries are cranking out pastors with this view, what will the church look like in ten years?
 
Wallis then had his "Voting God's Politics" on line for downloading.  It is a repetition and expansion of what he said at the Bethel chapel service, but a harder-hitting emphasis on "social justice" to the point that it smacked of blatant socialism: Redistribute the wealth. If one can't work, they should be subsidized and be treated with dignity.  Extreme global poverty must end, a good item for a wish-list but not going to happen in this life.  In his cry for world peace he says about the war on terror, that "all nations need to rid themselves of weapons of mass destruction and end the 'cycle of violence."'  I am sure Iran's Ahmadinejad is paying attention.
 
In "Voting God's Politics," Wallis kept taking Scripture out of context and throwing in many verses that are blatantly talking about the Millennium when all these problems will be gone.  However, he believes if we all unite behind him, we can end them before the return of Christ to set up His perfect Kingdom on earth.  Are satanically-inspired nations and leaders going to wipe out their WMDs?  Not even the U.N. is making a dent in this issue.
 
Also, in "Voting God's Politics" Wallis says the Israelis are oppressing the Palestinians, not the Palestinian leaders choosing to keep their people in poverty.  Wallis adds we must strengthen the U.N. and end capital punishment because it is biased towards the poor.  He urges all Christians to support amnesty for illegal aliens, fight AIDS, and fight for women's rights.
 
What's missing here? I see not a word about a regenerated heart that would assist in the above, not a word about man's sin nature that has caused all the problems, not a word about repentance, and not a word about the fact that only our Lord's return can solve these overwhelming problems.  That doesn't mean some efforts shouldn't be employed to correct some of these issues.
 
And yet the church today considers Jim Wallis and his Sojourners to be part of "evangelicalism."  How things have changed in just a few years.