evangelicals on both the right and the left who believe that politics is an essential work of evangelical faith.
By: Anis Nurulh
Tags: Freelance, Sports, Social Media, Life

Evangelicalism in America is nearing extinction due to the movement’s devotion to politics at the expense of its original calling to share the gospel, according to Mark Galli, former editor-in-chief of Christianity Today.

“The evangelicalism that transformed the world is, for all practical purposes, dying if not already dead,” Galli said during the “Conversations that Matter” webinar hosted by Baptist News Global Oct. 8. He spoke with BNG Executive Director and Publisher Mark Wingfield in an hour-long webinar that is available for viewing on BNG’s YouTube channel.

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Ever since I was a little boy, I have only ever wanted to be a Doctor. It was all I ever dreamed of. I shadowed my uncle multiple times, who is an Emergency Medicine physician. I signed up to be a model for resident physicians, training on how to deal with crisis situations. I even worked one summer during high school cleaning colonoscopes.

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Medicine was all I ever wanted to do, and I was determined to do all that it took to become a Doctor.

When I applied to Medical School, the odds were against me. I was told flat out by my “advisor” that I was not going to get in, that my application was too weak, and so many others were much more qualified. I paid that “advisor” no mind, applying during the Fall of 1994.

I only got one interview in February 1995, and I was placed on the waiting list in March. I then forgot about Medical School and focused on getting through my last semester in college.

My uncle, the Emergency Medicine physician, harrassed me to call the Medical School and find out the status of my application.

“I’m not going to get in,” I told him.

“Just call them,” he replied calmly.

So, two days later, I called the Medical School to find out my status on the waiting list. The woman on the phone sounded confused.

“We sent your acceptance letter last week.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I told her I never received the letter because it turns out they sent it to the wrong address. I corrected the address on file, and before we hung up, I confirmed:

“So, I’ve been accepted?”

“Uh huh.”

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

They only keep the slot open for two weeks before awarding it to someone else, and a week had already gone by unbeknownst to me. I could have ignored my uncle’s pleas to call the school and find out. I could have forgotten to make the call that literally changed the trajectory of my entire life.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

It is a very hard to time be a physician right now, especially one who is working in the ICU — on the very front lines of the war against COVID-19. We see the absolute worst of the worst, and the scale of death and destruction is unlike anything I or any of my colleagues have ever seen.

Every day, we literally risk our very lives to care for the sickest of the sick with this horrific illness. We are facing PPE shortages, and in a recent statement, the Critical Care Societies Collaborative said,

Widespread and ongoing use of contingency measures to preserve PPE supplies places our healthcare workforce at unconscionable risk.

Over 1,300 healthcare workers have died from COVID-19. The situation is dire, and this second wave is way, way, way worse than the first. And we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet. We haven’t had Christmas yet. It’s going to get really bad before it gets better.

And yet, I say again: there, but for the grace of God, go I.

There is a great deal of fear that comes with caring for patients with COVID-19. That’s what makes this pandemic so much worse. I confess that COVID made me think about leaving bedside practice. But the call to that bedside was way too strong. I can’t leave because I am so grateful to be here in the first place, being given the honor of caring for the sick at their most vulnerable.

Have I had bad days? Absolutely. Is it really hard work, both physically and mentally exhausting? Of course. Is this the best way to make money? Hell no.

But I’ve never forgotten how it felt yearning — and praying so hard — to get into medical school. I’ve never forgotten the thrill of getting my lab coat on the first day of school. I’ve never forgotten how badly I wanted this career. Others joke about “living the dream.” I am truly living my dream, and I am so grateful to God for it.

A spiritual teacher of mine told me that those who are in the service of a sick person are in God’s Transcendent Mercy until they finish their service. This gave me such great comfort, especially in the darkest days of the Spring when the COVID was all around us. The Winter is going to be so much darker, and I will need that Transcendent Mercy more than ever.

And yet, I think back to that morning in May 1995 when I made that fateful call to the medical school. There was nothing in particular that made me make the call. I was bored, in fact, and I figured I would humor my uncle and call the school. I truly believed my “advisor’s” words that I was not going to get in.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

And so I will try my hardest to be the best physician I can be; to come to work each day with a smile; to do all that I can to help those entrusted to my care. It is the very least I can do, and it is the only way I can show gratitude to the Lord — Who has given me the honor of including me in the privileged few who are called to care for His children.

I could have forgotten to make that call in May 1995. I am so very grateful to the Lord our God that He reminded me otherwise.

Now semi-retired, Galli served 20 years at Christianity Today and is the author of a new book, When Did We Start Forgetting God: The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future.

While he has identified at times as Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Anglican and recently becoming Roman Catholic, Galli said he has remained true to his evangelical upbringing that emphasized evangelism and spiritual renewal.

“I am an evangelical Catholic,” he said.

Galli spoke on an array of other topics including the culture war divisions between Americans, the polities that divide churches, and how dialogue may help pastors and others hurdle those barriers.

That editorial

But he hit on a very high-profile topic, too: his December 2019 Christianity Today editorial describing President Donald Trump as morally unfit to hold office and arguing for his removal. It was published during the Congressional impeachment hearings.

“He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud,” Galli wrote. “His Twitter feed alone — with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies and slanders — is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.”

The piece generated severe backlash from the right, including from the president himself. The viciousness of responses often was hard to bear, Galli said.

The one possible thing he would redo, he said, is the headline — “Trump Should Be Removed from Office” — that placed the emphasis on politics, when it was faith that motivated his position, Galli explained. “I was making moral arguments to fellow evangelicals. But it sounded like a political comment.”

The editorial was not, as some claimed, an effort to back Trump’s opponent in the 2020 election. It’s just that Trump has “such deeply flawed moral character” that he needs to leave office, Galli said.

Trump has “such deeply flawed moral character” that he needs to leave office.

He has no quarrel with conservative evangelicals who acknowledge Trump’s flaws but still vote for him because he lines up on issues important to them, Galli said.

There were certainly plenty of those in 2016, according to a pre-election Pew survey that Christianity Today published titled, “Most Evangelicals Will Vote Trump, But Not for Trump.”

Rather than citing issues like abortion, religious freedom and support for Israel as rationale for voting Trump, white evangelicals were much more concerned about the economy four years ago, Galli recalled. “I get it. I disagree with their choice, but I respect their wrestling.”

On the other hand, he said he does not understand those evangelicals who refuse to criticize Trump on moral grounds, who believe liberals need some shaking up and describe the president in messianic terms.

He recalled an anecdote about a pro-Trump Christian describing the president as sitting “at the right hand of the Father” and said of this ideology: “That’s idolatry, clearly and simply.”

Demise of evangelicalism

To explain the demise of evangelicalism, Galli cited the legacy of Billy Graham, who even in advanced age preached to invite men and women of all races and cultures to Christ. “He was the glue that held evangelicalism together for many years,” Galli said.

“An unfortunate symbol of what evangelicalism has become is epitomized by his son, Franklin,” he continued. “Franklin stands for evangelicals on both the right and the left who believe that politics is an essential work of evangelical faith.”

“Franklin (Graham) stands for evangelicals on both the right and the left who believe that politics is an essential work of evangelical faith.”

One symbol of that politicization is an organization called Evangelicals for Trump.

“In describing themselves in that way, they have become just another political interest group, taking the great name ‘evangelical,’ with all its theological and doctrinal and gospel history and meaning and putting it in the service of a political candidate,” Galli asserted.

And from his vantage point, the news is no better from the evangelical left.

“What’s really troubling to me is that instead of decrying this coopting of the term ‘evangelical’ for political gain, the evangelical left has only mirrored this tragic move when they recently formed a group called Evangelicals for Joe Biden.”

Evangelical groups that focus almost solely on social justice and cultural change, instead of sharing the gospel, are contributing to the decline, too, he said.

“As a result, we’ve started to let the agenda of the world determine the agenda of the church, and we’ve sidelined evangelism and church renewal as the result.”

Galli said he noticed this trend during the hiring process at Christianity Today beginning in the 1990s. Candidates overwhelmingly were interested in cultural analysis, and perhaps one in 10 story ideas pitched was about evangelistic outreach.

For the most part, he added, the lack of interest in that founding mission of faith sharing exists across the board.

“I am going to go so far as to say that our fascination with social amelioration, and political activism, has watered down the evangelical faith to the point that it looks little different than mainline Christianity,” he said.

“We’ve forgotten that the genius of evangelical faith was its singular focus: spiritual renewal. ‘You must be born again’ was preached to individuals and to whole churches and denominations, from George Whitefield, John Wesley, to Charles Finney, to Dwight Moody to Billy Graham. It was preached in the First and Second Great Awakenings, it was preached by the circuit riders, and at local Baptist revivals every year or many times a year.”

Yet, that message is not being preached much nowadays, and there will be consequences, he said. “Evangelicals today no longer have a laser focus on evangelism and spiritual renewal. As a result, I believe they will fade away as will the very term.”

Who will the Lord raise up?

But Galli predicted the mission of evangelism will continue, possibly under a different name.

“In every generation, the Lord raises up some Christians to whom he gives the charism of evangelism and spiritual renewal. What they will be called in the future, I don’t know.”

“In every generation, the Lord raises up some Christians to whom he gives the charism of evangelism and spiritual renewal. What they will be called in the future, I don’t know.”

Citing the tradition of various orders within Roman Catholicism — Benedictines, Franciscans, Jesuits and so forth — he suggested one way to reclaim evangelicalism is for those called to evangelism to rise up as a holy order across the church universal.

With some portion of the church focused on evangelism, then Christians can be involved in the public square, love their neighbors and work for social and political justice, he added. “Christians should not run away from culture but dash right into the middle of it and do whatever it takes to show forth the righteousness of God.”

Friendship amid differences

Galli explained that he’s developed these insights partly in becoming Catholic, which has provided a different vantage point from which to view evangelicalism and the wider church.

Regarding Christian unity, he said: “I don’t know if there is a reason for us to be apart, but it’s hard to get together because no one is willing to give up anything. For example, talking to a Methodist and a Presbyterian reveals little difference, “but Methodists don’t want to give up their bishops and Presbyterians don’t want to submit to bishops.”

Divisions within congregations, especially politically driven ones, must be addressed delicately, Galli said, suggesting pastors preach on the Bible from the pulpit and speak with parishioners aside from their sermons about politics.

But he acknowledged that even the Bible has been politicized in the current climate.

“Unfortunately, everything is perceived as political,” he said. “We just have to remind ourselves there are more important things than politics.”

Former Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia lived that approach, he said. They did not let ideological differences prevent a friendship.

“That is something American leaders ought to be promoting,” he concluded.