In Defense of Evangelicalism

Most of the boys I knew freshman year are leaving for their missions over the summer. A few boys I knew fall semester are already living and working in Canada and Norway and France.

All of the mission calls pouring in over the last few months put me in mind of a boy I knew in high school, and a conversation we once had where I mentioned my brother--then on his mission in California. "No offense," said this boy, "but I don't agree with evangelicalism."

My first thought was that this boy was fooling himself if he thought he himself didn't evangelize. The word means "to preach the gospel," and while it has a Christian connotation, everyone has their own gospel and most everyone has the desire to spread it. The Mormon missionaries and Jehovah's Witnesses knocking at your door are equivalent to the guy trying to get your signature on his petition to save the polar bears. And while all of these people are seen as rude by some, I think it is not only a right but right to try to make the world a better place by sharing your views.

Of course, we were in Mississippi, heart of the Bible Belt, where "evangelicalism" is the domain of Evangelical Christians with a capital E (Mormons are not Evangelicals though we are famous for our evangelizing.) This boy probably associated evangelicalism with the Man, who, where we grew up, is usually a Southern Baptist, and the Man is by definition close-minded and intolerant. But you can spread your views without attacking those of others, and if you want to have a civil conversation that's exactly what you have to do. I believe in civil conversations--they're good for the soul.

I try to be receptive to the evangelicalism of others just as I would like those others to be receptive to the message of my brothers and friends. That's why I have a slim book on my shelf called "The Perfection of Yoga" by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, which I took from a man on a New York street. Let's all listen to each other. Let's evangelize away.