Each word that was chosen as a name for this site was deliberate. The Anabaptist movement has been most vibrant when it has embraced evangelical faith. In 2009, Ted Lewis published an article highlighting the meaning of the "True evangelical faith" quote by Menno Simons.
“True evangelical faith is of such a nature it cannot lie dormant, but spreads itself out in all kinds of righteousness and fruits of love;
it dies to flesh and blood;
it destroys all lusts and forbidden desires;
it seeks, serves and fears God in its inmost soul;
it clothes the naked;
it feeds the hungry;
it comforts the sorrowful;
it shelters the destitute;
it aids and consoles the sad;
it does good to those who do it harm;
it serves those that harm it;
it prays for those who persecute it;
it teaches, admonishes and judges us with the Word of the Lord;
it seeks those who are lost;
it binds up what is wounded;
it heals the sick;
it saves what is strong (sound);
it becomes all things to all people.
The persecution, suffering and anguish that come to it for the sake of the Lord’s truth have become a glorious joy and comfort to it.”
Evangelical also highlights the connection with many Mennonite World Conference churches in other countries. Over the years, our Anabaptist educational institutions and some of our leaders have become more aligned with current cultural trends on the left rather than maintaining a commitment to the vital presence of the Holy Spirit and Biblical integrity. We feel the same push toward alignment with cultural trends on the right, which popular media has labeled evangelical. That label is a caricature that comes from ignorance, created by the isolation that many in the media have from multicultural expressions of Christian faith and in rural areas. We need to avoid nationalism and patriotism, but we should not run from the word evangelical.
Bebbinton names four aspects of evangelicalism, all of which have been an integral part the Anabaptism through the years.
“True evangelical faith is of such a nature it cannot lie dormant, but spreads itself out in all kinds of righteousness and fruits of love;
it dies to flesh and blood;
it destroys all lusts and forbidden desires;
it seeks, serves and fears God in its inmost soul;
it clothes the naked;
it feeds the hungry;
it comforts the sorrowful;
it shelters the destitute;
it aids and consoles the sad;
it does good to those who do it harm;
it serves those that harm it;
it prays for those who persecute it;
it teaches, admonishes and judges us with the Word of the Lord;
it seeks those who are lost;
it binds up what is wounded;
it heals the sick;
it saves what is strong (sound);
it becomes all things to all people.
The persecution, suffering and anguish that come to it for the sake of the Lord’s truth have become a glorious joy and comfort to it.”
Evangelical also highlights the connection with many Mennonite World Conference churches in other countries. Over the years, our Anabaptist educational institutions and some of our leaders have become more aligned with current cultural trends on the left rather than maintaining a commitment to the vital presence of the Holy Spirit and Biblical integrity. We feel the same push toward alignment with cultural trends on the right, which popular media has labeled evangelical. That label is a caricature that comes from ignorance, created by the isolation that many in the media have from multicultural expressions of Christian faith and in rural areas. We need to avoid nationalism and patriotism, but we should not run from the word evangelical.
Bebbinton names four aspects of evangelicalism, all of which have been an integral part the Anabaptism through the years.
- biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible (e.g. all essential spiritual truth is to be found in its pages)
- crucicentrism, a focus on the atoning work of Christ on the cross
- conversionism, the belief that human beings need to be converted
- activism, the belief that the gospel needs to be expressed in effort
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