“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Note: The entire “Beyond Evangelical” series (including this post) has been compiled into an 80-page eBook with many new chapters added. Click here to learn more about the eBook.

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My interview with N.T. Wright yesterday added some spice to our present series. Since the last post in this series, there have been some interesting reactions around the blogosphere. Consequently, I’d like to do two things in this post. First, highlight someone’s comment from last week. Second, interact with some of the other remarks I’ve received.

A Comment Worth Underscoring

I was encouraged to read so many insightful comments on the posts I’ve published since my return to blogging. So many of them were excellent and helpful. But there was one in particular that stood out. It was from Jonathan Cottrell. He wrote it in response to Beyond Evangelical: Part II. Here’s what he said:

Christ is all. My wife and I have been having a conversation of late that revolves around how people would summarize their faith in one word. That one word speaks more than a thousand words, if you ask me. I imagine that the groups would summarize as:

Group 1 [Systemtizers]: “Grace” or “Truth”
Group 2 [Activists]: “Love” or “Mission”
Group 3 [Emoters]: “Spirit” or “Power”
Group 4: [Beyond Evangelicals] “Jesus” or “Christ”

Is there any word that should summarize our common faith other than His Name? I think not. Continue Reading…

“All labels have their problems, and, to be sure, ‘evangelical’ is fraught with them. But I am not giving it up.”

~ Roger Olson

Note: The entire “Beyond Evangelical” series (including this post) has been compiled into an 80-page eBook with many new chapters added. Click here to learn more about the eBook.

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As I pointed out in the first post of this series, the center of evangelicalism is collapsing. Countless evangelical Christians are moving to the left or to the right. Namely, they are moving toward liberalism or they are moving toward high church or low church traditions. They are moving toward individualism or communitarianism.

In this post, we will briefly survey the four major streams within evangelicalism with an eye to Christians in their 20s, 30s, and 40s – often called Mosaics and Busters or Generation X and Generation Y (Millennials).

My analysis is based on what I’ve observed in my extensive travels worldwide, speaking in a variety of conferences represented by the different streams (wherein I’ve interacted with the other speakers and attendees), and corresponding with thousands of evangelical Christians in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Continue Reading…

Rachel Held Evans kindly asked me to participate in her “Rally to Restore Unity.”

What follows is my contribution.

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One of my favorite stories is about the great evangelist D.L. Moody when he attended an “Exclusive” Plymouth Brethren convention.

The conference hosts had put up a large banner in the conference room which read, JESUS ONLY.

After one of the sessions ended, someone left the door open. While the conference attendees were sleeping, a wind blew into the doorway and knocked part of the banner down. The following morning, when everyone walked into the conference room, the sign read, US ONLY. The part of the banner that had the letters JES had been torn down. Continue Reading…

“Be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” 

~ Deuteronomy 5:32

The title of this blog is Beyond Evangelical. But what does that phrase mean? And what does it not mean?

First, “beyond evangelical” doesn’t mean “non-evangelical.”

The phrase “beyond evangelical” is short for “moving beyond evangelicalism,” which is a theological movement (not people or persons).

I am an evangelical. What is more, I stand with the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed (just in case anyone was wondering). In this regard, I agree with Alister McGrath’s statement that “evangelicalism is historic Christianity. It’s the standard bearer of historic, orthodox Christianity.”

But the term “evangelical” embraces a wide canopy. So much so that the word is becoming increasingly vague and open to interpretation. Evangelicalism has become a hyphenated movement. For instance, “old-evangelical,” “neo-evangelical,” “conservative-evangelical,” “post-evangelical,” “post-conservative evangelical,” “ecumenical-evangelical,” “charismatic-evangelical,” “young-evangelical,” etc. are all in common use today. American historian Mark Noll rightly points out that evangelicalism is made up of “shifting movements, temporary alliances, and the lengthened shadows of individuals.” Continue Reading…

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

~Theodore Roosevelt, excerpted from the speech “Citizenship in a Republic” delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910.

I grew up in the charismatic stream of Christianity. Those are my early roots. When I was in that movement, I heard all about “apostles.” Constantly. I heard about “the coming apostolic move.” About “the new apostles.” About “the restoration of the apostolic gift.” Etc. etc. etc. [Cough.]

As I grew in the Lord and began to research church history and what the New Testament had to say about the apostolic commission and church planting, I came to some very different conclusions from what my charismatic friends taught me.

I also grew highly allergic to the word “apostle” (which is a poor translation of the Greek word, which means “one who is sent.”)

When I was 23 years old, I left the institutional form of church. And I found an experience of the body of Christ . . . and an experience of the Lord Jesus . . . that wrecked me forever. Continue Reading…

I know a lot of very well-known teachers and preachers. Some of them are good friends.

What’s interesting is that many of them don’t belong to any church. None at all. And neither do their families. Nor are they part of any ministry team wherein there is close-knit fellowship and mutual submission.

Some of them have confessed to me behind close doors: “I don’t attend [institutional] church because I find it boring. It’s the same thing all the time. And I have many friends in ministry who feel the same way. I agree with what you’ve written about the modern church, but don’t tell anyone I said all this.” Continue Reading…

“The deceitfulness of the heart of man appears in no one thing so much as this of spiritual pride and self-righteousness.” 

~ Jonathan Edwards

When the nativity story is told, we mostly hear about Mary, the mother of Jesus. For centuries, Mary has been extolled and honored, as she should be. Joseph, however, has often been regarded as a mere footnote to the story.

Today, I’d like to give Joseph his due.

By my lights, Joseph was one of the most righteous men who ever lived. Now when most modern Christians think of a “righteous man,” they think of things like being a good husband, a patient father, a trusted and successful employee who lives a good clean life (doesn’t “smoke, drink, chew or run with those who do,” as the old saying goes), and so on.

I have no doubts that Joseph was upright in the area of personal piety. But the Bible gives us a much deeper peek at what a righteous person is and how he or she reacts to certain situations. Consider Matthew 1:19-20:

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to put her away quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew says that because Joseph was a righteous man, he chose not to publicly disgrace and shame Mary, even though (according to his knowledge at the time) she deserved it. Continue Reading…

I’ve been reading the nativity story again and am captured by the sheer wonder of it all. It truly is the greatest story ever told. Next week I plan to write a blog post about Joseph, as I feel there are lessons to learn from his life that are little talked about today. So stay tuned for that post Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Last year a writer for Modern Reformation Magazine interviewed me. His questions covered a wide-range of subjects, some of which I’m asked about frequently.

Here’s the complete interview.

MR:  In your opinion, what is the future of the emerging/emergent church movement?  In what ways are you optimistic about the movement?

Frank: I’m not part of the emerging church movement nor am I part of emergent, so I’m not sure. I have talked with folks in the movement (or “conversation”) and they’ve seen it begin to splinter into a three different streams. One is toward a more liberal theology and outlook. The other is toward the missional church movement. And the third is toward a more postchurch theology and outlook. Continue Reading…