Definition Of Evangelical

The word “evangelical” in Africa tends not to carry the same meaning as it does in the West. The meaning of “evangelical” here is more or less the original meaning -- something like this: holding the creeds of the early Church, and the tenets of the Protestant Reformation. This definition has often shifted in the West, so that what is called “evangelical” today may not be the original “evangelical” at all. With this in mind, many Church constitutions insist that a Church or its ministry must be “evangelical” -- but which “evangelical” will it be? One could potentially make a dangerous mix-up: call an “evangelical” minister, for instance, who is far from it. OBSERVATION: A classic criticism of evangelicalism has been “evangelical detachment” -- where saving faith seems to be detached from social concern. Again, in Africa one seldom finds this kind of evangelicalism, although it may be common in the West.