Several weeks ago our local paper had an article about the views of college professors toward various religious groups. By far the most disdained were evangelicals: fully 53% of college faculty members had unfavorable feelings toward us. The next closest groups were Mormons (33%), Muslims (22%), atheists (18%), and Catholics (13%).
So what does this mean?
True Evangelicalism (including Fundamentalism) has the truth of the Word of God, but we have squandered it on politics, programs, and personalities. This mixes the pure water of God’s truth with the pragmatism of the day, and it is FAR worse in God’s own people than in people who are not His (Muslims et al).
We need to repent of the worldliness that has characterized our movement over the last 50 years and get back to the simplicity of the truth of the gospel. The morality of Scripture without the salvation of the soul is vanity, and maybe these college professors, unbeknown even to themselves, sense this very thing and are repulsed by it.
2 Comments
Hi,
I agree that we should get back to the gospel, and being bold in evangelism and bold in calling sin and evil what it is. I disagree that it would cause the professors and people in general to start liking us. I think it would cause them to dislike us all the more, and maybe even lead to the persecution that Jesus promised us.
Good post.
Bill
Bill,
I agree with you completely.
What I was trying to communicate is this: how much disdain is actually because we live out the gospel, and how much disdain is because of our own hypocrisy?
Thanks for your kind words.
Randall