Renouncing Evangelicalism

I have spent 26 years of my life as an evangelical Christian. To be abundantly clear at the outset of this article, I want to state that none of my doctrine has changed. What has changed is the reality of the church around me.

The church has the tools to be a powerful agent of change in our society, and indeed are commanded multiple times by Christ, notably in Matthew 25: 31-46:|

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I have witnessed countless times when evangelical churches have turned the needy away from their doorsteps. It would be easy to accept a plea of poverty, but the same churches have no shortage of funds for the things they want (in some instances, multimedia presentations, in some instances building projects, in some instances minimalls within their megachurches). The cold, hard fact is that the moneychangers are not only IN the temple, they are in many instances running it.

As racial tensions come to a head in this country, I have seen and cannot accept the evangelical church's response of denying the existence of racism in this country. They blame minorities for higher unemployment rates, while denying access to quality education to many of the people in the inner city through a funding system that basically allows the wealth of a neighborhood to fund schools, leaving minority dominated poverty pockets with less of a funding base.

To list the injustices faced by minorities in this country would take far more time than I am able to take, but the truth is, not only are evangelicals failing to respond as Christians, they are castigating those who choose to respond, accusing us of "reverse racism" and other charges.

As Americans become a nation of great income inequality, where more die of obesity than starvation, they have turned their backs on the words of Ezekial 16:49:

"'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

While workers are further impoverished and wages stagnate while corporate CEOs are making more than at any time in history, they refute the words of James 5:1-6

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.^{[a] 6} You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Although there are many within the church who have done things to address injustice, support for that has not come from the pulpit. Through the years that I have attended the evangelical church, I have witnessed and heard countless racist statements, which have gone unchallenged, and I do not feel that is the appropriate place for a Christian.

I have personally endured being called many things because of my stance for injustice, and this has made it clear that my place is not within the evangelical church.

I will worship with those who will welcome me to worship, but on this day, August 19, 2014, I renounce evangelicalism and all that it entails. I believe that my call is to serve, and to serve passionately; and I cannot do that in a climate that does not nurture and encourage that.

I beg all of my friends who still consider themselves to be evangelicals to search your hearts and truly examine whether God's call is for you to follow the world and ignore injustice all around you, or whether you are instead called to serve those who suffer injustice and speak truth to power.

I cannot speak to the course you must take, but I MUST speak to mine. As Joshua stated many years ago, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

God bless each and every one of you.