“Evangelical” is a term which describes those religous groups that stress a “personal conversion experience” through faith in Christ. They tend to be fairly conservative in theology as well as life-style. Some…it use to be most…Evangelicals do not drink…go to movies…listen to rock music…do not use tobacco or alcohol…and refrains from coarse language…
There are Evangelical Friends that "run the gambit’…most have worship services in the same style and manner as say Nazarenes or Free Methodists. Some Evangelical Friends meet in un-programmed Meetings…but hold very “conservative” religious views…Trinity, Diety of Christ, literal resurrection, virgin birth, prophesey-end times, second coming type theology.
For the most part this is true.
But as an ex-evangelical, I must point out that the “rules” listed above are not true of all evangelicals.
Evangelicals from many different denominations (and non-denominations) are drinking alcohol now–to me, this is so incredibly shocking because while I was growing up, NO ONE drank alcohol and no one seemed to need it to have fun. I do not like seeing Christians, including Catholic Christians, indulge in alcohol, but I realize that I am in the minority.
Lots of evangelicals go to movies and have always gone to movies. I grew up going to movies. There are some evangelicals who refrain from going to movies, shows, or sporting events on Sundays, but there are Catholics who do the same out of respect for the Lord’s Day.
Evangelicals do indeed listen to rock music! Evangelicals are responsible for “Jesus rock,” which started up in the late 40s and 50s through some of the worship choruses, and then came into its own in the 60s with artists like Larry Norman (RIP) and Randy Stonehill. Christian rock is a huge business nowadays, and most evangelical churches support it by buying the albums and attending concerts and various music festivals featuring Christian artists. Some evangelicals don’t listen to secular rock–why should they? They have Christian alternatives! But many evangelicals DO listen to secular rock and other kinds of secular music.
Tobacco use depends on where you live. Smoking is a habit that does not respect the Lord or any church–there are smokers in every Christian fellowship, even the most strict. When we lived in North Carolina, the Southern Baptists smoked openly and didn’t apologize for it.
Yes, I would agree that most evangelicals refrain from coarse language–and IMO, Catholics should refrain from coarse language, too. The New Testament is full of admonitions about our speech. But some evangelicals do use the “bathroom” words. Tony Campolo is probably most famous for his sermon in which he used the “s” word. It was very effective in the context in which he used it.
In the post that Contarini provided the link for, I mentioned that practices vary widely between evangelicals. I mentioned the example of veils in church–there are several denoms of evangelicals in which the women veil themselves, or at least wear a head-covering of some type, in church.
Another example is communion. Many evangelical churches offer communion services once a month. But there are some that offer communion at every service. And others only offer communion a few times a year. And some actually leave bread and grape juice out at every service and invite people to help themselves.
You just can’t pin down evangelicals! But the one thing that binds them all together is the belief in practicing the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 18-20. That was one of the first passages of Scripture that I memorized when I was a child.
And frankly, I see nothing wrong with this. I think that Catholics have the same devotion to evangelism and obeying the Lord’s Great Commission. The difference is that in many Catholic parishes, it’s not considered something that every Christian needs to do–that’s what the priests and religious are supposed to be doing. In evangelical churches, everyone is involved in fulfilling the Great Commission, not just the pastors and missionaries.
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