Identity Crisis?

There seems to be a bit of angst in the mainline and evangelical camps over how they should define themselves. Both are concerned about how they are perceived by the "outside world." The mainliners don't seem to be as concerned as the evangelicals. I'm not sure why that is, but here are some thoughts off the top of my head:

1. The evangelicals have been in the news much more, and many in the media don't understand the movement. They know a couple of faces -Falwell, Dobson, Robertson, etc, and those faces represent just a portion of people who consider themselves evangelicals. Many evangelicals are put off by the words and actions of those most in the news, and now they are running from the word "evangelical" because of the negative experiences they have had when people hear they are "one of those.'

2. This may represent, too, that evangelicalism may be a tent that is far more diverse theologically than mainline churches. I confess that I have no data to back this up.

3. Evangelicalism is hard to define, and evangelicals don't know how to define themselves, although they may claim to know one when they see one.

I proudly consider myself to be an evangelical and will write in the near future on why I am bothered that people are increasingly not wanting to be identified as such.

Here are some links of recent articles about this issue. I was intigued by the Christian Century article because I had not heard the concern over being named a mainliner. Most of the people I know who come from mainline churches have been proud to say so.

Rethinking Mainline Liberal in the Christian Century.

Growing up Evangelical in Sojourners. This is a long piece focusing on seven people's experience in the movement. All have different takes. I am still working my way through it.

Philip Yancey does an excellent job in Christianity Today in a relatively concise manner discussing the Quirky and Vibrant mosaic of evangelicalism. As stated in the article, Evangelicals are admired, mocked, praised, scorned—and all for good reason.