Your Voice

Downplaying religious expression to serve community

By Brad R. Fulton
Assistant Professor, Indiana University

Evangelicals make up roughly one-quarter of the U.S. population. This percentage has remained steady over the past two decades, despite the persistent decline in the percentage of Americans who identify as religious.

Despite being portrayed as hyper-religious and persistent proselytizers, my research indicates that some evangelicals actually downplay religious expression when working with religiously diverse and secular groups. As a scholar of religion and politics, I wanted to learn more about how white evangelicals engage with religious diversity and an increasingly nonreligious U.S. society.

So I teamed up with sociologists Wes Markofski and Richard L. Wood to conduct in-depth field research with multifaith initiatives in Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

Our study focused primarily on white evangelicals living in urban and suburban settings, where the majority of white evangelicals live. Cities are also where the largest, fastest-growing and most influential evangelical churches are located.

We studied evangelicals within a variety of multifaith collaborations, including policy advocacy organizations and volunteer initiatives like Serving the City in Portland.

As we explain in the journal Sociology of Religion, we found that in such religiously diverse and secular contexts, evangelicals tend to downplay religious expression. For example, we found that when the 26,000 evangelicals from 500 churches volunteered with Portland’s Serving the City initiative, they adopted a self-imposed “no-proselytizing” policy as they helped with cleaning up parks, refurbishing schools and conducting clothing drives.

One suspicious school principal with strong views on church-state separation eventually became supportive of the evangelicals’ involvement. He noted that “they are not in the hallways passing out tracts, they’re not proselytizing, but they’re simply asking, ‘What do you need? And how can we help?’”

We observed evangelicals adopting a similar approach in various parts of the U.S., including places considered more progressive and secular like New England and the West Coast as well as the South, where Christianity plays a more prominent cultural role.

Furthermore, the findings from our fieldwork extend to politically centrist and conservative evangelical organizations — not just a politically liberal subset of evangelicals, from whom a secular approach might be more expected.

Scholars point to several reasons why some white evangelicals are inclined to temper religious expression in certain contexts, even as faith remains central to their identity and politics.

Religion scholar Peter Schuurman explains that some do so to avoid stigma. In many urban settings, evangelicals represent the intolerant “other” against which many progressive social movements position themselves. Downplaying religious expression could help them gain trust and reshape public perceptions.

Researcher Heidi Unruh believes evangelicals are just being pragmatic when they downplay their faith in mixed settings. Avoiding areas of disagreement allows them to pursue shared goals without compromising their religious beliefs.

While their reasons might be varied, as the U.S. becomes increasingly secular but also divided along religious lines, it is noteworthy the approach some white evangelicals are taking to bridge these divides.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Adapted from the article “Evangelicals downplay religious expression when working with secular groups” at theconversation.com. Read the full article at tabonline.org/downplay.

Using humor effectively

Pastor Michael J. Brooks
Siluria Baptist Church, Alabaster

A lady remarked a few months ago how much she enjoyed the pastor’s good humor in the pulpit. I remembered how someone else in a different place responded to a worship survey: “The pulpit is no place for levity. The pastor should refrain from joking.”

I’m sure there’s truth in both observations. The pulpit is not a place for stand-up comedy. The responsibility of sharing God’s word is a heavyweight indeed.

On the other hand, Solomon insisted laughter is good medicine (Prov. 17:22). Medical professionals agree we need a daily dose of laughter to counter the anxieties of our age. And we have a notable example.

Theologian Elton Trueblood wrote “The Humor of Christ” in 1964. He insisted many of the sayings of Jesus were actually Aramaic “punchlines” provoking laughter as a teaching tool.

Public speakers know that humor and stories, or anecdotes, are what people most often “take away” from presentations, and thus linking these to scriptural principles can make a speaker more effective.

But a good lesson to remember about humor is it can be misinterpreted and can be hurtful.

Self-deprecating humor is generally safe, and if used wisely, can be appropriate and effective in our presentations and conversations.

Calling or hiring?

Rick Lance
Executive Director, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

When I hear certain expressions, I cringe. Sometimes I have to hold my tongue when I hear people say, “We just hired a new pastor,” or when I hear a pastor say, “We hired a new minister on our staff.”

Pastors and others called to Christian ministry are just that — called, not hired. What is the difference?

If the ministry is just like any other vocation — that one is “hired” to do a job — then the word “hired” is appropriate.

Pastors and ministers are called of God first and then called to a specific ministry later. It begins with a calling and, if properly understood, ministry continues to be a calling.

If we are called to ministry, we should have a ministry description — terminology we employ at the State Board of Missions.

Without equivocation, I recommend it to churches.

A calling is far more than a hiring. Almost all vocations are honorable and needed, but we cannot allow ourselves to see the ministry as a hiring.

Hired hands do not equal called people.

Live out your calling, and never act like a hired hand. The words we use to describe the ministry should be focused on a calling that claims our lives.

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“This is the time to just let our light shine and love our community.”

Pastor Phillip Dunn
First Baptist Church of Mount Juliet, Tennessee

Do you hesitate to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus because you are afraid it will turn you into a stuffed shirt? Never fear. Unbalanced religion may turn you into a stuffed shirt, but not Jesus. In fact, the more you follow Jesus, the more the rabble rousers in the world want to be with you. This happens not because you join in their way of life but because you are a breath of fresh air to them. Mere religion is like stale wind from an ancient grotto, but a life of faith in Jesus vibrates with aliveness.

Bob Adams
Retired pastor

We have to get over this idea in the evangelical world that calling into ministry is a mystical experience that is experienced by a select few “Navy Seal Christians” in the body of Christ. The call to leverage your life for the Great Commission was included in the call to follow Jesus.

J.D. Greear
SBC President

In 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes arrived in present-day Veracruz, Mexico. As legend has it, Cortes began to train, coach and motivate his 500 soldiers and 100 sailors for what would lie ahead, and then he ordered them to do the unthinkable — burn the boats. As doubts arose within his men, Cortes knew this drastic measure would need to be taken in order to ensure their commitment to seizing a treasure no army had taken for 600 years. There was no escape route for when the battle became difficult. They had to press on. The standard had been set, and they were eliminating any temptation or means of something less. They won this treasure because they had to…

The risk seems great as one approaches the shore looking onto a vast battlefield, but the reward, my friends, is living in the most fulfilling place this side of eternity — the satisfying, peace-filled, confidence that comes from knowing you are living in the purpose and will of God for your life.

Brodie Croyle
Executive Director, Big Oak Ranch

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From the Twitterverse

@MattMoore89

I converted to Christianity as an adult. I have what some call a “powerful” testimony. But do you know what else I have? A lot of baggage. A lot of regrets. A lot of sin-inflicted scars. If you converted early in life, don’t bemoan your “boring” testimony. Be grateful.

@NOBTS

“At the end of the day we will be esteemed as either wise people or foolish people based on one factor … it’s one simple thing. You’ve heard the word of God, did you obey it?” — Jamie Dew #NOBTSChapel

@WVGovernor

I truly believe that every human life, born or unborn, is a gift from God. It was a no-brainer for me to sign the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act today. This new law will protect babies who survive an attempted abortion procedure. #WV #WVGov

@bcmlink

Spring break is coming up soon! Join us in praying for students who are serving during the break. Also pray for students who are working, vacationing or resting over the break. Pray that no matter what they’re doing, it is productive and Christ glorifying!

@MattDanielsBCM

“The church needs to stop being a people of convenience and start being a people of conviction.”
— Reginald Calvert

@Blackwell_Kevin

The test of any work of evangelism is not what is seen at the moment or in the conference report but in the effectiveness with which the work continues in the next generation. — Robert Coleman

@danwhitejr

Fundamentalism is not what we believe, it’s how we hold our beliefs.
1. Absolutism in knowledge
2. Self-righteous in spirit
3. Combative in dialogue
4. Us vs. them in orientation
5. Demonizing other groups
6. Policing ideological borders
7. Using shame to control/ostracize

@DrMattQueen

“If we do not start with what is primary, we are not likely to achieve what is secondary, for this is a resultant. … The call to be a fisher of men precedes the call to wash feet.”
— D. Elton Trueblood