Evangelical, born again, empowered evangelical or just plain old Christian?

Ask almost any Christian, at least in the United States, who they admire most in the Christian world, and you may likely hear:  Billy Graham.  With good reason, too.  Graham has been faithfully preaching the gospel for 60+ years.  Now in his mid-80s, he’s still preaching, having just completed a crusade in Kansas City a few weeks ago.  No accusations of being money hungry.  Nobody accusing him of sexual immorality.  The man truly is incredible.

Graham has been called the world’s most influential evangelical.  With Bush now back in the White House for four more years, we are told that we have returned a conservative evangelical to the White House.

How about you?  Would you consider yourself a conservative evangelical or just a regular old evangelical?  Billy Graham has said there are conservative evangelicals in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches.  I have friends who look at the war in Iraq and say, "Bush is no conservative evangelical."  Hmmm…

Well, okay, how about this view of an evangelical, as spoken by some of the Vineyard pastors I run with.  They refer to themselves as empowered evangelicals, taking their cue from Vineyard pastor Rich Nathan’s fine book "Empowered Evangelicals."

Back when I was in college President Jimmy Carter didn’t use the word evangelical.  He called himself a "born-again Christian."  Those engaged in evangelism, me included, went around asking people, "Are you born again?"

Chuck Colson, one of President Nixon’s aids, wrote a hugely popular book back in the 1970s about his  conversion called "Born Again."

But Billy Graham has stuck with the word evangelical.  In one interview Graham referred to an evangelical as someone who believes all the doctrines in the ancient Nicene Creed.  That’s fine.  I can certainly say the old Nicene Creed with a clear conscience, if I could find a copy.  Honestly, how many people these days know the Nicene Creed? 

Graham has stressed the centrality of the resurrection and the belief that salvation is through Jesus, alone.  "Ah ha," you say.  "Now I get it.  That’s what I believe, too.   That’s evangelical.  And furthermore, I believe that the Holy Spirit heals people today and all kinds of miracles are possible." 

Fine by me.  Does that then make you an "empowered evangelical"?  Pity the other evangelicals.  I guess they are unempowered.  I wonder if there are 12-step programs specifically designed for unempowered evangelicals?  "Hi, my name is Fred and I am an unempowered evangelical."

We in the Vineyard are doctrinally conservative, although even Vineyard folks argue about what are the doctrinally conservative issues.  For example, in some Vineyards women can preach and teach.  In others they can’t.  Believe me, there are wonderfully brilliant, empowered evangelicals on both sides of that issue.  (By the way, the Vineyard Statement of faith is outstanding in my opinion!) 

Essentially, we in the Vineyard emphasize the need for a definite commitment to faith in Christ.  Conversion is real and crucial.  We further affirm that faith is very important to our daily lives.  We believe Satan exists and that there is a battle raging between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.

In my ministry experience, I would say that most people use the terms born again and evangelical interchangeably. 

I don’t pretend for a second that navigating all the nuances of these terms is easy.  Meanings change as cultures shift and as time inexorably marches on. 

So how about this, brothers?  We are Christians — Christ followers.  Christ with the Latin ending … followers of.