I am an evangelical Christian. The word "evangelical" is a good one. At least, it used to be. It has its origin in the root word "evangel," which means "good news." In fact, the word translated in the New Testament as "evangelist" is the noun from a verb which means "to announce the good news."
To be an evangelical Christian, then, means to identify oneself with the good news that Jesus preached, namely, the gospel of the kingdom of God. Christ's inaugural sermon in the little town of Nazareth made clear how, why, and to whom his message was such good news:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
(Luke 4: 18-19)
To the Jewish masses under the yoke of Roman domination, the message was good news indeed. The ruling religious and political authorities, however, found this evangel very bad news and set themselves against Jesus right from the beginning.
Today, the greatest number of the world's people are also poor and oppressed. They too would find the evangel of Jesus to be the best news they had heard in a long time.
But is that the message heard today from our evangelical preachers? Do the affluent millions who comprise the burgeoning American evangelical movement find their identity in the promise of salvation, freedom, healing, and liberation proclaimed by Jesus at the outset of his ministry? Does the word "evangelical" conjure up the vision of a gospel that turns the social order upside down? Listening to modern evangelical proclamations leaves one with the distinct impression that the content of the message has been changed.
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