The Barna Group (home page here) recently published their fourth set of results from the 2024 American Worldview Inventory (overview here) survey. It indicates that the historical definition of evangelism is out of sync with contemporary beliefs and practices (details here). For example, the following are results from attendees of EVANGELITICAL churches…

• Over half (54%) stated that people are basically good.
• Exactly half said they believed one can earn their salvation through good works.
• Twenty-four percent “reject the biblical nature and character of God”.
• Twenty-six percent “worship spirits other than the God of the Bible”.
• Fifteen percent occasionally cast spells on other people.

What is Happening to the Word Evangelical?

The term “evangelical” has lost its meaning, just as the word “Christian” did a generation ago. One can no longer assume that those who use these words to describe their beliefs must include the acceptance of the Bible as the inerrant word of God or that Jesus Christ is the only path to Heaven. 

What does the Bible say?

If one looks up the Greek root word, it means a great deal more than “the good news or the gospel”, because of what it is paired with.

Strong’s Concordance states (details here) the root word… “The Gospel (2098 /euaggélion) includes the entire Bible, i.e. it is not limited to how a person becomes a Christian.” 

Not only does it refer to the whole of Scriptures, the term is nearly always associated with the concept of “go and tell”, i.e. proclaim, spread or preach. 

Examples of its use, according to Strong’s can be found in…

Matthew 4:23 – And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Mark 1:14 – Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

Acts 20:24 – But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Syncretism – the Religion of American Evangelicals

Again from Barna’s research (details here)… 

“The overwhelming majority of American adults—92%—embrace a worldview known as Syncretism – a fusion of disparate ideologies, beliefs, behaviors, and principles culled from a variety of competing worldviews into a customized blend.” 

Of those who identify as evangelicals, 64% actually have a Syncretism worldview “often-conflicting blend of philosophies of life that a person pieces together for their own satisfaction”.

We are a confused group who believe what we wish to believe, accept what we wish to accept from God’s word, and reject what we find offensive, indefensible, and /or inconvenient.

Webster confirms the word syncretism is, “the combination of different forms of belief or practice”.

After Syncretism, Barna found the next highest percentage of American religious beliefs was a Biblical Christian worldview. However, that only comprised 4% of the total population!

So, even though many Christians call themselves Evangelicals and attend Evangelical churches, only a small fraction are, in fact, evangelicals within the traditional theological definition of the term. 

Conclusion

Barna’s final point as quoted from a recent newsletter and based on an incorrect and impotent “theological criteria of evangelical” still states…

“The idea of a denomination or even individual churches being “evangelical” has lost much of its meaning in the past quarter-century. When adults who describe themselves as Christians are asked what type of church or denomination they attend, 11% of adults claim to usually attend an evangelical church. But only one-third (34%) of those adults meet the theological criteria of “evangelical.”

If one uses a more traditional definition of “evangelical” which includes a firm belief that…

• the Bible is without error,
• there is only one way to Heaven, through Christ (John 14:6) and,
• as Christians, we are called to share the Good News to a lost and dying world (Matt. 28:19),

…the percentage of American “evangelicals” who are evangelical sadly becomes even more anemic.  

Romans 11:5 – So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

POSTSCRIPT…..

Well, the comments have already started and one reader asked me what my point was on this point. So perhaps i was not as clear as i should have been so I summarized my points as follows:

I appreciate the question and the way it was asked..

To your question…. “what is your point” … I would offer all the points brought out by Barna as part of my point, such as the first five bullets of the post. Then I would say my further point is…

1. Evangelicals think of themselves as the height of Christianity, yet the very definition used by Barna is not a traditional view of evangelism based on the list of the three bullets at the bottom of the post.

2. Then I would say my point was that the word Evangelical is losing its definition just as Christianity has lost its, which is why I use the term Biblical Christianity.

3. Then my point was that Barna, even using a weak definition, is showing only 34% of only 11% fall under that definition.

4. Finally, i end with the real point that there will remain a remnant which emphasizes sadly…..

Matthew 7:13–14 — “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Given 1500 words which have a number of Scripture and other quotes mixed in, I would say that covers my attempted points for the post. The question was not whether Christianity can survive the redefining of the term Evangelical [as you suggest]. It was that both terms and more importantly, the underlying folks who fit under their traditional definitions, are becoming more and more isolated and rare.