At the risk of causing controversy, I would stress that the evangelical road is quicker, easier, and more seductive than the far more penitential yet spiritually richer one of Church Tradition. Their doctrines are less secured and thus their capacity to translate those doctrines into the varying cultures they interact with becomes considerably easier--even, perhaps, to the point of losing some of the cores of the faith. (Though, I admit that would have to be evaluated on a mission-by-mission basis.) This sort of doctrinal plasticity also appears to carry over into their methods of worship which, again, are far more open to a variety of cultures for the sole reason that they are always open; no universal standard or even, it seems, direction exists within the movement.
Certainly there are some very doctrinally strong strains within Protestantism, but this seems like a pretty good analysis of the sort of Evangelicalism that's more marketed than preached. It's very much a feel-good Christianity, and I think it's the logical outworking of the anti-hierarchical attitude created by the Reformation. The Reformers stripped away the Church's tradition with sola scriptura, and Pop-Evangelicalism carries on the stripping-down by downplaying doctrine in favor of experience. (Ironically, the rich experience to be had through life in a Traditional church is derided as "works-based," and liturgical worship as "dead.")
What kind of Christendom are these Evangelicals trying to convert the world to, and what are the converts losing in the process?
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