Maybe I'm a Mennonite...

"True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all men." Menno Simons
This evening, a Missionary Baptist co-worker and I tussled around a pool table and wrestled with issues like scriptural authority and interpretation. I was reminded throughout our conversation that I am, truly and fully, an evangelical. That may surprise my cohorts; in some circles, "evangelical" has become a curse word that we fling against hate-mongering, book-burning image of the Christian Right. We claim that we are spreading the abundant love of God in contrast to a faith that is based in fear, when in reality we are making an idol of our own understanding of God by shutting out the voices with which we disagree. I DO serve the same Christ as Pat Robertson, and though our interpretations of what Christ mandates are different, it is the same Christ. We forget that we share the same language, imagery, and faith. When we tear each other apart, it is ourselves that we are blinding for we are all one body.
The social justice I preach, the simplicity I practice, the work I take on to overturn oppression are all the work of evangelism. They are the embodiment of the wild, radical, and beautiful teachings of Christ. They are the enactment of the Sermon on the Mount. They are realization that true evangelism is not contained in the winning of hearts and souls, but also encompasses the participation in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, which is indeed mandated as our primary motivation. Our conversion is not complete until it is made manifest in all aspects of our lives, including the belief and behavior that my friend emphasizes as well as the political and economic ramifications to which I have devoted myself. Menno Simmons understood that, and from the tradition he inspired have come some of the bravest and truest saints I have encountered. Oh, how I desire to have that same courage.
And so, I will continue to preach Christ crucified and risen, and declare the liberative power of the resurrection to overcome the violence and darkness that has been shown through our destructive lives and social cycles.