I can’t control what people mean by “evangelical” any more than I can demand that non-English speakers understand my English. A word means what the hearer thinks it means. Meanings of words change. For instance, “gay” used to mean bright and happy, as in “a gay party.” “Cool” used to refer to air temperature. In the last few decades, “evangelical” has grown to mean something different. It used to be that people thought a fundamentalist was an evangelical on steroids and an evangelical was a fundamentalist on Prozac No more.

I started out fundamentalist, not evangelical. At Silver Acres church Pastor Cantrell would say, “If you wish to join our church, we’re independent, non-denominational, unaffiliated, Bible believing, pre-millennial, and pre-tribulational.” I thought, if you understood all that, you deserved to be baptized! Two things were important: right belief and right lifestyle. Right belief meant belief in an inerrant Bible. At Silver Acres, a wall-to-wall mural showed scenes of the fantastic beasts of Revelation and the elect (us) flying up to heaven before the world’s tribulation and the coming of the millennial reign. I don’t remember studying Jesus’ Beatitudes; fundamentalists thought these were applicable only in the millennial age. We concentrated more on the epistles.

We fundamentalists soldiered through life separated from the corrupt world, trying to recruit others to our small band. We avoided a select list of behaviors—I didn’t go to a dance until I was 22 years old. Ditto for drinking alcohol or attending a public movie theater. I never even tried smoking. My sister and I watched Spade Cooley smoking on a black and white show and knew he wasn’t a Christian. These prohibitions, not the Beatitudes, guided my behavior and made me feel superior to the worldly folks around me. At the same time, I felt myself a weak outsider to their way of life.

After graduating Moody Bible Institute I attended Cal State Fullerton. My fundamentalist identity didn’t work very well there so I started calling myself evangelical. I sought to make friends with “worldly” people and broadened my tolerance for other Christians—even Catholics.

People used to define an evangelical as “somebody who liked Billy Graham” (even though fundamentalists would criticize him for hanging around with the liberal “modernists”) According to British historian David Bebbington, an evangelical Christian believed in four essential doctrines: 1. A person must have a “born again” conversion experience—hence evangelicals were known as “born-again Christians.” 2. Jesus’ death on the cross atones for humankind’s sins. 3. The Bible is the ultimate spiritual authority. (When you ask, “How does God come to you?” an evangelical is more likely to say, “through the Bible.”) 4. Christians ought to actively share their faith through witnessing and good works.

And yet today most people hearing the word “evangelical” don’t think of pious, separated, sober people who take the Bible seriously. “Evangelical” has fuzzy boundaries. A 2022 comparative survey asked the question, Would you describe yourself as a born again evangelical? Between 15 – 25% of Mormons, Muslims and Catholics answered “yes.” (https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/the-rise-of-the-non-christian-evangelical) Today, some of the people in the following groups self-identify as evangelical: People in historic “mainline” churches (Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and also Catholic). People of other religions such as Islam. Even some people who are atheist or agnostic. What do these people mean by “evangelical?”

Today, for many people,“evangelical” means a certain political persuasion. The conservative evangelical block is the most reliable voting block for right-wing political causes. This block is even rehabilitating the term “Christian nationalism.” To help pay his legal bills, the Republican nominee for President is now hawking the “God Bless the USA” King James Bible ($59.99) which also contains the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence, thus lending bible’s advertising campaign his name, likeness and image.

Today, “evangelical” may refer to people who would vote for anti-abortion laws. They would favor restricting trans people from church leadership and would oppose blessing same-sex couples. Many would oppose D.E.I. (diversity, equity and inclusion) being taught in public schools. All of this seems more political than biblical.

Sadly, the term “evangelical” has been contaminated by right-wing politics and thus has lost its traditional meaning to most people outside the church. Thus, if you wish to identify today as an evangelical Christian (in the traditional sense) you must use a different term!

So, do I call myself an evangelical? If I’m talking to evangelical “insiders” who share the old definition, maybe. But in general I avoid the term with people outside the church. I use “Christ follower” or simply “Christian.” Why? Because if you wish to maintain your true identity you must use the language, not of your grandparents, but of contemporary hearers. To maintain the meaning you must change your words.