The 19th century saw great missionary efforts go out across the globe.  In the later part of the 20th century, new means of communication such as radio, TV, and the internet emerged. These provided new avenues to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. The growth of this gospel sharing movement was dubbed the 'evangelical movement'. Evangelical literally means 'sharing the Word' - and sharing the gospel became the number one goal.  Praise God for how His word has gone to all nations. 

As evangelicals gained influence in society, new temptations emerged for church leaders. Many preachers reached celebrity status which brought temptations to compromise. Sirens of church growth, attention and political power became intoxicating. At this point, 'evangelism' became evangelical movement and an idol. Preachers made their way on to TV and social media. They self-selected Bible passages so their message might be more palatable for a larger audience. They modified their words and adopt woke positions to maintain their platforms. Mega-church organisations developed a focus on money and earthly prosperity. But when celebrity pastors had public moral failings, their greed and hypocrisy brought shame on Jesus' name. 

Using worldly wisdom, Evangelicals streamlined their teaching around truncated gospel alliances as a means of avoiding censorship. In their minds, this was justified by keeping an avenue open for evangelism. Eric Metaxas calls this a 'downward spiral of silence'. But evangelism is not the Christian's highest calling. Faithfulness is the highest calling. If Christian leaders are not teaching foundational truths, then they are abdicating leadership and diluting the message of the gospel. This is a tragedy.  

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We live in tragic times. Tragedy can be seen when regardless of your choice, you get a destructive outcome. Democracy has become tragic. Recently elections have felt tragic, as both candidates for president or prime minister have fatal flaws. In the US, many evangelical leaders have seen the godlessness of the Democratic party and determined they can't support that platform.  On the other hand, they have seen the toxicity of Donald Trump and decided they in no way want to be associated with him.  And so, church ministers have taken the position that they 'don't want to be political' and avoided even discussing key Biblical topics. Sacrificing the proclamation of truth for the sake of social acceptance was predicted 2,000 years ago. 

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For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

2 Timothy 4:3 

The result is that most of today's church leaders preach a shallow gospel so as to not be accused of 'being political'.  A reductionist Christianity is the ultimate tragedy as that has eternal consequences for Jesus' sheep. One of the largest consequences is that the evangelical message became one of 'cheap grace' where 'salvation metrics' receive higher priority than life-long discipleship. The results of the years of the lack of discipleship are reflected the increasing numbers of Christians who are deconstructing and leaving the faith - withering like the seeds that fell on rocky ground.  

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But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

Hebrews 10:39

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The evangelical movement's failure to fully disciple the flock in the full counsel of God has led to many abandoning their faith in Jesus. The movement needs repentance and reform. The first step of reform is a return to preserving a faithful Biblical position. Once that position has been retrieved, then we can proceed to the important tasks of evangelism and discipleship.