WELS and Evangelical

The following excerpts from a column in the April 2007 Forward in Christ address your question nicely.

“Some of our congregations retain the name ‘Evangelical.’ They put Ev. as part of their name. Perhaps many people have no knowledge that Ev. is short for evangelical. Because it’s a long word, sign makers find it hard to put all that on the sign out in front. So the sign reads ‘St. Mark’s Ev. Lutheran Church’ or ‘Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church.’

“Evangelical has come to mean a group of Protestant Christians. In the media they are usually considered conservative Christians. They often are politically active. Evangelicals are different from fundamentalists. Fundamentalists assert five fundamentals: inerrancy of the Scripture, the virgin birth, the vicarious atonement, the physical resurrection of Jesus, and the authenticity of Christ’s miracles. Evangelicals agree that the inerrancy of Scripture is important and that God is triune. The difference seems to be in their activism—a desire to make society more godly.

“Although ‘evangelical’ still seems to stand for people who espouse Christian values, the term has been diluted to include almost everyone who espouses values embodied in the Ten Commandments. There is little room for differences about human depravity, bondage to sin, the millennium, or the sacraments. These things are left open and non-essential.

“So are we ‘evangelical?’ After all we do hold rather conservative views, and our churches are labeled ‘Ev.’ or ‘evangelical.’ We are members of a synod that even has evangelical in its name, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. We could even agree with the five teachings of fundamentalists.

“But we are different! Our congregations used the word ‘evangelical’ long before the popular religious movement of the past few decades. Many were established a century or more ago. Our synod was founded in 1850 and used the word ‘evangelical’ as part of its name.

“So what do we mean? Evangelical describes an approach and attitude that is centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. That definition of the word has almost disappeared today. One does not hear an emphasis on the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus very often in the media’s description of evangelicals. One might wonder if evangelicals have forgotten it too. We could ask if they have turned more toward conservative activism than proclaiming the forgiveness of sins through Jesus and victory over death by his resurrection.

“We are evangelical in that sense—centered on Jesus Christ and his message of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

“We are evangelical Lutherans. Some will scratch their heads and ask, ‘What is an evangelical Lutheran?’ At that point, the door swings open for our witness to Jesus, who suffered, died, and rose again to give us forgiveness, life, and salvation by grace through faith. It’s all about Jesus. That’s the kind of evangelical we should be.”