This week’s release of a manifesto signed by a group of Evangelical Christian leaders is good news for all of us, but is not without its problems. Before addressing that issue however, the direct question is about the definition of the term evangelical itself. In my mind, an Evangelical is one who believes in the Good News of Jesus as savior and seeks to spread that News as widely as possible.

Contrary to what many expect and most Jews fear though, spreading the News is not always about conversion. To be sure, my experience of most Evangelical Christians is that they hope for it, but that their sense of mission is far richer and more complex -- based on the notion that everything they do, can serve as a witness to the good news in which they believe and which they hope all will eventually share.

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