The term "Evangelicalism" really describes a huge tent that covers many very different kinds of Protestant groups in this country. What ties these groups together, broadly speaking, is their foundational reliance on the scripture. The term Evangelical originates in the Greek word evangelion, meaning "the good news," or, more commonly, the "gospel."

The pastors and teachers who wrote and/or signed “An Evangelical Manifesto” clearly intend to take back the theological meaning of evangelical from politicians, political strategists, media celebrities and those who run the parasitical “faith-based” organizations like Focus on the Family. While Evangelical, in a theological sense, means the centrality of the Bible, it also includes an emphasis on conversion, what some call being “born again,” and on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. In addition, Evangelicals believe in taking their faith into the world. Now, however, they want to regain the missionary and good works sense of faith in action and tamp down on the idea that faith in action means political activism, especially for only one political party.

There are many reasons why the meaning of Evangelical is being debated in this particular time, and why these particular Evangelical leaders felt compelled to enter this debate with such a cogent statement.

First, it is inaccurate to portray Evangelicals as wholly conservative Republicans, or even as Republican at all. Faith in Public Life, the faith-based group who sponsored the recent “Compassion Forum” on CNN and of which I am a board member, started tracking exit polling during the Iowa caucuses and after. In a blog post called “Exit Polls Pigeonhole Evangelicals Again,” on January 8, 2008, a blogger noted, “They did it again! Just as in Iowa, yesterday’s media-sponsored Election Day poll failed to ask Democrats in New Hampshire if they were evangelical. Voters from both parties were asked about their church attendance and if they were Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Something else, or None. But only Republicans were asked if they were born-again or evangelical Christian”.

This blogger went on to note, “Asking only Republicans about their religion shows that the media is still stuck on the outdated and false notion that evangelical Christians are the GOP's political property. No party can own any faith. Evangelicals have broadened their agenda to include care for the planet, the poor and the stranger, and as a result are increasingly independent politically. Exit polls need to abandon the hidebound frames of the culture war -- evangelicals already have.”

It is surely the case that many Evangelicals have abandoned the “culture wars” already; Richard Cizik, nicknamed “the green Evangelical” is a leader in raising climate change issues in a specifically Evangelical theological context called “Creation Care.”

Poverty has become a central concern for Evangelicals as well. Many Evangelicals and religious observers locate this shift in the testimony of returned missionaries from abroad. These Evangelical missionaries are rotated back to the states more frequently than in the past, when previously people sent out on missions could spend decades abroad and only return to retire. When these younger missionaries return to the U.S., they are raising the issues of clean water, food, HIV/AIDS and a host of concerns related to poverty and disease among the peoples of the world with whom they have ministered. Their witness in turn influences the broader American Evangelical community to broaden their social agenda.

I have worked with members of the Evangelical community for decades on issues of peace and justice and I welcome “An Evangelical Manifesto” as a way for Evangelicals to take their faith back and claim their roots in the Gospel as the true meaning of Evangelical. It is no wonder that the political types such as James Dobson or Richard Land were apparently not asked to sign it.