Will the term ‘evangelical’ survive the Trump storm?

The question is not a new one, but it remains highly relevant. What does it mean to be an evangelical today?

If you look at the press and social media over the past few weeks, evangelicals are those who compare Trump to Jesus (Paula White) or to Esther (Franklin Graham), who invoke cursing psalms against the Iranian army (Peter Hegseth), who want to strip women of their right to vote (Doug Wilson), who support every Israeli military action in Gaza and Lebanon (Mike Huckabee), and who view the clash between ‘good’ MAGA and ‘evil’ woke in apocalyptic terms (Eric Metaxas).

Public opinion believes that the term ‘evangelical’ identifies the cultural foundation and religious justification for Trump’s persona and his policies

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Public opinion, especially in countries where evangelicals are a minority or where the meaning of the term is more variable (for example in Italy), believes that the term ‘evangelical’ effectively identifies the cultural foundation and religious justification for Trump’s persona and his policies.

‘Evangelical’ is therefore viewed negatively, casting a sinister light on all those who use it to describe their faith, their churches, and the type of Protestant culture of which they form part.

Many Italian evangelicals have recently had awkward conversations with friends or acquaintances who have asked them indignantly: “Are you the ones who think Trump is like Jesus or who support war?”

Horrified by these connotations, many are wondering whether it would actually be better to abandon the term altogether and reinvent their identity using other terms, such as Christians, disciples of Christ, followers of Jesus, gospel-centred or biblical.

Many Italian evangelicals have recently had awkward conversations with friends: “Are you the ones who think Trump is like Jesus or who support war?”

While not everyone envisages an immediate and radical solution, there is a growing disenchantment with everything 'evangelical' given the politicisation of the term.

The issues at stake are complex. From this tangled web, I will draw out just a few threads in the hope of beginning to untangle it, at least partially.

1. Words have fluid and evolving meanings. The term 'evangelical' has always been open to negotiation and must be constantly re-examined.

There is the biblical reference to the 'good news'; the historical context linked to Protestant Christianity; the connection to the era of evangelical revivals; and the evangelical movement itself.

Some prefer the first, second, third or fourth layer, or a combination of them. In recent years, there has also been an attempt on the part of Roman Catholics to appropriate the term (see George Weigel, Evangelical Catholicism, Siena, Cantagalli 2016).

Evangelicals must protect the term from current manipulation and from being crushed by powerful media phenomena that boast of their proximity to it

At different times, evangelicals have felt the need to clarify the meaning of the word 'evangelical', distinguishing (and opposing) it from Roman Catholicism, liberalism, ecumenism and neo-charismatism in turn.

This shows that there has never been a peaceful, definitive time for the term 'evangelical'. It has always been caught up in the events of history and exposed to its storms.

Today, evangelicals must protect it from current manipulation and from being crushed by powerful media phenomena that boast of their proximity to it.

Rather than abandoning it, it must be defended, embodied, and revitalised as it always has been.

2. As far as media coverage is concerned, the figures who today seem to embody the average evangelical in the United States are, in reality, borderline – if not downright disastrous – examples of the movement (with the exception of Franklin Graham, to whom I will return later).

The American evangelical world still has a solid structure of thousands of faithful churches and millions of believers, who also look on with amazement and embarrassment at what is happening

Although the media tend to take the part for the whole, the evangelical significance of Paula White and her associates is negligible when compared with the doctrinal and spiritual aspects of evangelical faith, evangelical history across its various periods and the global nature of evangelicalism, which today is a movement of hundreds of millions of believers, only a tiny fraction of whom are Anglo-American.

Its present and future do not depend solely on that. Furthermore, the American evangelical world still has a solid structure of thousands of faithful churches and millions of believers, who also look on with amazement and embarrassment at what is happening, even if they tend to be (too) silent on the matter.

3. Having nurtured these figures and their ideas within its ranks for a long time, US evangelicalism certainly has unresolved issues.

This applies to Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed and non-denominational groups alike. The figures mentioned above come from across the entire evangelical spectrum.

This does not mean that European, Latin American, African or Asian evangelicals are immune to criticism. We all have homework to do and pitfalls to watch out for.

American evangelicals, in particular, seem to be especially sensitive about this:

- 'Civil religion', in which God and the United States become one single entity. This structure demands that Catholics, Jews, Muslims etc. pray for the president and the nation. It also often confuses the concepts of the 'people of God' and the 'American nation under God'.

Furthermore, civil religion does not allow the necessary prophetic distance from politics, and it tends to attribute 'messianic' traits to the incumbent president.

- The overlap between the Gospel and political and cultural conservatism. God is neither conservative nor progressive, but this does not mean that evangelicals are neutral on political and cultural issues.

American evangelicals seem to be especially sensitive about this: a 'civil religion', an overlap between the gospel and political conservatism, and an uncritical support for the policies of Israel

While the two-party system has undeniable advantages, it does not help to distinguish evangelical cultural orientations from political alignments.

- Uncritical support for the policies of the state of Israel. Zionism has infected evangelical spirituality, transforming the state of Israel into a kind of idol to which everything is permitted and which Christians must support unconditionally.

These are the issues on which all evangelicals should exercise greater biblical discernment.

Paula White and her associates are stumbling precisely on these slippery slopes. Franklin Graham is also falling on all of these “banana skins”.

Unlike others, Franklin has so far represented the 'centre' of the US evangelical movement, but he has increasingly aligned himself with these three distortions, indeed becoming their spokesperson.

He has transformed from an evangelist into a political activist. However, outside the US, he has lost the credibility he inherited from his father, Billy.

Is it worth discarding the term 'evangelical' because of the Trump storm? No. From a prophetic perspective, abuses and inappropriate political entanglements must be denounced wherever they occur, not just in the US.

Above all, the evangelical identity must be lived out in a responsible and credible manner, starting with local churches and being part of evangelical networks that deserve the name.

Ultimately, the current storm will pass and we must await its conclusion, trusting in God's promise that He will not abandon the church to its own devices. To quote Eduardo De Filippo, “the night must pass”.

Leonardo De Chirico, theologian and evangelical pastor in Rome. This article was first published in Loci Communes and translated into English with permission.