Well how complicated do we need to make it? I would say this umbrella term covers those who are born again, who acknowledge God daily, and want to tell others of their good discovery. I think most evangelicals are trying to get out into the fields for the harvest. Meanwhile, many other groups are theorizing about the harvest--what scything technique, where do i start, when is it ripe...
If Evangelical is used as an umbrella term that way, Jonathan, wouldn't it be much simpler and truer to just call it Christian and be done with it? After all, born again, confessing Christ as Lord and claiming Him as Risen to others is at the core of Christ's teaching.
If that's the case, then most if not all Christians are Evangelical - including Catholic Christians. Catholics are in the mission field and at home living out the Gospel as they clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick and elderly - and study and teach the Word of God.
Maybe we should be seeing Christian groups as either talk-ers or do-ers or a maybe even a combination of both, because that's where I see the distinctions. Some people love to tell people about Christ, others love to serve quietly, making Christ active in everyday life.
Evangelical, to my mind anyway, is a misnomer. It can be applied to any group that brings Christ to the world, and I can say with confidence that the Catholic church does that in spades. I can also say with confidence that every Protestant church I've belonged to has also had the same goal. I'm inclined to just call us Christians - simple as that.
Jonathan's definition seems to reveal the common anti-intellectualism of evangelicalism; there is a cultural distaste for theology, as if those who reflect are somehow detached from Christian work. There does seem to be this idea that "theology is over", that all is revealed in Scripture. What I see lacking in evangelical groups is any real reverence for Mystery; I'm sure it's there, it's just not expressed in a way I'm used to seeing or hearing. I need to work on that.
Among other things.
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