SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Prayer of the Day: Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” John 14:21.
It is well known that some 80% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. It is also clear that evangelical leaders such as Rev. Franklin Graham, Rev. Douglas Willson, Ralph Reed openly and forcefully endorse the president and his agenda which, in turn, has come to shape the preaching, teaching and ministry of numerous evangelical churches. The fact remains, however, that 20% of white evangelicals did not vote for Donald Trump and that many of these believers are deeply troubled by the infiltration of his political priorities into the life of their congregations. Recently, the Christian Century has pondered the possibility that these evangelical refugees might find a home in the churches of mainline Christianity. Michelle Van Loon, a former evangelical, addresses this question in her article, “Four things mainline churches should know about ex-evangelicals.”[1]
Van Loon notes that 3% percent of Americans who have changed their religious affiliation in the last year now identify as mainline or nonevangelical Protestants. That is hardly a mass movement, but it is not insignificant either. Still, I am doubtful that defections from white evangelicalism represents for mainline churches like my own a “field white for harvest.” Like Van Loon, I was “a child of the Jesus movement that swept the country in the late 1960s and early ’70s.” Though I never parted company with my Lutheran tradition, I worshiped with “Jesus People” communities and attended meetings of Intervarsity and Campus Crusade for Christ. I was drawn to evangelicalism by its focus on a deep and personal relationship with Jesus, though again, like Van Loon, I could never point to a particular moment in my life where I “committed my life to Jesus.” Unfortunately, what I found lacking in my Lutheran church community back in my Jesus People days continues to be lacking.[2]
Complaints against evangelical megachurches made by their defectors can be made as readily against our mainline churches, e.g., too much emphasis on programming, politics and fund raising. Too little emphasis on cultivating personal faith and discipleship. As I have said elsewhere, what drew me toward evangelicalism in the first place is what finally led me away from it, namely, Jesus. I became convinced that following Jesus involved more than personal salvation for my own soul and renewal of my individual life-as important as these things clearly are. The Jesus I came to know from the preaching of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. James Cone; the writings of Gustavo Gutierez, Walter Bruggerman, John Douglas Hall and Stanley Hauerwas was ultimately too big for my evangelical faith. Nevertheless, I continue to count myself an evangelical in this sense, namely, that devotion to Jesus of Nazareth is the core of my faith and life. I believe that to be the core also for many who are parting company with their evangelical communities having their faith still intact.
Sadly, I cannot say with certainty that these refugees will recognize Jesus in the typical Lutheran congregation as the glue holding it together.[3] Van Loon points out that “Mainline denominations seem more focused on simply loving their neighbors, no strings attached. If there is a downside to this approach, it is that some mainliners go silent regarding why they’re serving others…” Does that really make any difference? I think it does. The love of which Jesus speaks is not the sort limited to national identity, tribal affiliation or congregational membership. According to our gospel lesson, love means keeping Jesus’ commandments, the principal ones being to love God with all one’s heart and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. And lest there be any mistake about it, the parable of the Good Samaritan makes clear that love for one’s neighbor knows no limit.
Furthermore, for Jesus love is not a strategy for some higher goal. It does not matter whether love for creation expressed in picking trash up on the beach makes a dent in the massive dumping to which our oceans are subject. It does not matter whether public witness for justice and peace move the needle of political machinery to that end. It does not matter whether the enemies we are called to love are moved by our love to change their hateful and aggressive ways. “What’s the use?” is not an excuse. Indeed, disciples of Jesus are called to practice the dictates of the Sermon on the Mount even when they seem to undermine what we believe to be worthy goals. For that reason, a community held together by nothing more than common objectives, however noble they might be, is not enough.
Though the co-option of evangelical leaders and many evangelical churches by the hateful ideologies of Christian nationalism is disheartening, evangelicalism is not altogether a lost cause. There are notable examples of evangelicals seeking to recover the centrality of Jesus for Christian faith. Rev. John Mark Comer has won a substantial following by challenging young people to disengage from the destructiveness of electronic and social media in order to focus on discipleship. Comer’s ministry and teaching is outlined in a recent article by Nancy Walecki in the Atlantic.[4] Comer looks to the life of Jesus as a countercultural way of regaining our humanity and maintaining our spiritual health in this digitalized twenty-first century. Inspired by the monastic order of Saint Benedict, Comer urges his audience to incorporate nine practices of Jesus into their lives. They consist of the following: daily reading of scripture, service to the larger community; keeping the sabbath by practicing solitude; prayer, fasting-which includes abstinence from digital devices, corporate worship, witness and generosity.
Comer’s critics characterize his writings and preaching as little more than self help mantras cloaked in biblical wrapping. While there are obviously parallels to be drawn with self help literature, Comer insists that the practices he encourages are rooted in those of historic Christianity. They are not intended to produce personal happiness, fulfillment or contentment. Rather, they are instruments through which the Holy Spirit forms one’s character into the image of Christ. By imitating Jesus, one becomes more like Jesus. That same sentiment has been central to Christian spirituality from the beginning,
Another example of Jesus centered spirituality is found in the “He Gets Us” movement “that invites all people to consider Jesus and why he matters.” Its mission consists of calling people to “show up in unexpected places and share a story about Jesus in a way that sparks curiosity and invites conversation.” The campaign ran several striking ads throughout the Superbowl this year. According to its website,
“He Gets Us is led by Come Near, a group of people moved to raise the public conversation about Jesus. The He Gets Us campaign is not affiliated with any single individual, political position, or faith denomination. Our creators, partners, and supporters represent a variety of faith journeys, lived experiences, and perspectives, all of which contribute to the work we have produced to date. We all share one common goal: to invite people to rethink their perception of Jesus and what he could mean for us today.”
This evangelical approach represents a refreshing change from the all too common practice of telling people who Jesus is, why they need him and what will happen to them if they refuse to accept him as presented. It reflects rather the very biblical approach to evangelism expressed by Saint Philip who, in response to the skepticism concerning Jesus expressed by his friend Nathaniel, replied simply “come and see.” Isn’t that the only thing we really need to do?
The contribution made by evangelicalism to the life of the church is its emphasis on faith that is relational. At its best, the movement and the churches it has spawned remind us that discipleship is not about acceptance of dogma, but about trusting and following a person, namely, Jesus. Evangelicals remind us that the best and perhaps only evidence for the truth of the Resurrection is the fact that Jesus continues to draw people to himself from all quarters. We should be encouraged to discover that their ministries are reaching people outside the church, people who have left the church and people who have no interest in the church, drawing them into conversation about Jesus. I hope and pray that the same interest will awaken within my own and other mainline churchs where Jesus has too often been marginalized.
Here is a poem by Countee Cullen about Simon Cyrene, the man who the gospels tell us was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. The poem asks us to consider the source of that compulsion and speaks of the kind of faith that evangelicalism, at its best, seeks to recapture.
Simon the Cyrenian Speaks
He never spoke a word to me
And yet He called my name;
He never gave a sign to me,
And yet I knew he came.
At first I said, “I will not bear
His cross upon my back;
He only seeks to place it there
Because my skin is black.”
But He was dying for a dream,
And He was very meek.
And in His eyes there shone a gleam
Men journey far to seek.
It was Himself my pity bought;
I did for Christ alone
What all of Rome could not have wrought
With bruise of lash or stone.
Source: My Soul’s High Song: The Collected Writings of Countee Cullen, (edit. Gerald Early; c. 1990 by New York: Doubleday). Countee Cullen (1903-1986) was an American poet, novelist, children’s writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. It is known that he was born on May 30, 1903 to Elizabeth Thomas Lucas. Due to a lack of records from his childhood, however, his birthplace is unknown. At the age of fifteen, he was adopted by Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, pastor of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, Harlem’s largest such congregation. Taking the name of his adoptive father, Cullen entered the DeWitt Clinton High School, then located in Hell’s Kitchen. There he excelled academically and started writing poetry. After graduating from high school, he attended New York University (NYU). Cullen graduated from NYU in 1925 and then attended Harvard to pursue a masters in English. While there he published his first collection of poems.
The cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance marked a creative explosion of literature, art and music contributed by African-American writers, artists and musicians. Cullen was at the epicenter of this new-found surge in literature. By 1929 he had published four volumes of poetry. In addition to his own writing, Cullen promoted the work of other black writers to national publishers. From 1934 until the end of his life, he taught English, French and creative writing at Frederick Douglass Junior High School in New York City. You can read more about Countee Cullen and sample more of his poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.
[1] Van Loon, Michelle, “Four things mainline churches should know about ex-evangelicals,” Christian Century, (March 2026, Volume 143, Issue #3)
[2] I have shared my own sojourn with evangelicalism in my article, Cosmic Christ and Confessions of a Former Evangelical.
[3] I have shared previously an incident occurring toward the end of my ministry that illustrates the point. I attended a workshop sponsored by my church focusing on ways toward spiritual renewal for our congregations. For an hour and a half we engaged in exercises designed to stimulate conversation, discussion and strategizing for church growth. Toward the end of the meeting, one of the facilitators asked if we had any questions or comments about this proposed program. I raised my hand and asked the facilitator whether she was aware that not once during the entire process did the name of Jesus come up and whether that was inadvertent or intentional. (I thought about adding that I was not sure which answer would be the more disturbing). She did not have much of an answer. Another facilitator finally spoke up and said in a decidedly irritated tone, “I don’t think it is necessary to invoke the Trinity after every single paragraph.” (For the record, I do not recall any references to God the Father or the Holy Spirit either.)
[4] Walecki, Nancy, “Can Turning Off Your Computer Bring You Closer to God?” Atlantic, (May 2026).
Peter's Outer Cape Portico 
That is a beautiful poem.
There is so much in the Gospels about people remembering what Jesus said, especially through parables – it is hard to see how you would leave His Name out of training (your Ref. 3). I’m not good at remembering, but the stories stuck, and I’m sure they did for His listeners.
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