Evangelical Protestants are big on living in tension. We want to be bold for the Gospel yet without bombast or rudeness. We want to be gracious and accepting while not compromising the hard truths of Scripture. Evangelicals want to stand confidently for clear biblical teaching but don’t want to force our faith down anyone’s throat.

We want to be salt and light in a decaying culture but don’t want to be argumentative. We want to bring healing to the broken while admitting we’re pretty chipped and banged-up ourselves.

In politics, we want to be effective but not aggressive. Wise but courageous. Not taken-in by false or terribly flawed leaders but dealing honorably with the political hand we’re dealt. We want to work to oppose evil while not demonizing our opponents.

We want to be generous but not imprudent. We want to follow Jesus radically but not be radical for its own sake. We preach God’s wonderful grace without forgetting His justified wrath.

Yet some of us compromise in theology and practice, dabbling in heresy and displaying hypocrisy. We show contempt for people enmeshed in sin. We ignore people enmeshed in sin.

We’re all over the place. And that’s the bottom line: Pretty much anything anyone says about the Evangelical church in America is true. We do well. We do badly. We stand for Christ. We embarrass Christ.

The Danger of Constant Dissatisfaction

I write the above because some Evangelical writers and intellectuals are continually evaluating, surveying, and dissecting orthodox Protestantism. They write “big think” papers about the movement, host scholarly seminars, put together panels of leading Evangelical thinkers, and publish reports on the state of historic Christianity in America.

Some of them have hardly a kind word for the broad Evangelical community. Their musings are diatribes of the dissatisfied. Their expectations constantly too high, their aggravation knows no end.

Evangelicals thinkers should not ignore problems in the church. Imperfect people sin. When Evangelical leaders or ministries fail morally or theologically, they need to be held to public account. Judgment within the household of God is a scriptural demand.

Christians have never lived in a state of perfection. To gripe endlessly about the problems in the Church is to ignore both Scripture and history. “As we study the annals of church history,” writes Gavin Ortland, “we find that God has often been profoundly at work right amid all the mess and mire of human imperfection — even, at times, gross and grievous imperfection.”

Don’t Forget the Great Things God Is Doing

While standards should be upheld, contempt and disappointment as a virtual state of being should have no place in the Christian heart and mind. Failures should not be documented to the near-exclusion of the faithful work and ministries of tens of millions of Evangelicals who quietly lead imperfect but Christ-honoring lives. Or those who pastor them. Or the myriad ministries in which they are involved.

“The state of your soul depends on what occupies your mind,” writes Jon Bloom on the “Desiring God” website. “If your self is occupying your mind, forget peace and contentment. You don’t find those in a vacuum of needs and sinful cravings. And forget loving others.”

Let us not forget to recognize and report on the great things God’s Spirit is doing through those He has ransomed through the death and resurrection of His Son. I’m not talking about self-congratulation but emphasis. Over-focus on deficiencies not just demoralizes you and others, it shows an arrogance that divides and humiliates.

A Plea for Truth in Love

Please: Let’s quit analyzing all we are and do quite so much. Only Jesus showed “grace and truth” at all times and in all situations. We must still be self-critical, but let’s remember that most Evangelicals seek to live lives worthy of Him Who has called us from the kingdom of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Remembering that, let’s accept one another in love, exhort, encourage, and evangelize, do good to all men, make disciples, and live-out the Lordship of Christ in every sphere of life.

Let’s be transparent about our corporate and individual failures. But let’s also press on to what lies ahead, for the joy that is set before us, moving toward Christ-likeness with ever-renewed dedication.