Quite possibly, it is losing its usefulness as a word to describe people who cherish the Bible, prioritize on the gospel, embrace the new birth, and work for spiritual renewal and social good—as evangelicals historically have done. If so, this I know: the evangel itself—the joyful announcement about Jesus—will never outlive its usefulness. 

“What’s in a name?” asked Shakespeare’s lovelorn Juliet.

Wouldn’t her beloved Romeo still be a pretty cool guy, even if his name was Bob, Octavius, or even Orange Marmalade? After all, she reasoned, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

But names and labels get more complicated when it comes to religious, social, and theological movements, especially when the name of the movement—as in the case of evangelicalism—has a very important word embedded in it: evangel, the Greek word for the gospel.

The gospel is central to what evangelicals have historically believed. Narrated in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, the gospel is the joyful announcement that Jesus, by his death and resurrection, can give people his Spirit, restore them to a right relationship with God, and energize their efforts to live out his life and to spread this good news to more people.

Michael Reeves, in his recently published book Gospel People: A Call for Evangelical Integrity, insists that “there is a biblical case to be made for the importance and the goodness of being evangelical” (13). At the same time, he offers this important caveat:

I do not mean to defend everything that calls itself evangelical. Far from it. Looking around at the phenomenon of evangelicalism today, it seems a mile wide and an inch deep. . .

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