Question: Which of your beliefs has changed that made the label “Evangelical” no longer correct for you?

This is a difficult question to answer in brief. However, I shall make an attempt. I will preface this by saying that I consider myself, in part, an Anabaptist who is on a slow pilgrimage toward the Orthodox Church. However, I admit I am in the desert, so to speak, on a journey between lands. I really enjoy it here and am in no rush.

It is also worth noting that I have retained the core elements of Anabaptism: Jesus as the very centre of faith, Jesus is the revelation of who God is, social justice and peace as inseparable from the Gospel, the importance of learning and discipleship in community, non-violence, and loving others generously—to name a few. Meanwhile, I have attempted to divest myself of the Evangelical elements and influences that invariably crept into the churches I attended as a youth.  

I no longer believe that God is like Zeus. By this, I mean I no longer believe that God is an enraged deity who harbours a barely restrained hatred for His creation. I believe that Jesus Christ is God and reveals exactly who God is and what God is like: God’s very core essence is Divine Love.

I no longer believe that God was punishing Jesus on the Cross as a substitute for the punishment He wanted to pour out on humanity in an enraged, murderous fit of wrath. This an unworthy depiction of the Creator God who is Love and who wants to restore humanity to a complete and peaceful wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.

I believe that in the Incarnation, Life, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus Christ revealed the full reality of who God is and what God is like. I believe that Christ overcame Death and Sin thus restoring to humanity the ability to be restored to God in an unhindered, completely open and free relationship. Because of this, we are invited to be transformed and transfigured as the image and likeness of God within us is freed to become like Christ.