Much has been made of late of the young “evangelical radicals,” whose writings and ministries provoke and poke and prod what they view as acculturated, complacent American believers.
My friend Matt Anderson has written a gracious, perceptive article about some of them in Christianity Today, and even Backpacker magazine recently had an article on evangelical “greens” whose passion for “creation care” animates their ministries.
While there is nothing new under the sun, there is also nothing wrong with youthful enthusiasm as long as it is tempered by a (1) healthy dose of humility and (2) sound theology, articulated clearly and carefully.
As a young man, I recall the earnestness with which I read everything from The Post-American (later Sojourners) to the Journal of Christian Reconstruction, Ron Sider’s book on “nuclear holocaust” and the magazine of the Officer’s Christian Fellowship.
As I developed my own thinking about social and political issues, I was impressed by the newness of my insights and the urgency with which they should be communicated. I recall worrying that a mild illness I had at the time would prevent me from completing my graduate thesis (on evangelicalism and the application of the “just war” theory to the possession and use of weapons of mass destruction), in which case unique and important perspectives—authored by me—would be lost permanently.
In case my intended self-deprecation is not obvious, let me make it so: Neither the wisdom I accrued nor the passion I felt were unique. Ideas I formulated likely had been thought by others (and probably in long centuries past) and convictions I developed were shared by many Christians throughout the ages.
Read more at http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/38750-on-being-a-radical-evangelical