White Evangelicals’ Struggle with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Why are White Evangelicals obsessed with everything Christianity is NOT about?

When you hear that someone is a “Christian,” what character traits come to your mind? When American Christians were asked this in a 2016 Pew Research survey, the majority responses included qualities like “believing in God,” “praying regularly,” “being honest at all times,” “forgiving those who have wronged you,” “working to help the poor and needy,” and “being grateful for what you have.” These qualities were among a list of fixed responses that the respondents could choose from. In a section of the survey that gave respondents the opportunity to further expand this list, qualities like the Golden Rule, kindness, empathy, love, being a good person, and tolerance were mentioned.

“Christian” comes from the Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos), which translates to “follower of Christ.” If someone is a Christian, it would thereby indicate that they supposedly adhere to the teachings and guidance of Christ. The top survey responses of “believing in God” and “praying regularly” would hopefully lead to a desire of seeking and actionizing what Christ would have his followers do. In fact, Christ was asked this very question. So what did the Man Himself have to say?