一个美国福音派年轻人的心声

一个美国福音派年轻人的心声

作者：Ben Cremer

（中文版机器翻译自作者脸书：https://www.facebook.com/ben.cremer/posts/866911267384，题目为转发者所加，感谢作者允准翻译及转载）

有人问我，为什么我认为我们这一代人正在离开福音派传统？我开始写回应，然后我开始崩溃。一开始是回应，但后来变成对一个传统，一个我热爱和珍惜的传统的哀叹。

我5岁时就把生命交给了耶稣，后来受洗进入教会。我7岁时被呼召做牧师，即使经历了几次重大的信仰危机，我也无法撼动这个呼召。从2004年到2012年，我在一些我有幸遇到的最伟大的神学大师手下、也在他们身边学习。这使我对基督呼召我们成为的教会的关心远远超过了对一个政党或其意识形态的关心。

我的许多朋友已经离开了信仰。我很想念他们。哀叹他们为什么离开对我是很重要的，我希望能从这些哀叹中悔改和学习，我希望他们和他们的后代能重新加入我们并留下来。

这是我写给福音派的哀歌。这不是写给某个人、某一代人、某个政党或宗派的。这只是把我这一代人对福音派传统本身的哀叹做一个汇编。希望你能以谦卑的精神来阅读它，正如我也以谦卑的态度写下它。

福音派，你们教给我们这一代人基督徒的生活方式，可悲的是你们一直没有活出来。

你们教导我们要先求神的国，但你们却常常先求美国的强大。

你们教导我们要宣扬基督是万物之主，但当谈到真正的权力时，我们听到的却是你们在谈论总统。

你们教导我们要纯洁和尊重，但当我们呼吁政治领袖对妇女和有色人种发表不健康的言论时，你们却对我们大发雷霆。

你们教我们暴力不是解决问题的方法，也教我们爱我们的敌人，但你们却似乎对战争和持枪权如此痴迷。

你们教导我们要传播福音，但我们从你那里听到的却大多是政治意识形态的传播。

你们教导我们要以朋友的身份欢迎陌生人，帮助那些需要帮助的人，但你们却如此轻蔑地谈论移民和难民。

你们教导我们要悔改，然而当我们想从种族主义、军国主义和民族主义中悔改时，你们却把我们当作只是在政治上被误导，而不是因为福音而下决心悔改。

你们教导我们，所有的生命都是神圣的，却说得好像这只适用于未出生的人。我们也关心人类生命存在和被关心的所有其他方式，甚至地球本身，它的气候，它的动物，以及它的未来。

你们告诉我们与上帝的关系是福音的道路，与行为或律法无关。但我们听到的很多话语，都是关于努力让对我们有利的人在政治上掌权，和通过塑造法律制度来支持符合我们价值观的东西。

你们教导我们单单敬拜上帝，视圣经为我们的主要权威，但你们却表现得好像这个国家和它的宪法跟圣经是在同一个层面上具有权威。

你们说我们这一代人懒惰，被权利惯坏，并因为我们离开教会而羞辱我们。虽然你们的批评有些准确，有些不准确，但我们觉得你们自己先放弃了很多你们教给我们的东西，变成懒惰的教会，被政治权力惯坏。

也许我们这一代人在福音派中的空间越来越小，因为比起成为基督的教会，福音派更渴望美国成为一个基督教国家。我们这代基督徒更想成为教会而不是其它。


（附英文原文）

Someone asked me why I thought my generation is leaving the Evangelical tradition. I started to write then I started to breakdown. What started as an answer turned into a lament over my tradition. A tradition I love and cherish.

I gave my life to Jesus when I was 5 and was later baptized into the church. I was called to be a pastor when I was 7 years old and even through I had several major crisis of faith, I couldn’t shake that call. From 2004 to 2012, I studied under and next to some of the greatest theological minds I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. This caused me to care far more about being the church Christ called us to be than I’d ever care about a political party or its ideologies.

Many of my friends have left the faith. I miss them. It’s important to lament why they left and I hope to repent and learn from those ways so they and the future generations may join us and stay.
Here is my letter of lament to evangelicalism. This is not written to individuals, a particular generation, political party, or denomination. This is just compiled laments from my generation about the tradition itself. May you read it in the humble spirit in which it was written:

Evangelicalism, the way you taught my generation to live is sadly not what you’ve been living out.
You taught us to pursue the kingdom of God first, yet you so often pursue America first.
You taught us to proclaim Christ as Lord of all, but when it comes to talk of real power, all we hear you talking about is presidents.

You taught us about purity and respect, yet get mad at us when we call out political leaders for their unwholesome remarks about women and people of color.

You taught us that violence isn’t the way to solve our problems and to love our enemies, yet you seem so preoccupied with war and the right to bear arms.

You taught us to spread the gospel, yet so much of what we hear from you is the spreading of political ideologies.

You taught us to welcome the stranger as a friend and help those in need, yet you talk so disparagingly about immigrants and refugees.

You taught us to repent, yet when we want to repent from racism, jingoism, and nationalism, you treat us as if we are just politically misguided rather than gospel determined.

You taught us that all life is sacred, yet talk as if it only applies to the the unborn. We also care about all other ways human life exists and is cared for; even the earth itself, it’s climate, it’s animals, and it’s future.

You told us relationship was the way of the gospel and it had nothing to do with works or legalism, yet we hear so much talk about working to get the right people in political power and to shape the legal system in favor of what we value.

You taught us to worship God alone and see scripture as our primary authority, yet you act as though this country and it’s constitution is on their same level.

You called my generation lazy, entitled, and shame us for leaving the church. While some of your criticisms are accurate, some not, we feel like you’ve abandoned so much of what you’ve taught us, become lazy as the church and entitled over political power.

Maybe there’s less and less room for my generation in evangelicalism because there’s more of a desire to be a Christian nation than there is to be a Christian church. We want to be the church more than anything.