This is a great blog from Sojourners we had to share with you. Many of our members are faced with these labels, sometimes coming from both sides (as Democrats and liberals we are questioned, “You are an evangelical?!” And within our churches we are questioned “You are a Democrat?!”). Whether you fit the true meaning of the word “evangelical” or not, you no doubt find yourself having to disprove the negative stereotypes many “Christians” in our society have given us…disproving the judgmental, non-compassionate, non-loving and un-merciful stereotypes is part of the CDOA mission.

From Sojourners (read the full article here):

A week or two after the 2004 election, I was dining with some friends in New York when the conversation turned to religion and politics — the two things that you’re never supposed to discuss in polite company.

George W. Bush had just been re-elected with the help of what was described in the media as “evangelical voters.” And knowing that I am an evangelical Christian, my friends were terribly curious.

“What, exactly, is an evangelical?” one gentleman asked, as if he were inquiring about my time living among the lowland gorillas of Cameroon.

I suddenly found myself as cultural translator for the evangelical mind.