What would Rachel do? The question arises from an online article on the first anniversary of popular progressive Christian Rachel Held Evans’ death – “What would Rachel Held Evans do?“
Whether or not intended, this reminds me of the phrase often evoked by Red-Letter Social Justice advocates, “What would Jesus do?” Perhaps it’s my innate cynicism – I suspect the Red-Letter question isn’t framed around everything Christ said, especially regarding the consequences of sin.
From the article linked above:
“I wonder what Rachel would say about this,” they would mourn, as theological and political divides deepen and a pandemic sweeps the globe.
And this:
“I think she used the time and the access that she had to courageously tell the truth. And there are some people, I think, who would credit her as being the person who made it possible for them to come back to God again, to believe God again, to believe there were Christ followers who were worthy to be trusted.” (Emphases mine)
But is – What would Rachel do – the right question? After all, she has left us a legacy which survives today; which is why the question has been asked. Perhaps we may get an idea by looking at what she did.
If I wanted to know what RHE might say about COVID 19, religion or politics, I’d visit Beth Moore, Jen Hatmaker, and Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Twitter accounts. My reasoning is that they appeared to be unanimous on most socio-politico-religious issues.
When allegations of abuse were aimed at Donald Trump’s Associate Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, RHE and her friends excoriated him, sans any substantial evidence. Is that what Christ followers ought to do – presume guilt?
If RHE were here, would she also then condemn a certain elder Democrat Senator – who is hoping to unseat Donald Trump – and who also has been accused of sexual assault? Well, are her friends calling him out in the same way as they did Kavanaugh? – Not a peep.
What would Rachel do?
Is it even fair to wonder? Perhaps I’m skating on thin ice. Still, Evans supported political and spiritual progressive narratives. She often criticized white evangelicals, and disliked Donald Trump. Her disdain can be seen in an interview about her book, Inspired. She notes
One thing I’ve done is to compare his [Trump’s] presidency to the reign of Xerxes in the story of Esther. Xerxes was a misogynistic, fragile, pathetic racist…
Is that truth-telling Christ-follower language?
Brian Showalter wrote an article both criticizing, and empathizing with, RHE. I think that’s a good thing and while I disagree here and there, he makes some worthy points. Showalter notes:
Rachel was indeed deeply hurt by the church…experienced deep, DEEP wounds that, though I didn’t know her personally and thus can’t say authoritatively, she seemed to have internalized. Those internalized wounds then informed her worldview. This hurt came from being told to shut up and sit down by a right many Christians.
My ultimate problem with RHE’s legacy is her de-conversion narratives.
These were neatly packaged and presented in her book Inspired – Slaying Giants, Walking On Water, And Loving The Bible Again. Evans is a good writer and thoroughly engages her readers. I wish I could write like she did. One reviewer even endorsed it to the extent that he thought it was a contender for Christian book of the year. And that’s a large part of the problem.
Sadly, the title of her book was a misnomer. It went out of its way to deride biblical inerrancy. Often her tone was to scoff and build doubt. In fact Evans valued doubt above faith. She went so far as to agree with Greg Boyd’s assertion that certainty is idolatrous.
We shouldn’t put RHE (or anyone else) on a pedestal, even though we have to acknowledge her hurt. Even so, the truth is she was a committed de-conversion agent, despite friendly attempts by some to reach out to her.
For those interested, my brief review of Evans’ book Inspired can be found HERE. It contains links to more in-depth, better reviews. I also appreciated Doug Wilson’s heart on RHE’s passing:
So the best thing we can do in a circumstance like this is to stand by the gospel we profess, walking none of it back, extend genuine condolence to the Evans family, hope for the best with regard to RHE, and put all our disputes, whether weighty or insignificant, into a context of a momentous and everlasting glory and joy. ~ Doug Wilson
Finally, using Jen Hatmaker’s example, Michael Kruger warns us about the power of de-conversion stories. More recently he wrote The De-conversion of Saruman: Five Lessons to Learn. Here are two examples from the article:
Lesson: Those who de-convert often criticize (sometimes in a virulent manner) the evangelical world they left behind.
Lesson: Those who de-convert are often evangelistic in recruiting others to join them.
Doubt and uncertainty rob us of the hope and joy we find in trusting God’s Holy Word as revealed to us in the Bible. If we cannot trust God’s Word we become like a rudderless ship trapped in a storm, perilously close to the rocks. In that event we will inevitably become shipwrecked.
Maranatha!
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