faq #4, is not one sparrow an evangelical effort?

Number four in our frequently asked questions series has as much to do with not one sparrow's foundation and makeup as a community as with our concern for animals, but it's an important one for that same reason.  Is not one sparrow an evangelical effort?  The short answer is "yes, and ..."  But let me flesh that out a little bit before any eyebrows raise too curiously.

One of the main reasons not one sparrow was launched a little over two years ago was because I (Ben DeVries) had become painfully aware that there was very little voice for animal concerns from, and especially within, my home community of faith, the evangelical tradition.

I knew that many animal advocacy organizations already existed, many of them doing excellent work, but few of them were were speaking within the biblical, theological and moral framework of evangelical and other confessional Christians, and because of that were having very little impact in those faith communities, if not turning them off to animal causes altogether in some instances.

Because of that, as our mission statement affirms, not one sparrow "is dedicated to being a voice for animals in the Christian community."  Most importantly, we "want to help Christ's community become better caretakers of animals, for the sake of our own response to the gospel and to show the world that the good news reaches to all creatures."  But, in recognition of the important work being done and the good friends we've made in the broader cause, we're also "committed to supporting the animal advocacy cause where we can, and contributing a faithful perspective to it."

But what do I mean by "evangelical and other confessional Christians," you might ask?  Well, as for the former, I personally grew up as an evangelical with a non-denominational bent, the son of a youth pastor and church pianist in the Chicago suburbs and later missionaries to Europe, my parents Daryl and Cheryl DeVries.  Both of them have stopped at no lengths to support my winding career ever since, which has included stops (and fortunately also degrees) at Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, as well as a brief foray into the world of evangelical publishing (a bit more of my bio as well as a personal story about how I came to care so much about animals is available on my personal page).    

It was at Trinity where I completed my seminary capstone project in spring of 2008 on a biblical-theological foundation for animal welfare.  In the paper I mentioned the lack of serious attention to animal concerns which I'd observed in the evangelical community, and possible reasons for it, as well as my desire to try to play a part in addressing that shortcoming with not one sparrow. 

And that remains my desire, however much remains to be accomplished.  Though I've struggled with different aspects of evangelical culture and unnecessary theological squabbles, I continue to be grateful for my heritage and count myself an evangelical.  Though I'm sure I've assimilated many quirks of the movement along the way myself, I hope to be someone who aspires to the best traditions and possibilities within evangelicalism.  The recent "Evangelical Manifesto" and Roger Olson's How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative might be helpful resources along these lines.  Please feel free to share any which may have been helpful to you.

At the same time, I can't escape the truth that there is only one collective Church in Christ, and we have many brothers and sisters in Christ in other traditions.  not one sparrow is most definitely for them as well, and we're blessed to have several of you already as members of our community, but more on that in part two ...

(photo copyright Lawren/123rf.com)