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merrittbaileywaxOn a recent episode of Ed Stetzer’s weekly internet show, The Exchange, I joined Sarah Pulliam Bailey and Jonathan Merritt for a conversation about the future of evangelicalism, especially in light of recent controversies surrounding same-sex marriage.

Sarah is a national correspondent at Religion News Service. She’s one of my favorite reporters, and I’ve been following her commentary since her days as an editor for Christianity Today. Check out an older conversation Sarah and I had about “Why the Press Just Doesn’t Get Religion.”

Jonathan is a friend who writes for Religion News Service and is a frequent commentator on issues related to Christianity and culture. He has three books, including Jesus is Better than You Imagined, and A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars (which I reviewed here).

I’ve seen a lot of internet chatter about this panel discussion, and so I want to link to the video here. Some have expressed gratitude at the civil way in which we engaged in a conversation that included differing opinions. Others were interested in this conversation because the three of us are millennials who have a stake in what happens next among evangelicals in North America.

The big question that the panel tackles and discusses is this:

Will evangelicals eventually agree to disagree on the legitimacy of same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage, much like evangelicals have agreed to disagree on women’s ordination, the exercise of spiritual gifts, how to handle divorce, and other contentious issues? 

Sarah comes at this question with her reporter’s hat on (although her infamous hats are conspicuously absent in this video!). She analyzes it from a journalistic perspective.

Jonathan comes at this question by drawing on his own experience and his relationships with evangelical leaders. He sees this issue as far from settled and wonders out loud about how evangelicals will address the issue.

I come at this question by putting it in context of global evangelicalism, the authority of Scripture, and the history of church controversy throughout the centuries.

As you can see below, it was a lively discussion that, hopefully, furthers an ongoing conversation about the future of evangelicalism.

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