Stuck Between Saul and Paul: The Crisis of American Evangelicalism

At its core, the American Evangelical identity is a strange hybrid — part Old Testament legalist, part New Testament recipient of grace. We Evangelicals straddle obedience to rules and rituals on one side, trusting in God’s unmerited favor through Christ on the other. The result? A faith that often feels more like appeasing an angry God than resting in His love.

Many American Evangelicals, though they recited a Sinner’s Prayer long ago, live as what might be called Christian atheists — believing in Jesus as Savior but doubting His sovereignty and the Spirit’s power in daily life. Churches overflow with people who are “saved” but rarely discipled, busy with church programs, yet reluctant to unmask themselves before God and others.

Stuck Between Saul and Paul

Paul the Apostle’s testimony in Galatians 2:20 is striking:"

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..."

Before his conversion, Saul of Tarsus hated and persecuted those who followed Jesus’ radical way of life. After encountering the risen Christ, he was transformed from Saul to Paul — seeking no longer to be enslaved to rules or political power but seeking surrender entirely to God’s grace and authority.

Sadly, many of us American Evangelicals seem stuck between Saul and Paul — clinging to rules, morality, and political allegiance, as if God’s Kingdom depended on cultural power. On January 6, 2021, as the U.S. Capitol was stormed under Christian banners and crosses, it was Saul — not Paul — who showed up.

Finding the Narrow Way

Jesus calls His followers to something repugnant to human nature: the crucifixion of self. Yet, this is the path to hope — trusting God’s sovereignty; belonging to His eternal Kingdom, rather than staking everything on America’s future with the exception of a personal crisis here or there. Ironically, God is often thought of as the Grand Protector against suffering that may be necessary for our growth. When suffering becomes life-threatening, our faith comes under severe test, through which we find ourselves with only God to trust and no predictable outcome.  

What would it look like to live with no fear of government, no anxiety over public opinion, and no illusion that God’s blessing rests on national exceptionalism?

It would mean returning to joyful repentance, trusting not in our political strategies or moral performance but in God alone. It would mean walking the “narrow way” Jesus described — a way of humility, transparency, and community – not just a personal faith but a shared journey of transformation.

The Only Way Forward May be Back!

Where do we go from here? Perhaps the only way forward is back — back to the Gospel of the present, dynamic, triumphant Kingdom of God that turns our pride upside down and renders us citizens of an eternal realm that cannot be shaken despite the outcome.