An evangelicalism that majors on “core doctrines” and operates extensively through parachurch organizations has little patience for church distinctives that divide. However unintentionally, Christians reared in this context can come to view any sources of division as counterproductive distractions from the real mission. As such, open membership fits right into the contemporary evangelical ethos. To put it negatively, dividing over “nonessentials” has become a cardinal sin of evangelicalism.
