Popular news blog Newsmax has come up with a list of the top 100 most influential evangelicals in America. Not surprisingly the list includes a large number of wolves in sheep’s clothing. A few examples of those who made the list ate Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer and — are you ready for this? Roman Catholic mystics Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. The top 100 are certainly influential, but evangelicals many of them are not. In fact, a lot of the influencers are not even true Christians, by a long shot. Mark Driscoll, Tullian Tchividjian and Perry Noble are absent from this year’s list.
Evangelicals come from many different Christian denominations, but they all have a common belief in the holiness of scripture and the centrality of faith in Jesus Christ for their lives.
The Pew Research Center estimates that about 25.4 percent of Americans, or about 62 million adults, are evangelicals.
The evangelical faith of these prominent Americans has shaped their lives and influenced their politics, morality, and careers, as well as their personal lives.
This Newsmax list of the 100 Most Influential Evangelicals in America includes pastors, teachers, politicians, athletes, and entertainers — men and women from all walks of life whose faith leads them to live differently and to help others in a variety of ways.