A new convergence?

I’m just wondering, does postmodernism in Christian practice bring us into a convergence of the old labels of evangelical and liberal streams? This certainly seems to be the understanding of Brian Mclaren – see his A New Kind of Christian trilogy and A Generous Orthodoxy. ‘Evangelical’ and ‘Liberal’ are both modern categories, a creation of their time, and both seem to be at the end of their tenure. It is interesting to note that evangelical groups across the world are forming alliances around particular issues – one such alliance exists within the Uniting Church of Australia as a response to concerns, and a new effort to end the genocide in Sudan, Evangelicals for Darfur (of which one leader in this initiative is Brian Mclaren). The former is a group of like-minded people defending ‘their turf’; the latter a wide-ranging group that would likely not agree, but still fit within the broad category of evangelical. This suggests a breakdown in the category, which is a good sign that progression is being made towards a broader unity (and hopefully the death of the label).

Another later thought to add to this post is that the categories of evangelical and liberal are largely irrelevant in Australia. So it is difficult for me to authoritatively comment.