This series is being put on hold. Click here to read why.
At its core, Progressive Christianity is all about being at the forefront of culture. As culture shifts, they try to keep up. The more western society promotes some kind of social issue, the more they’ll finds ways for the Bible to support it. One of the few things Progressive Christians are willing to oppose, criticize, and reject are “outdated” Christian beliefs.
The rise of social media has made this even worse. In a digital world filled with people sharing their opinions, the best way to be heard above millions of other voices is to be extreme. You need to say things that promote knee-jerk reactions, but only the right kind of reactions.
You could get a barrage of hate and praise for saying something like “Christ is the only way to Heaven,” but that’s the wrong kind of publicity. That gets likes from traditional Christians and anger from the world. It’s much better, then, to keep pushing the envelope like Grace Pointe Church did by saying:
As Progressive Christians, we’re open to the tensions and inconsistencies in the Bible. We know that it can’t live up to impossible, modern standards. We strive to more clearly articulate what the Bible is and isn’t. Catch latest message on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!
Followed by sharing this image:
True, the Bible isn’t a science or rulebook, but historical Christians have spent 2,000 years defending the other things this church denies about the Bible. But there’s no doubt that things like this aren’t meant to appeal to traditional Christians, but rather those who want Christianity without all the stuff usually associated with Christianity. Progressive beliefs are meant to make Christianity acceptable to the world.
This is what Progressive Christianity lives for. They flaunt their rejection of anything associated with ancient and outdated beliefs often mocked by the world. It needs to stay relevant by giving people no excuse to see them as “other” from the current culture. At its core, it’s about making cultural relevance and acceptance the highest priority, and anything related to “traditional” biblical belief can be changed or erased in pursuit of that goal.
Hitting a moving target
Again, it’s all about pushing the envelope. It’s about keeping up with the rest of the world, embracing whatever new thoughts are trending. And with each passing year, their beliefs move in step with the culture.
What may have seemed “true” ten years ago may be completely outdated today, and those who might adhere to things like biblical gender or marriage beliefs, inerrancy, or even the need to repent of sin are just people who are stuck in the past.
Likewise, popular trends in culture quickly find their way to the pulpit and the homes of Christians. New Age philosophy has been Christianized through things like Mindfulness Meditation, and self-help gurus like Rachel Hollis (author of the famous “Girl, Wash Your Face”) appeal to a Christian fanbase by loosely using Christian terms (only to be criticized because there’s always room to be more progressive).
Today, we see Progressive Christianity mutating once again with social justice. Where once Christians promoted equality based on biblical standards, now they are expected to take the culture’s definition of justice (and injustice) and force the Bible to agree. And as Tweets like this demonstrate, there is a growing list of demands if Christians want to stay relevant and acceptable:
Put bluntly, the Bible needs us to update it so it can stay culturally relevant. We need to constantly redefine terms and reinterpret God’s word in order to keep up with what’s trendy. We leave the timeless truths of the Bible behind so that we aren’t left behind by today’s culture.
New values, old compromise
Make no mistake, true Christianity has never been culturally trendy. Even when the whole world appeared Christian in times like Roman Catholicism, what we actually saw was unbelievers using Christendom as a platform to further their own agendas. Americans often ache for the days when “America was a Christian nation,” not realizing that Christianity conformed to a culture of morality and works-based salvation far more than it actually turned hearts towards Jesus Christ. No matter how we try to spin it, Christianity can’t conform to the hopes and ideas of those who aren’t saved by the blood of Christ.
In our post-Christian world, Christianity is no longer the dominant power. Progressive Christianity is the world’s way of granting permission for Christians to take part in the culture. We’re allowed to believe the Bible, but only if we don’t take it literally. We can talk about Jesus, but not to the exclusion of those who don’t follow Him. We can believe God, but only a version of Him that isn’t offensive. We can have Christian beliefs, but only those that secular culture can tolerate.
Culture or Christ?
Ultimately, a Progressive Christian worldview is almost impossible to distinguish from someone who doesn’t follow Christ. Remove a few Christian buzz-words from what Progressive Christians say and you’ll be hard pressed to tell they have anything to do with a biblical worldview. Both will point to self-help, empowerment, and feeling good about ourselves. Both fight for causes that begin with secular assumptions, fight for humanistic goals, and only worry about a person’s earthly and temporal needs. Christiainity is one means of accomplishing this, but any way is valid as long as everyone is working toward the same end.
And, ultimately, neither Progressive Christianity nor secular culture is going to give people a saving understanding of Jesus Christ. One may invoke His name more than the other, but neither cares about the authority of God’s word, nor what it really says about sin, salvation, or our purpose in this world.
This is part of an ongoing series. As new articles are released, they will be listed down below.
Part 0: A Note On How I Define Progressive Christianity
Part 1: A Religion That’s Doomed to Fail
Part 2: Trend Chasers
Part 3: Gimmicks Before Gospel
Part 4: An Overwhelming Fear of Man
Part 5: Death By No Foundation
Part 6: Predictably Popular
Part 7: Why I’m Still Hopeful
Pingback: Progressive Christianity Part 1: A Religion That’s Doomed to Fail – Onward in the Faith
Ray, thanks for providing the information about Grace Pointe, and for the honest perspective about historical American Christianity. I hope other readers make good use of these.
I do not think you show that Progressive-style trend chasing is contrary to biblical teaching, or that it is any worse than the trend chasing of traditional Christianity. The big problem is that you include very few specifics.
I first became aware of your site when you posted positively about Black Lives Matter. For most people who identify as “traditional Christian,” a pro BLM attitude is the very definition of trend chasing. Of course, at different times, Christians who opposed slavery, supported women’s suffrage, used modern Bible translations, and opposed monarchies were also trend chasers. This means that trend chasing itself is not bad. The issue should be “which trends?”. Otherwise, you’re just kidding yourself.
Per the Bible, your assertion, that the highest priority of Progressives are cultural relevance and social acceptance, is unfair, even insulting. Just because some of what they promote meets your definition of social acceptance does not make this their priority. It may be that Grace Pointe seeks to obey Matthew 22:36-40 and Romans 13:8-10. They may interpret some things, but it’s wrong to attack their motives. Do traditional Christians support Donald Trump just because it is trendy for them to do so? Since we do not like this accusation, we should not accuse others.
Your comment that they want the Bible to be updated is flat out wrong. Unless you are using an extremely narrow definition, it’s safe to say that very, very few want to change the contents of the Bible. I’m certain that you cannot present evidence otherwise.
And your suggestion that Progressives do not adhere to a biblical world view is also wrong. Grace Pointe does not adhere to YOUR biblical worldview (although most of their ten points adhere to traditional Christianity). I’m certain that they would insist that they adhere to A biblical worldview. It’s OK to disagree, but it is not OK to make accusations without a careful presentation of the evidence.