I have a big question for you today.
Is Christianity evolving? I mean, does the Bible actually talk about what many refer to today as “Progressive Christianity?” It’s certainly thought-provoking. But what exactly is Progressive Christianity? I’d like to take today and next week to investigate the topic. With me? Let’s start!
What Is Progressive Christianity?
You can google Progressive Christianity and get 17,900,000 results. I looked at several and landed back at the first entry—ProgressiveChristianity.org. On this site, we see a list of the eight pillars—and they’re on several other websites—that most proponents would agree with as being foundational to who they are. These eight pillars are—and read them carefully:
- Believe that following the path and teachings of Jesus can lead to an awareness and experience of the Sacred and the Oneness and unity of all life.
- Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience the Sacredness and Oneness of life and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom in our spiritual journey.
- Seek community that is inclusive of all people, including but not limited to: conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, believers and agnostics, women and men, those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, those of all classes, and those of all abilities.
- Know that the way we behave towards one another is the fullest expression of what we believe.
- Find grace in the search for understanding and believe that there is more value in questioning than in absolutes.
- Strive for peace and justice among all people.
- Strive to protect and restore the integrity of our Earth.
- Commit to a path of lifelong learning, compassion, and selfless love.
Now, most of these sound wonderful on the surface, so maybe you’re thinking, What’s the big deal. Well, Christianity is not a surface-y faith. The truth is, Progressive Christianity is a recent movement in Protestantism that focuses strongly on social justice and environmentalism and often includes a revisionist—or nontraditional—view of the scriptures.
Since this movement entails a number of different beliefs and views on various topics, there’s a lot to unwrap here. It’s difficult to label the whole movement decisively as biblical or unbiblical. Each claim of belief of any movement should be filtered through the Word of God, and whatever does not line up with the Word of God should be tossed out. So, I’m going to do just that.
Let’s take a look at each of these eight so-called pillars, and see just how they line up with God’s Word.
- Believe that following the path and teachings of Jesus can lead to an awareness and experience of the sacred and the oneness and unity of all life.
So, here’s my question on this one: Who defines this path we’re talking about? Jesus does say in John 14:6 that He Himself is the WAY—or the path—the truth and the life. So the goal isn’t to learn Jesus facts and find a certain path or a certain dozen paths, but to find a certain person, Christ Himself.
Also, Jesus adopts those who confess and place their faith in Him as sons and daughters. He doesn’t simply bestow an “awareness” or “higher consciousness” upon them. And the Bible knows nothing of chasing after experiences. In fact, it’s this emphasis on feelings over faith that has led to most cults and false religions that we have today.
- Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience the Sacredness and Oneness of life and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom in our spiritual journey.
Well, we don’t even have to go beyond the verse I’ve just shared to refute this point, John 14:6. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” No one means no one. In other words, there aren’t many ways as Progressive Christians insist; there’s just one. And there aren’t many people providing that way to God. Acts 4:12 makes this irrefutably clear. It says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
To be fair, if Progressives are talking about spiritual disciplines, retreats, prayer, good orthodox Christian books that we read, solid preachers of the Word to help us on our journey, then number two would be right on. However, most of the time, I find this is not what they mean by “diverse sources.” Often, they are referring to the teachings of flat-out false religions or New Age Movement, extra-biblical revelations that do not line up with the Bible, anti-Christian sources, and more.
In the entire book of Galatians, for example, Paul spends most of his time warning us about such people. Not only should we avoid listening to them, he says it’s shocking that any true believer ever would listen to them. Galatians 1:6 says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” Well, that’s what Progressive Christianity really is—a different gospel. And he’s not alone in this. One of the most baffling things we see in the church today is how quickly and easily Christians wander from the faith by following seemingly every new fad that comes down the pike.
- Seek community that is inclusive of all people, including but not limited to: conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, believers and agnostics, women and men, those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, those of all classes, and those of all abilities.
Okay, for this one, I mostly agree with it on its face; however, I suspect, like the others we went over, that there’s meaning behind the meaning. But first, at face value, Jesus came for sinners, not the righteous. The Bible makes that plain. He came for the sick, not the healthy, not because the healthy righteous person doesn’t need salvation—they do—but because those who feel like they’re healthy and righteous are difficult to convince that they’re not healthy and righteous, that they need salvation. Their righteousness and good standing falsely convince them that God is sufficiently impressed with them and that they’ll get into Heaven on their own merit.
However, Romans is 3:10 pulls the rug out on the merit-based admittance card when it says, “It is written: there is no one righteous, not even one.” So, there’s no such thing as a righteous resume impressive enough to nullify our unrighteous condition.
(Now, I think I need to be really clear. Jesus didn’t hang out with sinners because he was somehow interested in becoming one. He hung out with sinners because He came to rescue them from their sins, and quite frankly, people experiencing the pain and consequences of their sin are usually the most open to change.)
- Know that the way we behave towards one another is the fullest expression of what we believe.
Well, this is an easy one. I agree.
So, that’s exactly half of the eight pillars of Progressive Christianity. Eye-opening, right? Come back next week for the remaining four pillars.
Until then, I invite you to join me and the Summit family this Sunday morning—in-person or online—for an awesome time of worship. We’re live at 9am & 11am MDT. Hope to see you there!
Until next time, Peace!
~Pastor Rob
Aka P-Ro