While preaching in Ephesians 4 a few Sundays back I made the statement that Progressive Christianity is a clear and present danger to the church. I thought I would use this space to unpack that statement so that all of us can better understand and earnestly contend for the faith as scripture requires. Originally, I intended to write two posts – one defining Progressive Christianity and another sharing its danger. Really, I can’t deal with one without the other! Please let me share a brief, concise look at Progressive Christianity and why it is so dangerous for the church today.
- PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY REJECTS THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE.
This is very subtle – at first. Statements are made that emphasize “We need to mainly look at what Jesus said about issues.” Then we hear, “Well, Jesus never even talked about that issue.” Sounds good on the surface. After all, we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in our Bibles. What Jesus said about an issue certainly matters greatly. However, Jesus’ words are not the only inspired words in our Bible. EVERY word of the Bible is God’s Word. It is an old trick from liberal theologians to seek to elevate the words of Jesus above all the other words of Scripture. It lays the foundation for saying the rest of Scripture isn’t binding. “The Apostle Paul said that, not Jesus” is a statement that is often made, meaning the Pauline epistles are not scripture in the same way as the words of Jesus are. The end result: we don’t have to go by those words if we don’t like them. Ultimately, this “new, modern” way to look at the Bible undermines belief in the inspiration of the Bible, the inerrancy of the Bible, and the authority of the Bible.
2. PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY REINTERPRETS KEY BIBLICAL TEXTS AND DOCTRINES.
For instance, it is now common to see the argument made that the clear words about the sinfulness of homosexuality in Romans 1 do not apply to us today. “Those were abusive same sex relationships. They were not the beautiful relationships like we have today” is one such argument. The crystal clear requirement that pastors/elders are to only be men in 1 Timothy 2-3? “Oh, that is just the Apostle Paul addressing a cultural problem in his day. Jesus never talked about women pastors.” Even “the gospel” itself (clearly defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3) is not immune. We see people adding to the simple, saving gospel of Christ as well as “viewing the gospel through new eyes.” As a result, the gospel is no longer JUST Jesus’ incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, and resurrection. It is Jesus’ incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, resurrection PLUS social justice issues, climate issues, etc.
3. PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY EMPHASIZES SOCIAL JUSTICE TO THE NEAR EXCLUSION OF OTHER BIBLICAL MORAL ISSUES.
Let me be clear at this point: Christians should absolutely seek racial reconciliation and justice for the oppressed. Christians should absolutely stand for the dignity and value of every human life. Those are clear, Biblical positions. However, proponents of Progressive Christianity constantly talk about social justice issues, but remain silent about the evil of abortion, the radical LGBTQ+ ideology in our education system, and lawlessness in our streets. Scripture speaks to those issues just as clearly as it does the social justice issues. For instance, Progressive Christianity constantly calls out fellow believers for not doing enough about social justice issues, but waffles when it comes to abortion. “That is just a complicated issue….”
4. PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY ULTIMATELY SEEKS THE APPROVAL OF THE WORLD INSTEAD OF THE APPROVAL OF THE LORD.
Once the authority of scripture is no longer the guiding principle, the church is unmoored from the anchor of God’s Word. How will church doctrine and practice be decided if not by the clear, authoritative words of Scripture? Inevitably, the answer will be…”Whatever is acceptable to the culture.” It may not start there, but it will inevitably end there. Compromise of doctrine and moral standards will happen in efforts to become acceptable to the world. Progressive Christianity starts out as “We will show you that we aren’t like these other, judgmental Christians” but it NEVER ends there. There is always another bridge to cross. There is always another doctrine that offends.
5. PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY INEVITABLY LEADS TO LEAVING THE FAITH.
Once the church’s beliefs and practices are no longer determined by Scripture, one biblical standard goes by the wayside followed by another and another and another. There is no end in sight. One look no further than the mainline denominations in Amercia today. They have some leaders who not only openly embrace the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, but also deny the reality of hell, the bodily resurrection, and the literal second coming of Christ. They no longer believe that personal faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation. Some actually believe that salvation can be found in most any faith. These leaders and those who follow them have left the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
Speaking of the mainline denominations, let me make a couple of observations. The argument is that the church must change what we believe and teach in order to be acceptable to new generations. If moving away from what the church has historically believed is the answer to declining church attendance, the mainline denominations should be thriving. They are not thriving. They are dying.
The issue for the church today isn’t really even declining chruch attendance. The issue for the church today is FAITHFULNESS. Faithfulness to the Lord and His Word. Faithfulness in living the Christian life in this confused world. Faithfulness to the gospel and the Great Commission in this broken, hurting world. The chuch must start there. How do we take these Biblical convictions and live them out faithfully in the culture without compromise?
Progressive Christianity starts with a different question: How can we change in order to become more acceptable to the culture?
I close with the words of the great English Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He stood against downgrade in his own day. These are Spurgeon’s words in 1887 when the Downgrade Controversy was ramping up. He stood tall for truth and righteousness in the church when almost everyone else would not – even among the Baptists of that time!
“A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese. And, this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea, usurps pulpits which were erected for Gospel preaching. The atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is denied, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin has turned into fiction and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren and maintain a confederacy with them.
We have before us, the wretched spectacle of professorly Orthodox Christians publicly avowing their union with those who deny the faith and scarcely concealing their contempt for those who cannot be guilty of such gross disloyalty to Christ. To be very plain, we are unable to call these things Christian unions. They begin to look like confederacies and evil. Before the face of God, we fear that they wear no other respect. In our inmost heart, this is a sad truth from which we cannot break away.”
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