Progressive Christianity: Another Round of Falsehood
It’s been interesting to me to read and watch church history, especially over the last 100 years or so. False teaching and bad theology just make their rounds. One round will blow through, then comes another and another. There’s never anything new; it’s just a reiteration of old, bad stuff.
Back in the 1960’s and 70’s, the false teaching of prosperity gospel and positive thinking really got a jumpstart with Dr. Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral. “God wants to make you healthy and wealthy.” That one really hasn’t ever totally gone away.
And in case you’ve been watching the news in the last few weeks, you may have heard that plumbers found $600,000 cash in one such pastor’s bathroom walls when they were there making repairs. I can tell you unequivocally that pastor’s name is not ‘Shawn Otto’!
After Schuller, we get into the 1980’s and 90’s and we felt the full force of the Seeker-Sensitive movement, led by guys like Rick Warren at Saddleback Church (think, The Purpose Driven Life) and Bill Hybels at Willow Creek Church. These guys used worldly methodologies, not biblical ones, to “soften the entry gates” into the church.
When that wave subsided (although the effects are still being felt), along came the Emergent Church Movement, a movement based on post-modern ideologies that ultimately “emerged” into more liberal, loose translations of the Bible and doctrine. All of this leads to a contemporary movement we wrestle with today known as “Progressive Christianity.” What follows are some basic tenets of Progressive Christianity. I think it’s important for Christians to recognize it and compare it accurately to what the Bible actually says:
Progressive Christianity is characterized by a willingness to dismantle tradition, accept all forms of human diversity (including deviant sexual behavior, for example), puts a strong emphasis on social justice (care for the poor, equity for the oppressed), and sees environmental stewardship of the earth as a top priority (“save Mother Earth”).[1] Progressive Christians will pound away at “you just need to love your neighbor” which leads to a focus on promoting values of compassion, justice, mercy, and tolerance, often through political activism.
Now, are all those things individually and categorically wrong? Of course not! As Christians, we do promote compassion, justice, mercy, care for the poor, and so on. But a major difference – and this is critical – is the end goal that separates Bible-believing Christians from Progressive Christians.
Progressive Christianity has three underlying characteristics[2]. One, a low view of Christ. They don’t see Jesus so much as the divine Son of God, but rather just a moral example for us to follow. You’ll hear things like, “Quit talking so much about doctrine; just focus on what Jesus did. He was loving; He was kind.” Yes…but what about His claims to “seek and save the lost” (Lk. 19:10)? How does this tie in?
Two, as a result of Jesus just being a moral example, Progressive Christians focus more on moralism than salvation. “Be kind to your neighbor, rescue the immigrant, feed the poor.” Yes, but is that their greatest problem? When do we tell them about sin and their need for a Savior?
Which leads to the third characteristic: Progressive Christians downplay our fallenness and downplay sin. “We’re all good people. The problem isn’t sin; the problem is the shame we feel from sin.” There’s no interest in talking about sin, only ridding ourselves of shame. There’s no interest in talking about the wrath of God because we’re all “good” people.
This way of thinking leads to a denial of wrath. Which leads to a denial of hell. Which leads to a denial of eternal punishment because those things “just aren’t nice things to say to ‘good’ people.” Do you see the problem? What does the Bible say?
1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV), “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” There we have the great purpose for which Jesus left the splendor of heaven and entered His creation: to save sinners (cf. Mt. 1:21, 9:13; Jn. 12:46).
Save sinners from what? The impending wrath of God due their sin (see Jn. 3:36; Rom. 1:18, 6:23; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6). It’s that message – Jesus came to save sinners from the wrath of God – that keeps Chinese Christians meeting in secret and sharing the truth with their families. It’s that message that emboldens North Korean Christians to smuggle Bibles across their borders. It’s that message that inspires Afghan Christians to share their faith with the Muslims who persecute them.
Do those Christians and Christians around the world care for the poor, feed the hungry, look after the marginalized, and seek biblical justice for the oppressed? Of course they do! But that’s simply the fruit of a changed heart, a heart rescued from bondage to sin and turned in glorious praise to the Savior and Lord Jesus.
If Progressives end with moralistic, good deeds and don’t tell the fundamental purpose for which Christ Jesus came into the world – to save sinners from the wrath of God – then all they have accomplished is to send people with full bellies, a nice roof over their heads, a happy marriage, and good health straight to the horrors of hell because they don’t know Jesus as their Savior.
Don’t get tripped up by the nice-sounding message of Progressive Christianity! Stay true to the Bible’s message of God’s redeeming grace toward all who would repent of their sin and confess Jesus as Lord. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Amen and amen!
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[1] For further definitions, see https://www.gotquestions.org/progressive-Christianity.html or check out Alisha Childer’s recent book Another Gospel? (Tyndale, 2020).
[2] Dr. Michael Kruger, Reformed Theological Seminary, https://rts.edu/resources/what-is-progressive-christianity/
