Playing With Fire: Progressive Christianity

I am convinced that one of the biggest infiltrators of the Christian faith in our time is the ideology of Progressive Christianity. Maybe you are not familiar with the term but if you have been around Christian subculture for any amount of time, you have likely heard of some of its key players. So what is Progressive Christianity? Like the name states, it is said to be a Christian ideology that is in fact progressing into greater truth by centering on the teachings of Jesus and his love. While that may not sound off, Progressive Christianity redefines the meaning of love and compromises many core doctrines of the faith. In this blog, I want to explain why progressive Christianity is not simply another denomination in the historical Christian faith but quoting apologist and author Alisa Childers, it is in fact “another gospel.”

            At the time of this post, I have been a Christian for about 7 years. As I began digging into Bible studies, authors, and podcasts by Christians, I was introduced to Jen Hatmaker. In a mom’s Bible study I was in, we even went through one of her devotional books. If you are not familiar with Hatmaker, she is an extremely gifted writer. She has a great way of making you feel like you are one of her girlfriends and shares hilarious tribulations of motherhood in a way that will make you laugh out loud. I was thrilled to find a voice that was easy to read, funny, and “safe”. I began to listen to her podcast, read her books, follow her on the socials, and even attend one of her speaking engagements. To say I was a fan is an understatement. What I really liked about her podcast is that I was introduced to others in the Christian space who I was unfamiliar with and soon I had found an entire network of new voices and personalities whom I was “following”. 

            In 2016 Jen Hatmaker made headlines when she came out in an affirming stance for LGBTQ and left the traditional view of the Christian sexual ethic for something more progressive. This was shocking to say the least. Lifeway pulled her material and in a way, she was blacklisted from the evangelical Christian community. While she addressed the fallout, I heard her say again and again that she and her husband Brandon, who was a pastor, spent much time searching the scriptures and researching to come to this conclusion. She said it wasn’t something she came to lightly but felt this was the true Biblical position. I kept waiting for her to explain how and why she came to this conclusion. What I was missing in the scriptures. I continued listening to her podcast and was loving all of the guests and the different perspectives they were bringing. Little did I know I was being indoctrinated into a web of Progressive Christianity. 

            One of the most wonderful gifts that we have as Christians is being filled with the Spirit whom Jesus said would guide us into all truth (John 16:13). I began seeking the truth. I wanted to know what was real and what was false. I wanted to know what God said, not someone’s opinion. That same year, the Lord brought 3 different people into my life who shared that they struggled with same-sex attraction. I was also introduced to Rosario Butterfield and Jackie Hill Perry’s testimonies which include coming out of a gay lifestyle. These were the stories I was not hearing on Hatmaker’s podcast. These were stories of redemption and surrender to the Lord. These were stories not of people who were being “oppressed” by God’s law but were living in freedom and joy. As I talked about this with my friends who struggled or whose spouses struggled with same-sex attraction, I came to understand in a new way that our sin struggle does not define us. We are not defined by being gay or straight. Our identity comes from the Lord. I believe one of the biggest schemes of the enemy is to make himself seem like the more loving, tolerant, and inclusive option and to make Christians who hold a Biblical perspective seem like the true enemy. If you struggle with understanding this, I highly recommend checking out testimonies of those who have come out of a gay lifestyle. 

            However, the focus of this blog is not just about Progressive Christianity being affirming. While I do believe this is a dividing line, I didn’t realize until diving deeper into Progressive Theology that it distorts the truth in many other ways. Progressive Christianity questions and twists the inerrancy of scripture, the atonement, and negates the need for repentance. I am using her new book, Another Gospel, as the framework for this post. In her book, Childers shares how she was a part of a group at church who began to investigate what they believed. She did not realize at the time that this was the pastor’s way of taking the church congregation from an evangelical church to a now self-proclaimed Progressive Christian church. Unfortunately, this class led to a dark time in Childers’ life where the unanswered questions and distortions of truth caused her to deconstruct her own faith and begin her quest for truth.  There are many ideas I would like to address but two of the most essential to understanding the distortion of truth of Progressive Christianity are their views on the atonement and of the authority of the Bible. I will briefly summarize these points but for further reading, check out Childers’ new book Another Gospel. 

            What is the atonement? Historic Christians would say that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, and was willingly crucified on a cross as the perfect, final sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. Three days later he rose from the dead forever conquering sin and the grave. Now whoever believes in him shall too experience eternal life in Heaven. This is the basis of the Christian faith. What it all hinges on. If Christ did not die in our place and come back to life, then there is no Christianity and essentially no hope (1 Corinthians 15:14). However, Progressive Christianity questions whether or not this event actually happened. One Progressive Children’s Pastor Anna Skates wrote a blog post here where she states, “the point of the Easter story isn’t whether or not Jesus LITERALLY rose from the dead. We’re missing the point if we’re fighting over the historical accuracy of a bodily resurrection.” I would argue that if Jesus did not literally resurrect from the dead then there is no Easter and nothing to celebrate.

            Progressive Christianity also claims that the cross shouldn’t be celebrated but is actually child abuse if God the Father ordered that his son be sacrificed on our behalf. William Paul Young, Progressive Christian and author of The Shack and Lies We Believe about God puts it like this, “Who originated the Cross? If God did, then we worship a cosmic abuser, who in Divine Wisdom created a means to torture human beings in the most painful and abhorrent manor…” The cross is what defines Christianity. That a loving God would come down to earth and offer himself as the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins is the good news. The distortion of truth to make the cross reprehensible and shameful is manipulation and misses the entire crescendo of the Biblical narrative.

            The other idea I want to bring to light from Progressive Theology is the lowered view of scripture. Historic Christianity views the Bible as God’s words. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” In a world where truth is subjective, God’s word is the absolute truth and is inerrant. However, Progressive Theology believes that God’s word was not inspired by the Spirit but inspired by the authors, just like how J.K. Rowling was inspired to write Harry Potter. The Biblical authors were just trying to write down how they interpreted God at the time and now that we have progressed as a society and have greater understanding, we have a better view of who God is and which parts of his word are actually true. Progressive Christian author and scholar Pete Enns explains it like this, “The Bible is an ancient book and we shouldn’t be surprised to see it act like one. So seeing God portrayed as a violent, tribal warrior is not how God is but how he was understood to be by the ancient Israelites communing with God in their time and place.” In this view, we can’t trust everything that the Bible says and it is up to the individual to determine which parts are true and authoritative for our lives.

            There are many more things to unpack with Progressive Theology but I hope this has shed some light on how this ideology compromises some of the core truths of Christianity. If you too have found yourself following or listening to those in the Progressive space, begin to look closely at their worldview and Biblical beliefs. Often we don’t deep dive into someone’s theology or the theology of their spiritual fathers so to speak. Several years ago when I was listening to popular Progressives, I had no clue that this seemingly “loving” movement was compromising some of the core tenets of the faith in a way that distorted the gospel. My hope is that you would be able to see behind the smokescreen to the dangerous views this theology is propagating and that the Spirit would guide you into truth.