Hattie’s Hangout: Nothing about the Holy Word of God is progressive

“Too many Christians are concerned with being right, rather than being Christlike.” Have you ever heard a pastor or Christian speaker proclaim this?

On its face, it sounds good, but Christlikeness requires holiness and truth– not just love.

Progressive Christianity has a long history. Beginning in the early 19th century Enlightenment and now reaching present day Postmodernism, this theology views Biblical doctrine as regressive and suppressive. The golden calf promotes the rule of man over the divine authority of God, tolerating worldly beliefs that sway more rapidly than a rickety bridge made out of rotting wood and snappable rope. 

While American culture revels in progress, progressive Christianity is dangerous and deadly.

Progressivism plants no roots in objective truth, but appeals only to sinful nature. They emphasize human emotion and experience, following feelings rather than Biblical truth. If our aim is not on the righteousness of Christ in God’s Word then where is our foundation?

It willingly suppresses the Word of God and elevates all religious activity based on a self-centered worship of what “I want” – self-satisfaction, self-reliance and self-help.

This is not the Gospel of Christ.

Nothing about the Holy Word of God is progressive. God’s Word is concrete in defining the truth, reflecting the unchanging character of God. Christians should therefore aim to theologically conserve it.

Progressive Christianity means living under a subjective “my truth” mentality, which ultimately leads to death, but God’s Truth, living and active, provides an objective standard which leads to salvation.

The chief end of progressivism is to show kindness to the world instead of seeking to glorify God, putting more emphasis on acceptance and shallow love. This mindset shies away from conversations covering homosexuality, family, economics and government, leaving gaps for secularism to seep in and distort the church’s rhetoric. 

However, for progressives, steering away from graciously speaking the truth of the Scriptures is the least loving act a Christian could do.

Douglass Wilson in the Mere Fundamentalist said, “we live in a generation that does not want to be precise on anything,” for the fear of the word “offensive” getting plastered onto their foreheads became a greater pursuit than the Christian’s desire to advance the Gospel of Christ. 

If you truly know the Word of God and lay it as the convictional foundation of your life, speaking up in conversations about sinful culture should not be difficult. Progressive Christianity gained this foothold when lukewarm Christians took a seat in their plush pews and turned a blind eye to the eroding effects of a Christless culture. The church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22 was righteously called out for their apathy.

The Lord is sick of our lethargy. 

In many ways apathy, not hate, is the opposite of love. Cultural Christians apathetic to the progressive culture and how it snuck its ideologies into the church signify their illiteracy of the Bible. Jesus spoke against the sinfulness in culture, so in our effort to emulate the Son of God, we must follow suit because the grace of God compels us to, according to Ephesians 3:7-13. 

Wilson said,“The apostle’s creed is not a bunker under the ground but a large castle on the hill. Each statement a window into greater discussion” of the truths of God’s word.

Without a persistence on the Truth of God’s Word, we will lose our pursuit of godliness. God’s Word is different, and it should sound different than any lies the world promotes, including the heretical ideas promoted within progressive Christianity.

I take great comfort in knowing the God-breathed words inscribed by appointed authors stand true yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just as the Bereans in Acts 17:11, Christians must be “receiving the Word with eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”  

If we know that the truth of the Lord is concrete and never changing, why would we let people believe they can twist God’s Word to mold their desires and sinfulness?

Progressive Christianity is not new. A similar group of secularists instigated the same false teaching Paul warned the church in Philippi about in Philippians 3:1-11. Bad theology hurts people. Apart from Christ, there is
no salvation. 

Loving God means keeping his commandments as instructed in John 14:15. 

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ stirs up a conviction and a realization for our need of his grace. A crowd can gather without Jesus, but no one can produce true disciples of Christ without reverence for his Word. Progressive Christianity spirals people further into darkness. 

“Your truth” has no power to save you.

Hattie Troutman is the Editor-in-Chief. Follow her on Twitter at @hattrout.

One comment

  • Tim and Linda Adair

    Well done, Hattie!
    Years and years ago when I was about your age, I read Francis Shaeffer and he spoke of “True Truth” as opposed to subjective or self-defined truth which is so prevalent in public discussion now; the usual statement being, “This is what is true for me”. The idea of truth that is really true because it is from a reliable source, God, and because of who God is it fits reality. This is truth that has substance, that stands the test of time, that bears up to the pressure of real life when put to use, and because of these characteristics it has value.
    Keep up the great writing!

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