TL;DR: I agree that when Christianity becomes indistinguishable from politics, it hollowes itself out—but far-right evangelicalism won’t collapse the way Progressive Christianity has.
I don't know, is progressive Christianity really so guilt-free and low control? I don't exactly have tons of experience with it, but from what I've seen on here, it's not exactly a welcoming space for people who reject left-wing politics, and there's no lack of guilt over being "oppressors."
Maybe the secret sauce isn't evangelicalism's high-control use of guilt, but rather its lingering Christian sense that they're commanded to love their enemies. I appreciate churches that welcome me without condemning my sexuality, but too often it seems they do so by driving away anybody who'd consider it sinful. Whereas more often than not, I've reliably felt a baseline level of welcome from plenty of conservative Christians, who might see me as a sinner in need of repentance, but still can't refuse a respectful chat about Jesus and maybe even a shared prayer or two.
If there's a role for Christian churches that pretty much no other human institution could possibly fill, providing a place to love your enemies seems a likely candidate. Christian ministers should be reaching out to the people they find most difficult to accept. That'd get you a purple church, if anything could.
Part of this essay reminds of of research I have been repeating for years: progressive churches cannot sustain themselves but conservatve churches grow. The progressive churches collapse under the weight of relativism. Once core doctrines are questioned and made irrelevant, its becomes a domino effects and they fall one by one.
Im in a multiethnic church in philly where we are trying to find this 3rd path of theological convictions with a messy faith with social justice concerns. We see ourselves as a Kingdom community. We dont get all of it right but we get enough right to grow.
The seminary I attended is, I believe, trying hard to strike that generous and faithful posture that you sketched out at the end, from the Christian Churches branch of our movement. From its inception, it just asked faculty to agree to 2 core faith convictions: Jesus (is Lord, Savior, Son of God); and Scripture is “inspired witness to the Word of God.” I have good friends in the evangelical world (across the spectrum within), in progressive denominations, and among the faith-wary “dones.” I really appreciate the work you do to articulate the gospel to speak meaningfully, powerfully, and particularly, and I am curious how you would anticipate a healthy, faithful, flexible conversation around LGBT inclusion taking place. These concerns really coalesce into a major sticking point for all 3 of the faith stances I mentioned.
Right-wing Evangelicals have perverted the Gospel, but Progressives have abandoned it altogether. So it’s no wonder that the Evangelicals are outlasting their Progressive rivals.
I predict that this will end in the Evangelicals becoming the equivalent of the Majesterium, but a corrupted one like the late medieval Papacy. This will call for a new Reformation to reject false Evangelical doctrine and restore the right proclamation of the Gospel. There are pastors out there that are trying to thread that needle today.
I don't know, is progressive Christianity really so guilt-free and low control? I don't exactly have tons of experience with it, but from what I've seen on here, it's not exactly a welcoming space for people who reject left-wing politics, and there's no lack of guilt over being "oppressors."
Maybe the secret sauce isn't evangelicalism's high-control use of guilt, but rather its lingering Christian sense that they're commanded to love their enemies. I appreciate churches that welcome me without condemning my sexuality, but too often it seems they do so by driving away anybody who'd consider it sinful. Whereas more often than not, I've reliably felt a baseline level of welcome from plenty of conservative Christians, who might see me as a sinner in need of repentance, but still can't refuse a respectful chat about Jesus and maybe even a shared prayer or two.
If there's a role for Christian churches that pretty much no other human institution could possibly fill, providing a place to love your enemies seems a likely candidate. Christian ministers should be reaching out to the people they find most difficult to accept. That'd get you a purple church, if anything could.
Sounds like you're looking for the nao! 🤣
Part of this essay reminds of of research I have been repeating for years: progressive churches cannot sustain themselves but conservatve churches grow. The progressive churches collapse under the weight of relativism. Once core doctrines are questioned and made irrelevant, its becomes a domino effects and they fall one by one.
Im in a multiethnic church in philly where we are trying to find this 3rd path of theological convictions with a messy faith with social justice concerns. We see ourselves as a Kingdom community. We dont get all of it right but we get enough right to grow.
The seminary I attended is, I believe, trying hard to strike that generous and faithful posture that you sketched out at the end, from the Christian Churches branch of our movement. From its inception, it just asked faculty to agree to 2 core faith convictions: Jesus (is Lord, Savior, Son of God); and Scripture is “inspired witness to the Word of God.” I have good friends in the evangelical world (across the spectrum within), in progressive denominations, and among the faith-wary “dones.” I really appreciate the work you do to articulate the gospel to speak meaningfully, powerfully, and particularly, and I am curious how you would anticipate a healthy, faithful, flexible conversation around LGBT inclusion taking place. These concerns really coalesce into a major sticking point for all 3 of the faith stances I mentioned.
I’m going to try to tackle that soon in a post. Thanks for reading!
Right-wing Evangelicals have perverted the Gospel, but Progressives have abandoned it altogether. So it’s no wonder that the Evangelicals are outlasting their Progressive rivals.
I predict that this will end in the Evangelicals becoming the equivalent of the Majesterium, but a corrupted one like the late medieval Papacy. This will call for a new Reformation to reject false Evangelical doctrine and restore the right proclamation of the Gospel. There are pastors out there that are trying to thread that needle today.
Yes. I tried to hint at that near the end.