Progressive Christianity (Part 2)

The phrase “Progressive Christianity” captivates a growing number of people in our time. The very word “progressive” is meant to signal a move forward, a commitment to spread the message that Jesus shared and the message of who He is. In part one, we took a look at some of the specific beliefs and goals associated with “Progressive Christianity.” In part two we take a look at the second group of six affirmations that are part of the twelve Phoenix Affirmations.[1]

Affirmation Seven

The seventh affirmation embraces the relationship between church and state. Eric Elnes writes that “Progressive Christianity” affirms “the separation of church and state, even as we endeavor to support the state in as far as Christian conscience allows.”[2] As such, Elnes challenges those believers who would attempt to exercise dominion over the arts, sports, news media, entertainment, and science. He offers up ancient Israel as an example of the need to separate the political and religious spheres.[3] He suggests that “The wall of separation between church and state protects the church more than it does the state.”[4]

The subject of church and state can indeed represent a minefield and Christians must be careful where they walk – by praying more than petitioning. However, Elnes’ essay also loses sight of the growing situation in the early twenty-first century U.S. Followers of Jesus typically have not launched holy Crusades as coercive, armed, challenges to federal or local government officials. However, as the Religious Hostility in America website documents, the supposed wall separating church and state is actively being assaulted. It is under siege by groups who would rid the nation of any expressions of faith.[5]

When “Progressive Christianity” gives no attention to the challenges from angry, hurtful opponents it walks naively. Too often our children in the public schools pay the price for this lack of focus. One of the most recent clashes involves efforts to skew the nation’s textbooks.[6] What better way to erode religious thought in the U.S. than to exclude from discussion the religion that is part of the nation’s history or to avoid mentioning anything touching faith and religious thought in the nation’s Declaration of Independence? Is it the case that we get a clearer portrait of the healing of a divided nation by excluding discussion of faith? Do we make the right decision when we strip from history the faith and spiritual beliefs of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield and others? Does their resolve and courage make sense in the absence of talking about what fueled their lives? And if the siege on the nation’s textbooks were not sufficient, private Christian schools are now finding that at least one public university will not accept select coursework. Some university educators deem some of the courses to have had too much religious content.[7]

As a further example of just how aggressive is the intrusion of late, recently Federal Reserve officials attempted to require a bank in a small Oklahoma town to remove all religious symbols.[8] We live in a nation where independent businesses now are under a religious siege. “Progressive Christianity” takes an unwise road when it turns a deaf ear to those who would silence God in the public sphere. Christians need not argue for adoption of a national prayer; they have plenty of other work ahead of them. For example our nation desperately needs to read and hear the words of Jesus spoken in businesses and public squares throughout the land. And we need to help our children see that conversation about Christ can and should patiently take place in our nation in our time.

Affirmation Eight

The eighth of the Phoenix Affirmations focuses on the very conversation that needs to permeate our land. The affirmation urges humility toward others acted out with a listening ear. Eric Elnes writes:

We affirm that the path of Jesus is found where Christ’s followers love those who consider them their enemies as much as they love themselves, striving humbly to embody the “fruits of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[9]

“Progressive Christianity” indeed walks on firm ground with this affirmation. In a nation of texting and all-too-brief conversations, impatience becomes the new norm. Religious conversations can become the clash of one-line debates before they are instances where one or both people listen carefully.

Eric Elnes writes well when he urges that, “If we do not learn to see the humanity in our neighbors even as we struggle with them over issues of justice and righteousness, we will surely lose the very things we hold most dear.”[10] His counsel to followers of Jesus is on target. And it is telling that John Shelby Spong writes what he does in light of the affirmation: “I am not interested, for example, in confronting or challenging those conservative, fundamentalist elements of Christianity that are so prevalent today. They will, I believe, die of their own irrelevance without any help from me.”[11] Disappointingly, one of the key spokesmen for “Progressive Christianity” has yet to soak up Eric Elnes’ important essay on one way we show love to others – especially to those who do not agree with us. We listen well even when it means that we listen when we think we know what they are going to say.

Affirmation Nine

The ninth affirmation takes up the word “salvation,” that weaves through American thought. We Americans – like seven billion other people – desire paradise, not pandemonium. We want peace and security, not chaos. We would like to live forever! Elnes eases into the discussion in his essay. He writes of “Progressive Christians” that “We do not seek to evangelize those who have no desire to explore the Christian faith. We trust, rather, that God’s love, grace, and invitation have been and will be revealed in other paths, witnesses, and times.”[12]

What does he mean? He tells us later in the essay, as he concludes a series of stories:

A number of writers in the Bible reflect on how God, or God in Christ, acts as Savior in this life and draw implications for how God acts toward us in the next. Although the Bible does not speak with a single voice regarding these implications, it is curious to note that many of the voices reflect some notion of salvation for all people.”[13]

Eric Elnes is stretching the word “grace” to cover people in all religions and ultimately all people. Somehow, in some way, he suggests that God will extend salvation to all.

The thought is a comfortable one, but surprisingly ignores one of the narratives that Eric Elnes raises earlier in his book. Elnes again neglects Peter’s clear statement in Acts 10:34-5: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” The question “Progressive Christianity” faces is whether all do what is right?

So, what about those who live in conflict with God? Jesus pointedly answers when he says that, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). The deep longing to see everyone as okay before God ignores the words of Jesus. It Americanizes the phrase “grace of God” to be what it is not. It deceives people into sidestepping the decision to follow Jesus.

Affirmation Ten

The tenth affirmation wades into the arena of science and religion: “Claiming the sacredness of both our minds and our hearts and recognizing that faith and science, doubt and belief serve the pursuit of truth.”[14] The large majority of Eric Elnes’ essay about the tenth affirmation represents a fictional narrative between a Creationist and an Evolutionist who believes in Jesus. He emphasizes patience in telling the story and he is correct that Christians need to converse with patience. However, Elnes gives no attention to the importance of Paul’s words in Romans 5:12-21. He offers up through his narrative the conclusion of critical scholarship that Genesis 1 and 2 represent two contrasting stories. He leaves his readers hanging regarding the apostle Paul’s teaching about sin’s entrance into this world. Is it true or not?

John Shelby Spong, who formally received the affirmations in Washington, D.C. in 2006, goes further in the debate. He announces with clarity that “Progressive Christianity” must give up the idea of creation. Spong suggests that evolution has been proven and Christians must embrace the conclusions. And unlike Elnes, Spong writes with clarity about humanity and sin. Spong asks, “Are human beings really made in God’s image, as the ancient wisdom has attested, or have we deluded ourselves into thinking such a thing to justify the obvious – namely, that the theistic God of the past was created by us and in our own image?”[15] John Shelby Spong intends his question to be rhetorical. He does not believe Genesis 1:27; he believes Christians must discard such statements.

Further, Spong announces that “Progressive Christianity” must give up the biblical understanding of evil. He writes, “So, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is a divine cure for a human problem that a previous understanding of life postulated but that, from our contemporary perspective, does not now exist, and never did.”[16] John Shelby Spong has rendered the tenth affirmation null and void. “Progressive Christians” face more than a question of creation or evolution. They face a real dismissal of the biblical portrait of evil.

Affirmation Eleven

The eleventh affirmation confronts a pandemic sweeping the U.S. It calls on Christians to take time, “to enjoy the benefits of prayer, reflection, worship, and recreation in addition to work.”[17] Elnes suggests that Americans need to reclaim the idea of rest with a focus on God. He writes that, “Perhaps the largest implication of Affirmation 11 is that there is hope. Life really is more than work. Life really can become creative, liberating, and justice-oriented again.”[18] Elnes argues that “Progressive Christianity” must give up a preoccupation with constant, unceasing business. His essay ripples into the pattern of texting, twittering and ten-second advertisements that can fill our minds. We have become accustomed to thinking about any subject for no more than twelve minutes – or twelve seconds. After that we move on to another. Political campaigns are wary of attempting to craft really articulate information. Instead, they use one-line barbs or metaphors to try to persuade.

However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not something that can be reduced to marketing slogans. Similar to any relationship, drawing close to the Creator takes time. It takes willingness on our part to halt the demands and allocate ourselves at length to the “big things.” At the top of the list must be our relationship with our Creator. That relationship needs time to hear Him – His Word – and time with his people. We need to look to Jesus’ example of spending time in prayer and act on it.

Affirmation Twelve

The last affirmation urges people to see that they “are born with a meaning and purpose, a vocation and ministry that serve to strengthen and extend God’s realm of love.”[19] That sounds good. But like most of the affirmations, it represents a good bit of below-the-surface religious thought. The roots of the twelfth affirmation have worked deeply into the soil of the religious groups represented by the Phoenix Affirmations.

Eric Elnes spades up the soil when he writes, “[W]e have moved from the Path [of following Jesus] when we have failed to concretely value meaningful input and participation by both laypeople and clergy in the worship and mission of our communities.”[20] Elnes’ essay and the twelfth affirmation represent an effort by larger American Protestant groups to overcome the barrier between clergy and laity. Elnes looks to Paul’s letter to Ephesus to lay a solid foundation. He points his readers to Ephesians 2:5-9. Good works come about because of God’s saving grace. At this point the affirmation and Elnes’ essay chart a clear path in a turbulent sea. He gives attention to the clear New Testament teaching that God’s people are a priesthood of believers: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Apostolic teaching knows nothing of the clergy/laity distinction in Catholicism and Protestantism.

However, Elnes also stops short. He does not allow Paul’s words to Ephesus and Roman Asia to ripple out far enough. He stops them when they begin to make waves in the ocean of U.S. religious thought. He writes that, “However, just as the healing arts are not ultimately dependent on medical ways of describing them, so salvation and God’s calling are not dependent on Christian – or Buddhist or Hindu or Taoist or Muslim – ways of describing them.”[21] He wants to tie the idea of good works to any world religion. As a result he neglects to look closely at the clash between the ancient mystery religions and Christianity in the first century. He makes the same mistake as does Brian McLaren who naively suggests that the ancient religions were “partners” with the earliest Christians.[22]

Both Elnes and McLaren need to read Paul’s letters closely. The apostle to the Gentiles gives no ground to the ancient Artemis, Dionysus and Isis cults. The powerful mystery religions of the ancient world were the tools of Satan. Paul writes that the Gentiles have been deceived by “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience . . .” (Ephesians 2:2). When Paul sees the ancient landscape of Gentile religion, he does not see other valid “paths” in addition to following Jesus. He sees darkness.

Eric Elnes has neglected to soak up Paul’s teachings in Ephesians 4:17-5:21 as well. “Progressive Christianity” leaders seem blind to just how much damage was done to apostolic teaching in the melting pot of second and third century Gnostic teaching. As a result Elnes does not see that the confusion of teaching rippled into just how much good could be accomplished. When men and women cease to listen closely to Jesus’ teachings one consequence is that darkness accompanied by apathy and naivety weaves into thought.

So, it should come as no surprise that the twelfth affirmation sounds empty when it is placed alongside John Shelby Spongs’ writing. His broad and pointed conclusions about the human race in A New Christianity For a New World discourage. His idea of Christianity represents little more than another way to nudge the human race further on the evolutionary path – to homo supremus or some such.[23] He writes, “Hysterical fundamentalism is not the way into the future; it is the last gasp of the past. It will not work. The time has come to create a new thing.”[24] Spong would have us see religion as a “coping device” for dealing with human self-consciousness as we evolve. He believes that what humanity really needs is “an expanded consciousness tomorrow, a heightened humanity, a more noble creature than either we or our primitive ancestors could imagine….”[25] Spong believes that Jesus’ example of selfless love is exactly what can propel us forward to evolve further. What he does not see is that “Progressive Christianity” faces nothing less than confusion in understanding the words “salvation,” “evil,” and “good.” Spong whittles away the wonder of our humanity and as a result, striving to do good faces paralysis over the long haul.

At the Root of “Progressive Christianity”

Both the Phoenix Affirmations and John Shelby Spong’s A New Christianity For a New World reveal the taproot of “Progressive Christianity.” Both describe how the emerging church movement embraces the postmodern U.S. The “Progressive” approach to following Jesus seeks first to act on the eighth affirmation. Elnes encourages Christians to listen well to others – as a gift of love to them. It represents a good starting place.

Christians indeed need to be people who listen. We need to be prepared to wade into the lives and thought of others and to understand genuinely where they live and how they think. That is the strength of “Progressive Christianity.” It listens well; it works hard to understand the postmodern viewpoint of many. It is willing to hear people out and patiently let them work through whatever religious feelings they have built up over time. It illustrates a real care for people including care for their deepest emotions.

However, what “Progressive Christianity” also does is perhaps unconsciously yield ground to a postmodern view of the world and the universe. It allows the dominant society to dictate the starting point for assessing spiritual reality. Like the business leader who defers to the company board, Eric Elnes and John Shelby Spong seem to allow a U.S. melting pot to shape Christian belief. All the while neither Elnes nor Spong seem to grasp what is at the taproot of postmodernism – what hinders people from hearing the Gospel of Jesus. They neglect to see something more dangerous than plutonium. Both Elnes and Spong seem blind to what can incinerate our minds, just as nuclear heat can destroy our flesh.

Andrew Delbanco digs deeply into what shreds America in his book The Death of Satan, How Americans Have Lost the Sense of Evil. His careful literary history of America unveils how our nation has whittled away the idea of Satan. Delbanco unveils the taproot of postmodernism: Satan is dead (i.e. he never existed). Similar to Satan in the 1990 movie Mr. Frost, for many (maybe most) Satan is down on his luck. In our day he struggles to get people’s attention. He is the street corner performer hoping for an audience – and pocket money.

Many Americans treat Satan as nothing more than a grotesque image, red tights, or slight-of-hand trickery. He is merely the stuff of costume parties or television thrillers. Evil is no more than a social situation. It can be summed up as illness, corporate inefficiency, or corrupt government cronyism. Satan as a deadly spiritual enemy? Nonsense. As one individual writes on an Internet blog, “It’s 2011 and humans still believe in a physical manifestation of evil called Satan? Pathetic.”[26]

“Progressive Christianity” strives to follow Jesus by making a fundamental mistake as it listens to His teachings. It accepts the postmodern conclusion about evil and Satan. It treats a deadly spiritual war as mere language. Evil is simply the stuff of a long forgotten way of thinking. But when we make that step, we render the Gospel of Jesus confusing. Why the cross? Perhaps for that reason many followers of Jesus who are part of a younger generation will gladly act as Jesus did to feed the hungry; it makes sense to them. But talk about evil and ethics and eyes glaze over. It makes no sense because many of them have thrown away the Biblical portrait of evil. They have gutted the story of Jesus of all that Jesus came to face and to defeat. The Gospels reveal a riveting story of spiritual struggle: Jesus as a child hunted by Satan; Jesus versus Satan in the Wilderness of Judea; Jesus versus Satan at Golgotha, hanging on a Roman cross; Jesus versus Satan in the tomb. All of that intrigue is built on the reality that Satan is more than myth. Jesus calls him the “ruler of this world” for a reason (John 14:30; ESV).

Eric Elnes points to Jesus’ teachings and emphasizes His new command that people love as He loved. The command to love has few detractors and many fans. At a high level people see the benefit of a kinder human race where war diminishes and good will thrives. However, “Progressive Christianity” also makes friends with the word “postmodern.” Unfortunately, it does so without seeing the taproot of postmodernism.

“Progressive Christianity” also sees the religious skirmishes and culture wars in our nation that makes the U.S. look like a boiling cauldron. The melting pot character of our nation has simmered further with the influx of many religions, especially during the past half-century. Mosques are becoming more commonplace in the U.S. and religious belief dilutes to the point of being almost beyond recognition. More than a few religious leaders proclaim that America is now a “post-Christian nation.”

As a result “Progressive” churches see the growing distinction between how the nation thinks about sexual ethics, lifestyles and world religions and attempt to translate the love of Jesus into words of “We want you to come in. We will accept you and help you find a place to belong.” Acceptance becomes an acceptance of darkness in people’s lives, a willingness to leave darkness untouched. Indeed, darkness may not seem real to most. It is more like the ancient residue of first-century speech. The resulting dilemma people then face is that they realize over time that putting the stamp of “Christian” on their present lifestyle – with little or no change – eventually leaves them empty: as empty as first century Jewish Christians who sought to cling to the law; as empty as first century Gentiles who wanted to somehow blend Christian faith with their mystery religion heritage. The results betray the teachings of Jesus. They are no more than a concoction of sugar and water peddled as the cure for every disease.

Helping People See Spiritual Reality

In contrast to much of what “Progressive Christianity” offers, Americans need to open the Gospels of Jesus and read them patiently. Americans remain a people who believe that the supernatural realm is real. Numerous polls of late have revealed that the large majority of Americans still believe in such. However, similar polls also reveal that we are nation that seems to keep the supernatural distinct from the ethical and moral issues that surround us. We may see “spiritual darkness” in movies about the Devil or in television serials about vampires, but we increasingly do not “translate” those messages into anything religious. Religion remains focused on the God who loves.

All of this reveals a fundamental confusion about Jesus, His teachings, and His actions. John’s Gospel reveals the word “Satan” on Jesus’ tongue multiple times. Luke records Jesus saying simply, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:38). John records that Jesus makes clear that his coming is to free the world from “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30).

Beyond the words recorded as spoken by Jesus, Paul writes with similar language. He tells the people of Ephesus (and beyond) that they once followed “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. . .” (Ephesians 2:2). He writes further to Christians in the ancient city of Colossae, telling them that God has delivered them “from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).

So, how is it that some believe that Satan has “vanished?” Is it because we cannot see him? We have never seen him? Therefore, he must not be real? What causes us to believe the God who loves is real but a dangerous spiritual enemy is not? Deception. We are blinded. We need to grasp the message of Genesis 1-3 and understand deeply that Creation was good in the beginning. The chaos of our time is not “normal.” It is the result of spiritual darkness.

Belief in God as described in the New Testament means more than a belief in a God of love. It also means that we realize that spiritual danger is real and it means that we must act in obedience to Jesus. We cannot claim to love and to know God and Jesus and yet still live as we wish. When we opt for such a thought of “freedom of religion,” we then reveal that we have not heard Jesus’ words closely.

It takes little time to look around us and see the pandemic of evil that spreads across our cities, our nation and our world. War. Anger. We witness the demise of marriages, relationships, and friendships as a result of selfishness, betrayal, cruelty, and gossip. People desire to ensure their own financial security at the expense of the bank accounts of other people. Wave after wave of Death Metal and Black Metal music saturates airwaves and the minds of American youth. Death Metal bands breathe messages that are exactly the opposite of Jesus’ urging us toward love and peace.

Our society faces desperation, and at times the only alternatives we see are a selfish mind-our-own-business lifestyle or a sarcasm that tries to use humor to downplay the reality of darkness. However, were the threat to be physical, we would react differently. We would seek shelter. We need to adopt the same willingness to act when we face spiritual danger.

Consider for a moment your reaction were you to see boiling, black storm clouds unleashing thousands of tornadoes as sharp spears, people running in fear of their lives, and tornadic winds with incredible velocity touching individuals and snuffing out lives. Jesus reveals to us by His resurrection and by His life and teachings that the spiritual war we face has such threat. We are under siege. We are in real danger! The ruler of this world is the hunter; we are the prey. He is more than red spandex or a grotesque image in a Grade-B thriller. Our only hope is the Son of God who has been raised from the dead. Interested in learning more? Interested in listening to more about His life and His teachings? If you are, then please use the attached information to contact an individual who will commit to sit down and simply read the Word of God with you.

[1] Available at http://phoenixaffirmations.wordpress.com. See also www.tcpc.org.

[2] Eric Elnes, The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision For the Future of Christianity (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), 79.

[3] Ibid., 81-4.

[4] Ibid., 87.

[5] See http://www.religioushostility.org.

[6] “Education and Media: Report Shows Anti-Christian Pro-Muslim Bias in Textbooks,” ATS (April 1, 2012). Available at http://www.abovetopsecret.com.

[7] See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5048837.

[8] “Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse,” KOCO.COM (Dec. 17, 2010). Available at www.koco.com.

[9] Elnes, The Phoenix Affirmations, 89.

[10] Ibid., 94-5.

[11] John Shelby Spong, A New Christianity For a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born (New York: HarperCollins Pub., 2001), 12.

[12] Elnes, The Phoenix Affirmations, 99.

[13] Ibid., 106.

[14] Ibid., 111.

[15] Spong, A New Christianity For a New World, 61.

[16] Ibid., 124.

[17] Elnes, The Phoenix Affirmations, 125.

[18] Ibid., 133.

[19] Ibid., 135.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid., 142.

[22] Brian D. McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 35. See also his essay entitled “Why I Am Incarnational” in pages 245-66.

[23] Spong, A New Christianity For a New World. See pages 41-55.

[24] Ibid., 54.

[25] Ibid., 55.

[26] Yahoo! News (November 4, 2011). Available at www.yahoo.com.