Progressive Christianity
by Bill Muehlenberg – 23rd March 2013
It took me less than five seconds to decide whether or not to keep a flyer I found in my mailbox. The 12-pager came from a local Uniting Church, and was full of descriptions about activities it was offering. This is quite typical of the UC, with an emphasis on everything except biblical Christianity.
But just as I was about to toss it into the bin, I finally saw something actually speaking about the faith. It mentioned an exploration of “Progressive Christianity”. Instantly I knew where this church was coming from, and instantly I knew I had an article on my hands.
The pamphlet itself was full of all the courses and activities this church was involved in. On offer were watercolour painting, yoga and relaxation, cake decorating, tai chi, square dancing, etc. The trouble is of course, when the church seeks to compete with the world in offering worldly activities, the world usually does a much better job of this.
These churches seek to be trendy and relevant by downplaying the gospel and offering everything the world does. But in that case, why even bother? Let the world offer worldly stuff. But this is all par for the course with a denomination which has long ago abandoned biblical orthodoxy.
But the tie in to Progressive Christianity shows us exactly where this church is at. Indeed, a case can be made that whenever one finds the adjective ‘progressive’ prefixed to the word ‘Christianity,’ one should flee to the hills. One might almost say the phrase is a clear-cut oxymoron.
